Exclusive: Android Go Based JioPhone 2 to Launch in April at Rs 1999

Back in August 2017, Reliance Jio announced the 4G VoLTE enabled feature phone called JioPhone for Rs. 1,499. After many delays, the company started shipping the device in few numbers. Almost eight months after its launch, Reliance Jio has generated more feature phone sales than the other brands like Nokia and Samsung. However, the JioPhone still misses the popular apps like WhatsApp.

Even the company hasn’t started selling the JioMedia cable for screencasting. Now, we have some exclusive information about the company’s next big launch. In the coming weeks, Reliance Jio is going to launch the JioPhone 2 as the successor to last year’s JioPhone. Though the JioPhone 2 comes with a price tag of Rs. 1,999, it will be sold for an effective price of Rs. 0. However, the process of getting the money back is not yet known.

The Rs. 49 unlimited plan with 1GB of high-speed 4G data will also be applicable for this new device. It will mostly come with the similar sized display and T9 keypad as seen on its predecessor. Under the hood, the device will be powered by the Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform. The JioPhone 2 will also offer cameras both on the front and rear. While the JioPhone came with KaiOS, the upcoming JioPhone will be running on Android Oreo (Go Edition).

The Yun OS powered Nokia 3310 4G launched in China is also rumored to go on sale in other markets with Android Go onboard. The Google Assitant on JioPhone 2 will support both English and Hindi languages. It comes pre-loaded with the Jio suite of apps and Go-edition Google apps. This week we had covered a detailed video on the features of the Android Go where we clearly mentioned why you shouldn’t be buying a phone that comes with this special version of Android OS.

The reason was primarily influenced by the prices of the phones launching i.e. the Nokia 1 & the Lava Z50 but with the JioPhone 2’s price of Rs 1,999, it might be worth buying. Again, do make a note that these are easy rumors from the same source who shared us information on the Galaxy S8 Mini last year. Let’s wait for a few weeks & look forward to more leaks on this upcoming feature-rich smartphone from Reliance Jio.

PS: This story was a prank for April 1st, 2018. Sorry!