Reliance JioPhone pre-booking starts: Documents, process, delivery date, and all you need to know

Reliance Jio has started taking pre-bookings for the JioPhone. Here’s how you can get one.

Reliance Jio disrupted the telecom industry with super affordable high-speed mobile internet, along with unlimited free voice calling. Now, the telecom operator is looking to further disrupt the telecom sector with its ‘smart’ feature phone – the JioPhone. The feature phone from Reliance Jio will bring voice search capabilities, will let you stream music, movies, TV shows and more. If you’re excited to get your hands on the JioPhone, here’s everything you need to know. 

How to book a JioPhone

Starting today, August 15, beta testing of JioPhone is set to commence. However, it seems to be more like internal testing before releasing to the customers. Official bookings for the JioPhone are set to start from August 24. However, authorized retailers, Reliance Digital and Reliance Digital Xpress mini stores have already started taking pre-bookings. You can head over to any of these stores and register yourself for a JioPhone. 

Alternatively, you can also visit jio.com and click on the JioPhone banner that reads ‘Keep Me Posted.” You will be asked to fill in some details such as your first name, last name, address, phone number and pin code. You will also be able to book it from the MyJio app. The link is expected to go live after August 24, when the official bookings open. The first lot will be sold on first-come-first-serve basis. If you’re lucky, you may be able to get early hands on the device.

Reliance JioPhone – ‘Effectively free’

Yes, the term ‘free’ might confuse some, but as expected, there are terms and conditions attached to it. To begin with, to be able to buy a JioPhone, you need to have an existing Jio connection. And to avoid misuse, you will also need to pay a refundable deposit of Rs 1,500 at the time of booking. This amount will be refunded to you after three years, making the device ‘effectively free.’

List of documents needed

Reliance Jio simplified the process of getting a SIM card with eKYC process. The same applies for booking a JioPhone too. You simply need to head over to Reliance Digital or authorized stores, submit your Aadhaar card copy for eKYC, and you’re done. All your details, such as phone number, address, full name and more will be picked up from Aadhaar and uploaded on a centralized software of the telecom operator. 

JioPhone tariff plans

A disruptive phone needs disruptive tariff and Jio is doing exactly the same. JioPhone will come with Dhan Dhana Dhan offer, and the plan will cost Rs 153 a month. At this price, you will get unlimited free local and national outgoing calls, and unlimited internet (cap of 500MB per day), after which speed will be throttled to 128Kbps. There are two other plans too – one is priced at Rs 24 with two-day validity and other priced at Rs 54 with one-week validity.

Reliance Jio will also be selling cables to connect your JioPhone to your television set and watch movies, live TV and more on the big screen. The package for the same will cost Rs 309 per month.

Reliance JioPhone specifications and features

The JioPhone features a 2.4-inch QVGA display. It comes with a D-pad for in-device navigation and an alphanumeric keypad. The handset also comes with FM radio compatibility, support for SD card and an LED flashlight. With 4G VoLTE connectivity, it also comes pre-installed with JioMusic, JioMovies and JioTV apps, SOS feature for emergency and NFC for contactless payments via UPI.