Reliance JioPhone beta testing begins today; here’s how to book the phone online

For the general public, pre-booking for the Reliance JioPhone will begin on August 24. Here’s everything you need to know about Jio’s much-anticipated smart 4G VoLTE feature phone.

The JioPhone comes with an “effectively free” price tag. (Reliance Jio)

Reliance's much-anticipated JioPhone goes under beta testing from today. This essentially means the company will be testing the phone with a select number of people before the commercial roll out, which is expected to begin in September. For the general public, the 4G VoLTE smart feature phone will be available for pre-booking from August 24.

If you're interested in purchasing the JioPhone, you can register yourself on Reliance Jio's website that will "keep you posted" about the availability and other key details of the smart feature phone. The website will ask your name, email ID, phone number and pin code for the registration.

If you're a business, you need to provide details such as contact name, company name, pin code, PAN number or GST number, email ID, and phone number. Businesses will also need to submit details like the number of JioPhone required. After you have registered, users will get the updates about the JioPhone via SMS and emails.

Registration form for booking the JioPhone. (Reliance Jio)

Registration form for booking the JioPhone. (Reliance Jio)

You can also register for the JioPhone through Reliance's MyJio app. Reliance is also giving the option of booking the smart feature phone offline. In order to do so, users need to visit the nearest Reliance store on August 24. Do remember, the phone will be available on a first come, first serve basis.

In case, you haven't been up to date with Reliance Jio at all, here's a small recap. Reliance Chairman & Managing Director Mukesh Ambani on July 21 announced the launch of the JioPhone, a smart feature phone with 4G VoLTE support. The JioPhone comes with an "effectively free" price tag wherein users need to make a deposit of ₹1,500 for three years. The money is refundable after three years.

The Reliance JioPhone comes with a 2.4-inch QVGA display. It comes with a dedicated button that enables search through voice commands. It will also have NFC support for the digital payments. The phone supports 22 Indian languages. Like with other Jio plans, JioPhone customers will also get free voice calls till lifetime.

The company is also offering a few modified unlimited data plans with the JioPhone. For ₹54, customers can enjoy free data for seven days. For ₹24, customers will get two days of free data. On availing the ₹309 monthly data plan, customers will be eligible for the JioPhone TV cable, which enables mirroring of the content onto a bigger screen. The cable connects with all kinds of TVs, including the older CRTs. Users can watch up to 4 hours of video content on a large screen daily.