Reliance Jio 4G VoLTE JioPhone pre-bookings start 24 August: Booking details, features, plans and pricing

Reliance Industries Limited chairman Mukesh Ambani unveiled **Reliance Jio** ’s new JioPhone on 21 July. The JioPhone, is very unlike your iPhone when it comes to price, but it is feature-packed nonetheless and more importantly, comes with 4G VoLTE support. At the event, it was also announced that the Reliance Jio **JioPhone** , would start shipping from the first week of September this year and pre-orders for the same will commence from 24 August. Customers who are interested in the Reliance Jio JioPhone, can pre-book the device on a first-come, first-serve basis. The bookings can be done either via the MyJio app, the Jio website, or across Reliance Digital stores, all of which will begin accepting pre-orders for this 4G feature phone from 24 August. Indeed, you may not see a booking window appear anywhere until it is 24 August. As for the price, the phone will be available free of cost. Jio will ask customers to pay a security deposit of Rs 1,500 for three years. The same deposit is refundable upon returning the JioPhone after three years of use. Registering your interest Interested buyers should visit the Jio.com website and and tap on the ‘ Keep me posted’ button. After entering your details you will receive a confirmation email and SMS about the same. Do note that this does not confirm a booking for a JioPhone, but will just send across updates on the JioPhone to your ID keeping you notified and updated about the same. What a JioPhone gets you As for the features of this smartphone, the chairman announced that it would pack in 4G VoLTE support and that users will also be able to use the device by speaking in voice commands in a number of languages. Indeed, these are two big features that will attract most buyers of this smartphone. The display is not the biggest at 2.4-inches (QVGA resolution), while the design appears practical and functional at best. There is also a headphone jack with a microphone at the bottom and a speaker at the top. While the specifications, may not impress smartphone users, it’s the feature set and the software that will. The JioPhone packs an internet browser, apart from the usual bouquet of Jio Apps (JioTV, JioCinema, JioMusic and more). More importantly, it also features the ability to **cast content to a TV** . Other bonus features include the usual SOS functionality and even NFC, that should allow for payments. While the JioPhone will be available free of cost, users will have to spend on recharge plans like the Jio Rs 153 monthly plan that allows for unlimited data with 500 MB Fair Usage Policy (FUP) per day. Another plan is the Rs 309 monthly pack and it is solely aimed at users who would like to broadcast their Jio TV app on their television sets. More information on this feature is available  **here** . The Rs 309 plan allows for 3-4 hours of JioTV daily usage, that users can extend using Jio’s sachet packs (Rs 24 and Rs 54) that will add a validity of two days or up to a week depending on a user’s requirements. Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.