Airtel counters Reliance JioPhone, offers Celkon 4G smartphone at Rs 1349

The 'Celkon Smart 4G' comes with a four inch touch screen, dual SIM slots and access to all popular apps like YouTube, WhatsApp and Facebook

India’s leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel on October 30 in partnership with Celkon launched a 4G Android smartphone for Rs 1,349. The phone comes bundled with Airtel's Rs 169 offer plan, which provides unlimited calls, and 500 MB data per day for 28 days. 

The partnership is part of Airtel’s ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ initiative, under which Airtel plans to collaborate with device manufacturers to launch smartphones at the price of a feature phone. 

In terms of specifications, the Celkon Smart 4G smartphone sports a 4-inch screen, dual-SIM slots and FM radio. The Android powered 4G smartphone offers access to several apps on Google Play Store, including YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp. The device will also come preloaded with apps from Airtel -- MyAirtel app, Wynk music and Airtel TV.

The phone comes bundled with Airtel Rs 169 offer plan, which provides unlimited calls, and 500 MB data per day for 28 days. Also, there is a cashback offer that entails to terms and conditions. 

To avail a cashback offer, ancustomer needs to make a down payment of Rs 2,849 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 1,000 after 36 months, taking the total cash benefit to Rs 1500. 

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 3,000 must be done within the first 18 months (to claim the first refund installment of Rs 500) and another Rs 3,000 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/Celkon at any point to claim the cash benefit.

“We are pleased to partner with Celkon in our endeavour to bring affordable smartphone options to the market and build an ‘open ecosystem’ of low cost devices. Celkon has strong brand affinity and deep distribution in southern Indian markets, and our partnership will enable us to serve a large set of customers with this affordable smartphone proposition. Airtel’s ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ proposition has received an extremely positive response from customers and we look forward to bringing more device partners on-board in the near future,” said Raj Pudipeddi, Director – Consumer Business & CMO, Bharti Airtel in a statement.
 

Here are the technical specifications of the smartphone

Model	Celkon Smart 4G
Screen	4-inch
Operating System	Android v6.0 (Marshmallow)
Preloaded Airtel Apps	My Airtel App, Airtel TV, Wynk Music that offer digital self-serve and exciting digital content
Processor, Battery	1.3 GHz quad core processor, 1500 mAh battery
RAM	1 GB
ROM	8GB (expandable upto 32 GB)
SIM	Dual SIM Slots
Camera	Rear – 3.2 MP and Front – 2 MP
Network support	4G VOLTE /3G/2G
Connectivity	Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS
Others	microUSB 2.0 port, FM Radio, MPEG 4 video support and Smart wakeup