Jio Phone Can Now Be Booked From MobiKwik

Reliance Jio has announced a partnership with mobile payments player MobiKwik to sell the Jio Phone on its platform. This is the first time the Jio Phone will be sold via a third-party online platform as so far it could only be booked online using the Jio website and MyJio app and then picked up from an offline store. Jio Phone was the best-selling feature phone in the country in the fourth quarter with 26 percent market share, according to Counterpoint Research.

"We are proud to become the first mobile wallet to sell Jio Phones in India. Users can book their phone in four easy steps and avail great benefits as well," Bikram Bir Singh, Business Head at MobiKwik, said in a statement.

How to buy Jio Phone from MobiKwik

MobiKwik users can now book Jio Phone within seconds, and the process is as simple as recharging their phone numbers, the company said in a statement.

To book the handset, users have to click on the Recharge icon on the MobiKwik homepage, and select phone booking option under Recharge and Bill Payments category. They can then select Jio Phone and enter the required details to book the device. Once the payment is made, the buyers will get a confirmation SMS from Jio with details of the store from which they can pick up the handset.

Reliance announced the launch of 4G and VoLTE-enabled Jio Phone on July 21 last year. Aimed at over 50 crore feature phone users, the 4G VoLTE feature phone has a 2.4-inch display, 1.2GHz dual-core processor under the hood, backed by 512MB of RAM. The operating system keeping the handset running is KAI OS, and the device has 4GB of internal storage, with microSD support up to 128GB. You get Wi-Fi support, 2000mAh battery, and NFC for digital payments.

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Unique features of Jio Phone include support for 22 Indian languages, a voice assistant to control certain functions, and the option to mirror content playing on the phone to the TV using a proprietary cable. The first Jio-branded phone will come preloaded with apps such as JioCinema, JioMusic, JioTV, and JioXpressNews, along with popular instant messaging and social networking apps. It was unveiled in July and started shipping in October; it is effectively free, but buyers need to pay Rs. 1,500 as security deposit (refundable after three years).

The Rs. 153 Jio Phone plan was recently upgraded to offer 1GB data per day, up from 500MB daily data allocation. A new Rs. 49 plan was also unveiled for buyers of the feature phone to provide 28-day validity, unlimited calls, and 1GB of bundled data.