Celkon Smart 4G: Airtel’s new JioPhone-rival launched at effective price of ₹1,349 | HT Tech

Celkon Smart 4G: Airtel’s new JioPhone-rival launched at effective price of 1,349

Airtel is offering its new 4G VoLTE-enabled smartphone for an ‘effective’ price of 1,349, but there’s a catch. Here’s everything you need to know.

By: KUL BHUSHAN
| Updated on: Oct 30 2017, 16:55 IST
Airtel is offering the Celkon Smart 4G with a cashback of Rs 1,000.
Airtel is offering the Celkon Smart 4G with a cashback of Rs 1,000. (Airtel)
Airtel is offering the Celkon Smart 4G with a cashback of Rs 1,000.
Airtel is offering the Celkon Smart 4G with a cashback of Rs 1,000. (Airtel)

Bharti Airtel in partnership with Indian smartphone company Celkon has introduced a new entry-level 4G VoLTE smartphone. Called the Celkon Smart 4G, the smartphone comes bundled with data benefits from Airtel. Originally priced at 3,500, the smartphone coupled with the Airtel plans is 'effectively' priced at 1,349.

To avail the scheme, one needs to make a down payment of 2,849 for the smartphone and make 36 continuous monthly recharges of 169. The customer will be eligible for a cashback of 500 after 18 months and another 1,000 after 36 months, accounting to a total of 1,500 discount.

Airtel is also giving the flexibility to choose recharges of other denominations. While customers can choose any other recharge denomination, they will be eligible for the cash refund benefit only if they make recharges worth 3,000 within the first 18 months (to get the first refund installment of 500) and another 3,000 over the next 18 months to claim the second refund installment of 1,000.

Under the 169 plan, Airtel is offering unlimited voice calling and 0.5GB of data per day for 28 days.

Airtel Celkon Smart 4G: Specifications

The Celkon Smart 4G comes with a 4-inch full touchscreen. It runs on Android Marshmallow and is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. The smartphone comes with 8GB built-in storage and supports expandable storage up to 32GB.

It sports a 3.2-megapixel rear and 2-megapixel front-facing camera. Connectivity options include 4G VoLTE, 3G/2G, dual-SIM, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, microUSB 2.0 and FM Radio. The smartphone comes preloaded with apps like My Airtel App, Airtel TV and Wynk Music.

Focus on sub-2,000 mobile phone market

The Celkon Smart 4G is a part of Airtel's 'Mera Pehla Smartphone' initiative, under which the operator plans to collaborate with a series of handset companies to bring smartphones at the price of a feature phone. Earlier this month, the company launched a smartphone in partnership with the Indian handset maker, Karbonn.

Airtel is clearly looking to compete with Reliance Jio, which is targeting the sub-2,000 mobile phone market with its JioPhone, a smart feature phone. Reliance Jio is offering the device with a security deposit of 1,500 which is refundable after three years. According to the latest report by Counterpoint Research, JioPhone was among the top three feature phones in India in Q3, 2017.

Besides Airtel and Reliance Jio, another Indian smartphone company Micromax has joined the bandwagon with the Bharat 1 smart feature phone. With a partnership with BSNL, the company is offering the phone for 2,200. The state-run telecom operator is offering unlimited data and voice calling for a monthly plan of 97.

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First Published Date: 30 Oct, 16:54 IST
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