Bizz Buzz explainer: What does JioPhone Next offers

Hyderabad Jio and Google announced the much-anticipated JioPhone Next on Friday, the made-for-India smartphone designed jointly by the two companies, will be available in stores from Diwali, adding to the festival cheer in the country. This will be the most affordable smartphone coming with price tag of Rs6,499. Customers can purchase the smartphone at an entry price of only Rs1,999 and the rest paid via easy EMI's over 18 or 24 months.

The company says that it has partnered with more 30,000 retail outlets across India to ensure easy access to the JioPhone Next. It has also made available paperless digital financing option, extending to the remotest corners of the country, making it geographically accessible to every Indian.

The EMI plans are available for 18 months and 24 months. These plans come bundled with voice and data benefits from Jio, so users can opt for these carrier plans to suit what's best for them. Jio offers the Always-on plan Large plan, XL plan, and XXL plan to JioPhone Next buyers.

Let's dive into the specs and features of Jio Phone Next:

Pragati OS

One of the key features of Jio Phone Next is the Pragati OS, it is an optimised version of Android made for the JioPhone Next, which is tailored to deliver a simplified and delightful experience for users in India. Google and Jio have worked closely to create this OS that is aimed at addressing the unique needs of millions of smartphone users across the country.

JioPhone Next will offer full functionality that one expects from a smartphone, with access to millions of apps available on the Play Store and comes with over the air updates support for new features, customization, security updates and more, which will continue to enhance the phone experience over time.

Specifications

The new Jio Phone comes with Qualcomm 215 processor which focuses on delivering optimised connectivity and location technologies along with optimisations in device performance, audio, and battery. It is clocked at 1.3 GHz with 4x Arm Cortex A53 cores. It features a 5.45-inch HD+ (720x1,440 pixels) display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection with an anti-fingerprint coating.

The phone boasts a 13-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel selfie camera. Rear camera features will include portrait mode, night mode, and preloaded custom India-augmented reality filters. The phone packs a 3,500mAh battery. Connectivity options include a Micro-USB port, 3.5mm audio jack, Bluetooth v4.1, Wi-Fi, and dual-SIM (Nano) slots. Sensors onboard include an accelerometer, light sensor, and proximity sensor.

Features

Voice first capabilities: Google Assistant helps users to operate the device (Open App, manage settings etc.) by just speaking to it. User can get information and content from Internet easily in a language familiar to them.

Read Aloud: The 'Read Aloud' functionality enables the user to have any content on their screen read out to them by the device. This allows users to consume content easily by simply listening in their preferred language.

Translate Now: The Translate Now functionality enables the user to have any screen translated to the 10 popularly spoken Indian languages. This allows users to read any content in their language of preference.

Easily share with friends: Quickly share apps, files, photos, videos, music and more with family and friends, even without the internet, using the 'Nearby Share' feature.

Automatic feature updates: JioPhone Next comes with over the air updates support for new features, customization, security updates and more, which will continue to enhance the phone experience over time.

The device supports all the available Android apps that users can download and use in the device via Google Play, thus giving them the freedom to choose from millions of apps available on the Play Store. It also comes preloaded with a host of Jio and Google apps.