There has been a lot of excitement around this Jio Next phone and people have been waiting for it but analysts say that the latest Jio Phone Next is too expensive and is actually letting down Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s vision to make India 2G-Mukt.
Most of the excitement and anticipation was to see how cheap a smartphone can be priced since it was made by two tech giants Jio and Google.
Jio Phone Next Specifications
Reliance Jio launched its first Android smartphone under the name Jio Phone Next. You will get the following specs on this phone:
Display
Jio Phone Next will come with a 5.45” screen with HD + resolution of 720p x 1440p and a refresh rate of 60 Hz. The screen also has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection with an anti-fingerprint coating. The screen is quite good compared to the price.
Camera
In the camera segment, the Jio Phone Next offers a decent front and rear camera setup. You’ll get a single 13-megapixel rear camera with f-1/3 aperture, autofocus, and an LED flash on the rear.
At the front, it has been given an 8-megapixel camera with f-1/4 aperture and autofocus. No LED flash light has been provided for the front camera.
Both cameras will support Full HD 1080P video recording at 30 frames per second. In other camera functions, HDR mode, portrait mode, night mode, translation and timer settings will also be provided.
Processor & Memory
The hardware configurations of the Jio Phone Next are not as good as compared to its price. You will get Qualcomm Snapdragon QM215 with 1.3 GHz maximum clock speed that will run on 4 cores.
You will also get Adreno 308 GPU in this mobile phone for better video and gaming experience.
Apart from this, Jio Phone Next will come with 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM and 32GB of internal memory. You can also expand the internal memory of this phone by inserting a memory card of up to 512 GB.
Network and SIM Card
Jio Phone Next has Dual SIM support (4G on SIM-1 + 2G and 4G on SIM-2). But one SIM is locked only for Jio SIM card and you can only use Jio Internet on this mobile phone.
You can insert another network SIM card into the second SIM slot, but it will only be used for making calls.
Connectivity
In the connectivity segment, Jio Phone Next has the support of Wifi 802.11 b / g / n AGPS and Bluetooth version 4.1. You will also get a 3.5mm headphone jack on this mobile phone.
To charge this phone, you will get the old Micro USB port charger and there is no Type-C port. However, this mobile phone will support OTG and DTS-HD M6 / DTS-HD M8 / AAC codec for Bluetooth.
Battery and Charger
According to the specs, this phone will come with a removable 3500mah lithium polymer battery. The removable battery reminds us of the time of 2015 when most mobile phones used to have removable batteries.
To charge this removable battery, a 5V / 1.5 Amp Micro USB charger will be provided. So you won’t get any fast charging support on this mobile phone.
Audio and Sensors
In JioPhone Next, only the following three sensors will be provided:
- Light Sensor
- Accelerometer
- Proximity Sensor
In the audio section, a single speaker will be provided. To record audio and voice calls, a dual microphone will be provided out of which one microphone will function as a noise-cancelling microphone.
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Jio Phone Next Feature
As JioPhone Next jointly manufactured by two tech giants, Jio and Google, therefore, it provides you with many unique and useful features. If you are not a tech savvy, these features will be very beneficial to you.
Voice First Capabilities
The JioPhone Next comes with the Google Assistant feature. According to Jio, you can get things done by simply talking on your phone by speaking in your own regional language.
You do not need to have knowledge of English to use the Google Assistant. This feature is very useful for people who are not familiar with the English language.
Translate Feature
In JioPhone Next, you will get a unique translation function. You can use this feature while browsing the Internet in a web browser or using social media applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
You just have to set the language in which you want to translate the text. To use these features, simply click the recent button and you will find the Translate button here.
When you press the translate button, the text on the entire screen will be translated into the language you have already set.
Read Out Loud Feature
This is also a unique and outstanding feature of JioPhone Next. This feature will work like Google’s text-to-speech feature.
To use this feature, simply click the recent button and you will find the Listen button here. When you press the Listen button, the mobile phone will start to read the text of the whole screen and you can easily listen to it.
Best in class Camera
A 13-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front camera will be provided on JioPhone Next. All major functions such as portrait mode, night mode and professional mode will be provided on the rear camera.
On the front camera, a built-in filter is provided for funny selfies. You can enjoy filters similar to Snap Chat on that selfie camera.
Bundled Jio and Google Apps
As JioPhone Next is manufactured by Jio and Google, all major Google and Jio applications are available on this phone. You will get JioTV, Jio Cinema, Jio Chat, Jio Security, Jio Saavan and other important Jio apps.
All major Google apps like Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Pay, Photos, and Google News app are available on JioPhone Next.
Automatic Feature Updates
Reliance Jio announced that JioPhone Next will receive updates from Google Android for the next three years and security updates for the next four years. Since Google has made this phone, you can expect some more interesting features in the coming days.
Pragati Android Operating System
Google has designed a new Android Pragati operating system for JioPhone Next. According to Google, it is an optimized version of Android, designed to offer a pleasant experience to Indian users.
Google has introduced some unique features for this operating system such as Listen, Translate and an optimized Google Assistant function. As already mentioned, this operating system will receive future updates for the next 3-4 years.
Jio Phone Next Price
An October 29 press release from Jio and Google says this will be the most affordable smartphone anywhere in the world with an entry price of just Rs. 1,999/- and the rest paid through Easy EMI for 18 to 24 months.
Now that the phone is here and the price is at 6,499/-. If you’re buying it upfront, analysts say the price tag is too high to lower the estimated 550 million feature phone users on the 2G network to switch to the latest Jio Phone which operates with 4G enabling faster internet connection as well as video streaming options that 2G typically would not.
Jio Phone Next EMI Options
The phone’s price is even higher if the customer goes for the EMI option. The customer will have to pay 1,999/- rupees as the first down payment and another 501 rupees as a processing fee then the customer can choose to pay the rest of the amount according to an EMI plan.
There are EMI plans starting at 300 rupees for 24 months along with 5 GB data and 100 billion calling per month. Even then there is no promise of when exactly you will have the phone in your hands.
Jio Phone Next Price
There are EMI plans starting at 300 rupees for 24 months along with 5 GB data and 100 billion calling per month. Even then there is no promise of when exactly you will have the phone in your hands.
Jio Phone Next Booking Online
According to the Jio and Google press note, customers have to first show interest in buying the phone by visiting one of the over 30000 Jio Mart digital retail partners or by visiting the jio.com/next site or by sending WhatsApp message to a specific number.
On receiving confirmation, visit the nearby Jio Mart retailer to collect your Jio Phone next.
Will Feature Phone Users Buy JioPhone Next?
So this is the first time according to this press note 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.
However, analysts were expecting the phone to be a smartphone price like a feature phone not almost equal to a feature phone.
Feature phones cost around 1,200 rupees which is a far cry from the near 6,500 rupees mark the new Jio phone costs. Its price is out of the reach of that huge 370 to 400 million feature phone users.
Almost half of them use a feature phone price of less than Rs 1,500/- and spend less than Rs. 200/- per month on their monthly voice plan.
Expecting millions of these users to buy a new device that is much more expensive but less robust has a worse battery and will wear and tear much faster than their current feature phone is not very realistic.
Expert Reviews on Jio Phone Next
The previous Jio phones since launching have sold about 100 million units while priced under 5000 rupees so to expect the latest Jio phone to sell more than those will be challenging considering the price and ongoing supply situation.
Neil Shah, Vice President of Research at Consumer Electronics Analyst Firm Counterpoint Research also adds the current pricing is too high perhaps better pricing would have been to have the phone EMI first down payment at around 2500 rupees and then have installments of around 100 rupees,
It is not a matter of the product specs that will slow down phone sales that could have been worked around the challenge to selling large volumes to convert the 2G feature phone users into 4G smartphone users is the current pricing.
Faisal Kawoosa from Techarc also says the Jio Phone Next is all right for the price of 6499 rupees given the tech specs and here’s a mention of what the specs are the phone comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon QM215 Processor which is something you find in entry-level affordable phones.
It has dual sim capacity, a 3500 mah battery and a 13-megapixel rear camera, and an 8-megapixel front camera.
Now back to what Kawoosa said however there are better phones from Realme and Infinix in the same segment offering better features.
The expectation from analysts was this phone that was built by tech giants like Jio google and Qualcomm partnering up would have made a more affordable phone that will attract feature phone users to switch to smartphones.
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