Exclusive: Reliance’s LYF 4G VoLTE feature phone to go on pre-order starting July 22nd

Reliance Jio’s 4G VoLTE feature phones have been hogging headlines since January this year. While their launch has been delayed quite a bit, we're getting more details as we inch closer to the announcement date – which we beileve to be tomorrow, July 21st, coinciding with the RIL AGM. And today, another piece of the puzzle has fallen into place, thanks to a Delhi-based retailer, who wishes to remain anonymous. 

We've learnt that the LYF-branded feature phones will go on pre-booking starting this Saturday, i.e. just a day after the AGM. This is similar to the strategy that the Mukesh Ambani-owned company opted for with the commercial launch of its Jio telecom services last year. The Jio SIM cards were available under the Welcome Offer within a couple of days after the 39th Annual General Meet held on September 1st. Our source further says that those interested would be able to pre-book the feature phones across offline stores in the country.

Sadly, there’s no information regarding the price or the pre-booking amount that the potential buyers would need to shell out. To recap, the Jio feature phone is expected to be a game-changer by bringing segment-first features such as support for 4G VoLTE for voice calls, Wi-Fi, USB tethering and more. The phone is expected to come in two variants – one powered by Spreadrum chipset and other based on the Qualcomm 205 platform. Both models are expected to offer 2.4-inch displays, 512MB RAM, 4GB expandable storage, and a VGA camera at the front. They’ll also support Jio’s apps such as JioCinema, JioMusic, etc.

We won’t have to wait long to know more about the upcoming feature phones. But the most important aspect would still be the pricing, with some analyst reports suggesting that they could be priced as low as Rs 500, reminding one of the the ‘Kar lo duniya mutthi mein’  campaign all over again.

With inputs from Mukesh Singh