Jio Phone 2: 5 Reasons Why This QWERTY Keypad 4G Phone’s Pricing is Inappropriate

Jio Phone 2: 5 Reasons Why This QWERTY Keypad 4G Phone’s Pricing is Inappropriate

Reliance at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) unveiled the JioPhone 2, a successor to the Jio Phone. At the event, the company also announced FTTH service Jio GigaFiber. Although the upgraded Jio Phone 2 packs improvements when compared to the Jio Phone, we think its price tag does not justify it. The QWERTY keypad feature phone does not have any significant upgrades over its predecessor. Let’s take a look at the top 5 reasons why Jio Phone 2 is not worthy of its price tag.

JioPhone 2: 5 Reasons Why This QWERTY Keypad 4G Phone Pricing is Inappropriate

The only upgrade that comes with the Jio Phone 2 is its QWERTY keypad with a 4-way navigation pad, which offers a BlackBerry-style outlook. Most of the other features are similar to the ones found on the Jio Phone. Besides, QWERTY keypad design might not be suitable for everyone and will take some time to get accustomed to. Keeping in mind that the design is the only notable change, the Rs. 2,999 price tag seems to be unjustifiable.

Unlike the JioPhone, which was launched with an effective scheme of the refundable token amount (after three years of purchase), the Jio Phone 2 lacks any such offer, as of now. Although some reports hint that the company could come up with a similar scheme for the Jio Phone 2, there has been no confirmation from the company yet.

There is no difference between the software on Jio Phone and the Jio Phone 2. Both the variants run KaiOS out-of-the-box. The Jio Phone 2 ships with apps like WhatsApp and YouTube pre-loaded into the interface, but the original Jio Phone is not going to miss on them. WhatsApp, YouTube, and Facebook will be available for download on the Jio Phone starting August 15, 2018, via Jio App Store. Yet again, the phone fails to bring a feature that is exclusive to it.

Both the Jio Phone and Jio Phone 2 pack the same specs such as 2MP rear camera and VGA front camera, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB of internal storage. The only difference lies in connectivity as the Jio Phone 2 gets dual-SIM support. It must be noted that you can only use Jio SIM on both the phones.

The Jio Phone 2 and Jio Phone are backed by 2000mAh battery. By spending Rs. 1,000 extra on the Jio Phone 2, buyers are not even getting a bigger battery.

JioPhone 2: Overview on the QWERTY keypad

The primary deal with the Jio Phone 2 is its full QWERTY keypad, which reminds us of good old BlackBerry days. However, for the ones who are not typing savvy, the QWERTY keypad won’t give any added value. Most of the Jio Phone users mainly use the device for making free calls and accessing 4G speeds, and these tasks can be easily done on the Jio Phone 1. Also, the Jio Phone 1 is a compact device, which is easier to carry around than the large-screen Jio Phone 2.

JioPhone 2: Hold Your Purchase Decision

In a nutshell, the JioPhone 2 is just a re-designed version of the Jio Phone 1 at significantly higher pricing. Debunking the myth that Reliance will exchange the Jio Phone for the Jio Phone 2 at Rs. 501 under ‘JioPhone Monsoon Hungama Exchange Offer’, the company has clarified that this offer is only valid for exchange between old Jio Phone 1 with the new Jio Phone 1.

If you are interested in buying the Jio Phone 2 when it becomes available, then we suggest you hold back your decision until Reliance comes clean about the benefits and tariff that the new Jio Phone 2 packs