Reliance JioPhone hands-on and first impressions: A ‘smart’ feature phone

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Is the JioPhone truly a disrupter as Reliance touts it to be? Here are my first impressions.

After disrupting the telecom services space, Reliance Jio has turned its attention to the devices segment with the JioPhone. Announced at the company’s 40th annual general meeting, this ‘smart’ feature phone is built with average Indian consumers’ interests in mind. More importantly, this device is aimed at the large feature phone user base in the country that hasn’t upgraded to a smartphone just yet. Priced at an effective Rs zero, the Reliance JioPhone will soon be delivered to those who pre-ordered it last month. Having spent sometime with the device, and here are my first impressions.

A look at the JioPhone

As far as looks are concerned, the JioPhone is a typical feature phone with a candybar design, a small 2.4-inch low-res display, and a T9 keypad. At the back is a 2-megapixel camera, a speaker grille, and a panel that comes off to reveal a removable battery, nano SIM card slot, and a microSD card slot. At the top is an LED torch light, while below are the micro-USB port and 3.5mm audio jack.

As for specifications, the JioPhone comes with a 2.4-inch QVGA TFT display, Qualcomm SoC, 512MB of RAM, 4GB internal storage, and microSD card support. Other features include 2-megapixel rear camera, VGA front camera, and support for 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM Radio, and GPS. There is support for NFC, but at the time of filing this story, it has not been enabled yet. On the software front, the JioPhone runs on KaiOS with support for 22 regional languages including Marathi, Gujarati, and Bangla. RELATED: Reliance JioPhone full specifications revealed; to feature 2-megapixel camera, NFC, and more

A SIM card is bundled with the device out-of-the-box, which gets activated at the time of collection. By default, a Jio prepaid plan worth Rs 149 is activated. This plan offers unlimited free calling, 1GB of 4G data per day, 300 SMS messages, and complimentary access to Jio’s suite of apps. This plan is valid for 28 days, post which users will need to recharge.

More than specifications

The JioPhone is however more than the typical feature phone design, and entry-level specifications. It is about the entire digital ecosystem that comes with the device. The MyJio app comes pre-installed with the device, along with other apps like JioCinema, JioMessaging, JioTV, JioMusic, and JioMoney.

Right from the outset, you can start streaming live TV channels, or watch movies on the go. The music app has access to a huge collection of songs, which you can access at the tap of a button. I managed to easily watch TV channels like ZEE and Colors, and briefly watched the movie Chennai Express.

The JioPhone comes with a built-in voice assistant, which is something you would normally associate with smartphones. The assistant can be fired by long-pressing the okay button at the center of the keypad. I managed to ask the assistant to open the camera app, and also type-and-send a message. While a tad slow, the hands-free assistant did manage to perform the tasks.

Another important feature is the SOS functionality. The device allows you to select two people from your list as emergency contacts. When you long-press the ‘5’ button on the keypad, a SMS message is immediately sent to the emergency contact’s phone with a link to your current location.

The JioPhone conundrum

While using the JioPhone, there was this question that boggled me – is the JioPhone a feature phone or a smartphone? For one, I know it’s not a smartphone in the traditional sense, but it isn’t restricted to being a feature phone either. The only way of aptly describing it would be to call it a ‘smart’ feature phone.

Most smartphone users won’t find a lot to be fascinated about, considering it doesn’t have WhatsApp or Wi-Fi hotspot facility. But for people in tier II and tier III cities that have yet to upgrade to a smartphone, the JioPhone seems like a good prospect. Without really needing a Wi-Fi connection at home, millions of users will be able to stream music, movies and watch live TV on their phones. Now it’s up to Reliance Jio to ensure that there is enough stock of the JioPhone to satiate the high demand. RELATED: JioPhone orders halted after ‘millions’ already pre-booked a unit

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