Airtel takes on JioPhone with Rs 1,399 4G smartphone: All you need to know

The partnership between Airtel and Karbonn is part of Airtel's 'Mera Pehla 4G Smartphone' initiative

Bharti Airtel has collaborated with home-grown Karbonn Mobiles to offer a 4G smartphone at an effective price of Rs 1,399. Dubbed ‘Mera Pehla 4G smartphone’ by the telecom major, the initiative is aimed at providing affordable 4G smartphone to people seeking to move from feature phones to smartphones and experience high-speed internet on the go.

Under the partnership, the Karbonn A40 Indian smartphone, which has a retail price of Rs 3,499, will be offered at an effective price of Rs 1,399. The smartphone comes bundled with a monthly pack of Rs 169 from Airtel, which offers generous data and calling benefits.

Karbon A40 India smartphone and Reliance JioPhone

To avail of the smartphone bundled with Airtel benefits, the customer needs to make a down payment of Rs 2899 for the 4G smartphone and make 36 continuous monthly recharges of Rs 169. The customer will get a cash refund of Rs 500 after 18 months and another Rs 1000 after 36 months, taking the total cash benefit to Rs 1500.

Karbon A40 India smartphone with Airtel bundle offer

In case the customer does not wish to opt for the Rs 169 bundled plan, she/he has the flexibility of doing recharges of any denomination and validity as per individual requirements. However, to claim the cash refund benefit, recharges worth Rs 3000 must be done within the first 18 months (to claim the first refund installment of Rs 500) and another Rs 3000 over the next 18 months (to claim the second refund installment of Rs 1000).    

The ownership of the smartphone is completely with the customer and there is no need to return the device to Airtel/Karbonn at any point to claim the cash benefit.

Starting October 11, Karbon A40 India and other smartphones under the ‘Mera Pehla 4G Smartphone’ initiative will be available at leading mobile stores across the country. After sales support for the devices will be provided by the handset manufacturers through their service network.     

“As the market leader and pioneer of 4G services in India, Airtel’s aspiration is to digitally empower every Indian with high speed data access. We are delighted to partner with Karbonn to remove barriers to smartphone adoption and enable millions of Indians to leapfrog to a full touchscreen smartphone experience. We plan to partner with multiple manufacturers to bring affordable smartphone options to the market and build an ‘open ecosystem’ of low cost devices. This is yet another step in our ongoing journey to deeply understand customers and bring innovation that delights them.” said Raj Pudipeddi, Director – Consumer Business & CMO, Bharti Airtel.

Here are the key features and specs of Karbon A40 India smartphone:

Model	Karbonn A40 Indian
Screen	4-inch touch screen
Software	Android 7.0 Nougat
Preloaded Airtel apps	MyAirtel, Airtel TV, Wynk Music
Processor, Battery	1.3 GHz processor, 1,400 mah battery
RAM	1 GB
ROM	8GB (expandable upto 32 GB)
SIM	Dual SIM Slots
Camera	Dual Camera. Rear – 2 MP and Front – 0.3 MP
Network support	4G/3G/2G with support for Airtel VoLTE, offering seamless voice and data connectivity over Airtel’s nationwide network
Connectivity	Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS