JioPhone pre-booking begins on August 24, sale to start in September

The Jio official portal has put up a 'Keep me informed' banner

Reliance Jio Infocomm unveiled its much-anticipated 4G-enabled feature phone, JioPhone. To be virtually be free for users, the handset will be open to pre-registrations from August 24, and the device will go on sale in September, initially to those who pre-registered. The official Jio portal has put up a 'Keep me posted' banner where you can submit your details to stay updated on the progress around JioPhone. 

Even as the phone is effectively free, you have to pay a one-time security deposit of Rs 1,500, which will be refunded after 36-months. 

The JioPhone comes with tweaked tariff plans to suit the needs of feature phone users. The company has priced the packs at Rs 153 a month, Rs 54 a week, and Rs 24 for two days. All the plans offer unlimited 4G data combined with free access to Jio apps, unlimited free calling.  

Here are the key features of the Jio Phone 

The device is the first long-term evolution (LTE) ready feature phone that can also play videos using Reliance Jio apps. The phone comes pre-loaded with 22 of India's regional languages and can be operated using voice commands.  

The JioPhone comes with a distress call feature that gets activated by long-pressing numeric key 5. The long-press activates the distress message and send it to selected contacts. 

For customers who seek to mirror their phone screen on a television, Reliance launched a "TV-cable" that allows users to mirror their phone screen on CRT and LCD TVs. The TV cable can be used with Rs 309 Dhan Dhana Dhan.  

Reliance Jio has also promised to bring near field communication (NFC) ready phone later this year that will allow users to make digital transaction on a single tap from their linked Jan Dhan account, bank account and Jio Money.