Micromax Bharat-2 vs Karbonn A40: Voda, Airtel offer affordable smartphones

In a bid to take on Reliance Jio, telecom majors have been launching affordable smartphones over the last month in partnership with phone makers

Vodafone India on October 24 announced inked a pact with Micromax to roll out a 4G smartphone at an effective price of Rs 999. Dubbed as Micromax Bharat-2 Ultra, the smartphone will go on sale in November. Recently, Bharti Airtel also collaborated with Karbonn Mobiles to offer a 4G smartphone – the Karbonn A40 Indian -- at an effective price of Rs 1,399.

The launch of budget smartphones seems to be the incumbents answer to Reliance JioPhone, which is a 4G LTE-enabled feature phone bundled with Jio connection for free data, voice calls, roaming, SMS and access to Jio apps.

Here is everything you need to know about the new offers and budget 4G smartphone

Vodafone

Smartphone: Micromax Bharat-2 Ultra

Specifications: The smartphone is powered by Spreadtrum SC9832 1.3 Ghz quad core processor coupled with 512 MB RAM and 4 GB internal storage. The device sports a 4-inch WVGA display, a 2 megapixel rear camera and a 0.3 MP front camera. The handset runs on Android Marshmallow operating system and houses a 1,300 mAh battery.

Offers: As per the company's offer, one will have to buy the smartphone at Rs 2,899 and will have to recharge their new or existing Vodafone numbers with a minimum denomination of Rs 150 every month for three years.The buyer will get a cash back of Rs 900 at the end of 18 months and another cash back of Rs 1,000 after the next 18 months (36 months after purchase) in Vodafone "M-Pesa" wallet.

Smartphone effective price: Rs 999

Process

Step 1: The customers can buy the Micromax Bharat-2 Ultra smartphone by making a down payment of Rs 2,899

Step 2: To avail the cashback, which is valid only for existing and new Vodafone subscribers, customers need to make a recharge of any denomination that sums up to minimum of Rs 150 per month for 36 months

Step 3: After 18 successful recharges per month for 18 months, users will receive a cashback amounting to Rs 900 in their Vodafone M-Pesa wallet, and another Rs 1,000 after completing 36 months

Other details of the offer: The Micromax Bharat-2 Ultra smartphone comes with no binding terms and conditions and, therefore, allows customers to use the smartphone with the network operator of their choice. But to avail the cashback offer from Vodafone, user need to use the Vodafone SIM card to register the phone and fulfil Rs 150 monthly recharge condition.

The smartphone will be available from the first week of November.

Airtel

Smartphone: Karbonn A40 Indian

Specifications: The smartphone is powered by 1.3 Ghz quad core processor coupled with 1 GB RAM and 8 GB internal storage. The device sports a 4-inch WVGA display, a 2 megapixel rear camera and a 0.3 MP front camera. The handset runs on Android Nougat operating system and houses a 1,400 mAh battery.
 

Offers: As per the company's offer, one will have to buy the smartphone at Rs 2,899 and will have to recharge their new or existing Airtel numbers with a minimum denomination of Rs 169 every month for three years. In Rs 169 monthly recharge, Airtel offers unlimited local and STD calls coupled with 0.5GB data per day valid for 28 days.

Smartphone effective price: Rs 1,399

Process

• To avail the Karbonn A40 Indian smartphone, a customer needs to make a down-payment of Rs 2,899.
• The phone comes bundled with a no-frills contract from Bharti Airtel that requires a monthly recharge of Rs 169 per month for 36 months for a cashback worth Rs 1,500 – in two installments of 18 months each.
• After successful completion of first 18 months, user will get the first cashback of Rs 500 from Airtel. The second cashback of Rs 1,000 is credit to the user’s account after successful completion of 36 months. 
• The cashback brings down the effective price of Karbonn A40 Indian smartphone to Rs 1,399.
• The cashback is subjected to terms and conditions, which dictates that the user should either recharge with Rs 169 per month and enjoy the bundled benefits with the smartphone or recharge a total of Rs 3,000 in 18 months and Rs 6,000 in 36 months to get the cashbacks.
• In Rs 169 monthly recharge, Airtel offers unlimited local and STD calls coupled with 0.5GB data per day valid for 28 days.
• The customer is not restricted to use Airtel SIM card in the smartphone. Rather, the customer is free to change the SIM card at any point in time if he/she wants to switch to other network. But that will void the contract and revoke cashback and bundle offer benefits.
• A customer cannot return the device to Karbonn or Airtel and the ownership of the device lies with the customer.
• The Karbonn A40 Indian uses Android operating system and, therefore, can access wide spectrum of apps and services available in Google’s ecosystem. The phone comes installed with Airtel apps as well.