New Delhi: Reliance Industries announced Friday that the smartphone its Jio telecom arm and Google co-created will be available in stores from Diwali for as low as Rs 1,999. While the upfront cost of the ‘JioPhone Next’, which comes with a 13 MP rear and 8 MP front camera, 2 GB RAM, 32 GB internal storage and dual SIM slots, will be Rs 6,499, the firm is offering easy EMI options to help feature phone users to upgrade.
“This is the first time that a phone in the entry-level category is getting a financing option. This makes the entry price extremely affordable and almost equal to a feature phone price,” the two firms said in a statement.
Jio is offering a finance option for the ‘Jiophone Next’ where users can make an upfront payment of Rs 1,999 and pay the rest in easy monthly instalments spread across 18-24 months.
The smartphone, build on Qualcomm chipset, will be available across India on ‘JioMart Digital’ retail stores.
“I am delighted that Google and Jio teams have succeeded in bringing this breakthrough device to Indian consumers in time for the festival season, in spite of the current global supply chain challenges caused by the Covid pandemic,” Reliance Industries Limited CMD Mukesh Ambani said in a release.
Jio is also offering data and talk-time bundled with EMI payments for the ‘Jionext’ phone.
“I have always been a firm believer in the power of the Digital Revolution to enrich, enable and empower the lives of 1.35 billion Indians. We have done it in the past with connectivity. Now, we are enabling it again with a smartphone device,” Ambani said.
‘JioPhone Next’ operates on Google-developed Pragati OS, which is based on Android. The operating system offers exclusive features like Read Aloud, Translate, and also supports all Google apps. ‘JioPhone Next’ also comes pre-installed with Jio apps like MyJio, JioCinema, JioTv, JioSaavn, etc.
The all 4G smartphone comes with a 5.5-inch HD+ display with a 720x 1440 resolution. It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 SoC under the hood. The phone packs a 3,500 mAh battery and 32GB of internal storage.
Jio announced four different JioPhone Next EMI plans for its customers. JioPhone Next can be purchased by paying an upfront cost of Rs 1,999. The remaining amount can be paid within 18-24 months.
Under the ‘Always-on Plan’, which has a duration of 18 months and 24 months, customers will have to pay only Rs 350 or Rs 300, depending on the choice of tenure. Users will also get 5GB of data + 100/min of talk-time per month.
The ‘JioPhone Next’ Large plan provides for customers paying Rs 500 for 18 months or Rs 450 for 24 months. Users will get 1.5GB of 4G data per day and unlimited voice calls.
Under the XL plan, customers can choose to pay Rs 550 for 18 months or Rs 500 for 24 months. Under this plan, users get 2GB of high-speed 4G data daily and unlimited voice calls.
Lastly, for the XXL plan ‘JioPhone Next’ buyers can pay Rs 600 per month for 18 months or Rs 550 for 24 months and get 2.5GB of 4G data per day along with unlimited voice calls.
