Booking for JioPhone starts today: Here’s all about features, payment schemes

The pre-booking of JioPhone will start for ₹500 across its retail stores, the website and Jio App from 5 pm.

A woman checks her mobile phone as she walks past a mobile store of Reliance Industries' Jio telecoms unit, in Mumbai. (Reuters)

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio will launch its 4G feature JioPhone from September and pre-bookings - for ₹500 - will begin on Thursday evening.

The introduction of Reliance's 'effectively free' phone is likely to further stiffen competition in the telecom sector already disrupted by Ambani's venture.

Here's all you need to know about the JioPhone:

What's the scheme?

JioPhone will be given against a payment of a fully-refundable deposit of ₹1500 for three years. Customers can pre-book JioPhone for ₹500 and the balance ₹1000 can be paid at the time of delivery in September.

The total amount will be refunded after 36 months when the customer returns the phone.

What does the scheme offer and what are your options?

Voice calling for customers of the JioPhone will remain free and users will get unlimited data for a month against a payment of ₹153. Jio will introduce a weekly plan for ₹53 and a two-day plan for ₹23 for unlimited data access.

On availing the ₹309 monthly data plan, customers will be eligible for the JioPhone TV cable that enables mirroring the content onto a bigger screen. The cable connects to all televisions, including the older CRTs. Users can watch up to four hours of video content on a large screen daily.

What are the features of the phone?

The 4G VoLTE smart feature phone will come with pre-loaded Jio apps for messaging and entertainment. The phone will also include some of the popular instant messaging and social networking apps.

It can be operated by speaking out instructions to dial and type messages. The phone can be connected with television sets for watching live TV using the Jio TV app.

The Reliance JioPhone comes with a 2.4-inch QVGA display and has NFC support for digital payments. It supports 22 Indian languages.

How to book your JioPhone?

The JioPhone can be pre-booked online and offline from 5:30pm on Thursday. The initial instalment for booking is ₹500.

Visit the MyJio app or the Reliance Jio website to register. The website will ask your name, email ID, phone number, and pin code for the registration. For offline bookings, visit the nearest Reliance Digital store or Jio retailers.

Remember the phone will be available on a first come, first serve basis.

What next?

According to reports, Reliance Jio may launch a new 4G-capable laptop with dedicated 4G SIM slot, besides more offers and deeper discounts.