Reliance JioPhone: How to buy Jio's free 4G phone

INDIA TODAY TECH

LAST UPDATED: JUL 22, 2017

NEW DELHI

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Reliance announced the JioPhone on July 21 at an effective price of Rs 0. The phone that goes on pre-order starting August 24, will be available to buy for all. But it will only be available on a first come first serve basis and here is how you can book one for yourself.

The JioPhone can be pre-booked from the company's website Jio.com. In fact it has already been posted on the website and you can register for latest updates about the phone. But the booking will not start until Thursday, the 24th next month.

Next, you can also book the phone using the MyJio app. If you are using a Jio number you probably already use the app to know the leftover data information, balance, recharge date or finding a Jio hotspot nearest to your location.

However, the JioPhone can also be booked offline at Reliance Digital stores. You can locate a store using the MyJio app or on the website or by calling up on their toll free number 1860-893-3333.

Reliance says the phone is 'effectively free' which means you still need to pay for it initially. To buy a JioPhone you would need to pay Rs 1500, which the company will refund after 3 years, if you return the phone.

Sales will begin when the pre-bookings end, but it won't happen before September. Reliance Jio did not announce a specific date starting which the phone will be available to buy. The company could have the option to either buy the phone from the store or get it delivered at your doorstep.

Voice calling is free on the phone, and so is the SMS facility to any number in India, be it in the home network or while roaming. But you would need to do a monthly recharge of Rs 153, that also gets you 500MB of data as well. In a way it is slightly expensive than Jio's DHAN DHANA DHAN offer that gives free calls and SMS and 1GB data every day costing roughly Rs 147 per month.

Apart from being a 4G feature phone, the JioPhone has some other unique features to it. It comes with voice command that works in both English and Hindi, wherein you can talk to the phone and command to send messages or open apps. It also comes with NFC based payment feature that allows you to register your bank account on the phone and use it to pay directly on the POS machines.

The JioPhone will be made in India and Reliance says it will be putting up 50 lakh units of it on sale every week in the last quarter of 2017.