Jio Phone is a ‘smart’ feature phone, know why

Reliance Jio’s almost free 4G phone created a huge stir as soon as it hit the market. Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani unveiled the Jio 4G phone in the company’s annual general meeting this year. Since its launch, discussion about the specifications, features and shortcomings of Jio 4G phone started. The most important thing is that the user will not have to pay any price for Jio Phone, that is, customers will have to deposit only Rs 1,500 as security for three years. Which has been promised to be returned after three years. In this way the effective price of the phone is, in a way, zero.

Jio Phone was described by Chairman Mukesh Ambani as ‘India’s intelligent smartphone’ at the time of its launch. This phone has many features like VoLTE calling, Jio app, app download, internet and video calling which make it different and special from other feature phones available in the market. The company had informed at the time of launch that after pre-booking starts in August, the phone will start being available from September 21. Let us tell you how Jio feature phone is different compared to other feature phones.

• First of all let’s talk about the network used in Jio phone. Jio phone supports 4G and comes with VoLTE network. It automatically connects to the Reliance Jio network. That means SIM card of any other network cannot be used in Jio phone. You will be able to make HD calls. Whereas if we talk about other feature phones present in the market, SIM card of any telecom network can be used. This is a huge upgrade for feature phone users.

• Jio phone comes with single SIM slot. And it has space for a nano-SIM card. That means you will not be able to use more than one SIM in Jio phone. And if you want to use two numbers simultaneously, you will need another device. Today, while most of the devices in the country come with dual SIM, it is disappointing to get single SIM support in Jio Phone. Whereas most of the other feature phones available for purchase in the market today support two SIMs.

• The third feature is voice command which makes Jio Phone different from other feature phones. Jio phone has a voice assistant which can handle basic commands in Hindi as well as English. Will be able to search on Google. And you will also be able to compose SMS by speaking. The phone can perform basic tasks like making calls or launching apps. This feature is not available in other common feature phones.

• Feature phones have apps that perform very simple tasks. But in Jio phone you will get apps like Jio Music, Jio TV and Jio Cinema. Jio Store is provided in Jio Phone. Here you will find all the apps which are made for the phone. These also include Jio’s apps like Jio Cinema, Jio TV and Jio Music. The music gets streamed. You can watch television serials and there is also a cinema for entertainment. There is also news that in the coming time, separate apps will be made available for YouTube and Facebook.

• From a feature phone point of view, the media streaming facility in Jio Phone makes it different from other common feature phones. We also tried streaming songs on JioMusic app and it worked well. We also tried the JioCinema and JioTV apps and found that streaming was great on 4G networks. We were able to stream an entire movie on the phone. Currently, media streaming facility is not provided in any other common feature phone.

• Jio Phone also has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth along with geolocation and NFC. NFC can be used for tap and go payment. At present, this feature has not been rolled out. And after future updates, with its help you will be able to link Jan Dhan account, UPI account, bank account and debit-credit card and also make payments. Both these features are not available in other common feature phones.

• You will also be able to watch the content of the phone on the television screen in the future. The company will soon provide a cable TV accessory for this. The phone has the facility of software update. The company will provide OTA updates. It is expected that Reliance Jio will make more features a part of this phone in the coming time.

• You can’t keep in touch with your acquaintances just through phone calls or messages. You will also be able to make video calls. Jio phone comes with a video calling feature, which you do not find in any other feature phone. Video calling is possible through a special app. At present, you will get this special facility only on Jio network.