Remember those good old days, while you had to pay like Rs. 5000 to buy a basic phone which did almost nothing apart from calls, text messages and simples tasks like alarms and reminders? But as the Indian cellular industry has grown and Jio has completely disrupted the market by charging only for cellular data, other telecom operators are finding it hard to compete with that. But, now Airtel has come up with something to beat JioPhone, which is a feature phone with 4G VoLTE support and is priced at just Rs. 1500.
Airtel, one of the largest carriers in India has partnered with Karbonn, to manufacture and sell 4G smartphone at an unimaginable price. The Karbonn A40 Indian now comes at an effective price of just Rs. 1399 (compared to its current market price of appx. Rs. 3499). As per Airtel, the MRP of the phone is Rs. 2,899, and customers will get Rs. 1,500 as cashback, which will make the effective price of the phone go down to Rs. 1,399. Airtel will offer unlimited calls and 500MB 4G data every day, to users who will recharge with Rs./ 169 monthly plan. However, the process of cashback isn’t even that simple. Here’s customers can avail this offer.
The customer needs to make a down-payment of Rs 2,899 for the 4G smartphone and recharge every month with the Rs. 169 plan for 36 months. After half of the period, that is 18 months, the customer will get Rs. 500 as cashback and after 187 more months, Rs. 1,000 cashback will be provided making the total cashback of Rs. 1,500.
At this groundbreaking announcement, Raj Pudipeddi, Director of Consumer Business & CMO at Bharti Airtel said, “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.”
The Karbonn A40 India comes with a 4-inch display. It is powered by a 1.3GHz processor, coupled with 1GB of RAM and 8GB ROM, which is expandable upto 32GB via microSD. There is a 2MP rear camera and 0.3MP front-facing camera. The phone runs Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, and it packs a 1400mAh battery.
Airtel has also said that Rs. 169 plan is not the only option customers get. Anyone can recharge with any amount as per requirement, but 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 to avail the total cashback of Rs. 1500, making the effective price of the phone Rs. 1,399.
While JioPhone is being booked just like ordering cakes before Christmas, Airtel’s move of providing such cashback may attract some customers towards it, as with Airtel customers won’t have to register paying Rs. 500 and wait for the phone and they can just buy the phone, recharge and enjoy the cashback later. What do you think about this move? Will Airtel be able to beat JioPhone by offering an Android smartphone at a lower price? Let us know in the comments section below. Also, you may check out the specification sheet for the 4G phone, added below.
Features/Specs of the 4G Smartphone
|
Model |
Karbonn A40 Indian |
|
Screen |
4 inches touch screen allowing for a great video, online and social media experience |
|
Software |
Android 7.0 Nougat. The latest open ecosystem offers access to all apps on Google Playstore, including YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook and much more |
|
Preloaded Airtel Apps |
MyAirtel, Airtel TV, Wynk Music that offer digital self-serve and exciting digital content |
|
Processor, Battery |
1.3 GhZ processor, 1400 mah battery |
|
RAM |
1 GB, allowing smooth running of multiple applications |
|
ROM |
8GB (expandable upto 32 GB, offering ample storage for multiple apps, songs, pictures and video) |
|
SIM |
Dual SIM Slots (both Open) |
|
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 |
