Reliance’s JioPhone caused quite a stir upon its announcement thanks to its effective Rs 0 price tag and 4G support. The handset has been a bit of enigma all this while, with the company yet to make the phone available to anyone.
The first step towards having a Reliance JioPhone in your hands starts on August 15 when the company says it’ll go up for beta testing. This process is shrouded in mystery right now, with the brand yet to announce how exactly volunteers will be selected. The only action you can take right now on the company’s site is to ask it to keep you posted.
Clicking on the ‘Keep me posted’ link leads to a page where you’re asked to register your interest as an individual or business. This step is presumably just a preliminary one for Reliance Jio to gauge interest and supply a stream of information via email or SMS as things start moving forward.
The actual pre-booking process will begin on August 24. You can choose to do it online or offline via a Reliance outlet. Post this, you’ll be eligible to snap up the JioPhone at some point in September. The actual date hasn’t been disclosed yet.
Vending is set to take place on a first-come first-serve basis, so expect the initial rush to be pretty hectic. Pre-ordering should give you an edge, but it remains to be seen by how much. It should be noted that you’ll have to be ready with a Rs 1500 security deposit when heading out to book the feature phone.
Also Read: Reliance’s JioPhone might get a special version of WhatsApp
That Rs 1500 will be refundable after 3 years have passed. You’ll have to hand in the JioPhone to get the amount back. Reliance Jio hasn’t mentioned whether the condition of the handset matters at that point of time, so it’s a risk you’ll have to take.