JioPhone 2 Hands-on: A Feature Phone Full of Smartphones!

Earlier in July, Reliance Industries announced the successor to its first smartphone feature phone, JioPhone 2, to further increase the reach of 4G connectivity among users nationwide. The device landed in the Beebom office earlier this week, released its first flash sale, and appears to be a worthy upgrade over the original JioPhone.

JioPhone 2 (Rs. 2,999) does not stick to the candy bar design of its predecessor, but brings a new experience to users. It boasts a landscape viewing screen (from the good old days), a full-size QWERTY keyboard, Jio Apps, and much more. I moved my primary Jio SIM to JioPhone 2 for a few hours and here is my first experience with the device:

what’s in the box

JioPhone 2 comes packaged in a small teal colored box that features the Jio logo on the front and a summary on the back. The box contents are listed below:

• JioPhone 2
• Charging Adapter
• battery
• Jio SIM card
• Guidance and Warranty Documents

JioPhone 2: Key Features

Before we take a deep dive and talk about the JioPhone 2, let’s take a quick look at the device’s features:

Image and Build Quality

As I recall, the JioPhone 2 looked bigger in the promotional images. But when I first looked at the device, it turned out to be so. compact and small thing It doesn’t have much weight for it. It can easily fit in the palm of your hand but is really thick. I mean, it is a clunky devicedefinitely.

The JioPhone 2 has a plastic structure filled with keys and a horizontal screen on the front and a matte finish on the back. Especially when typing (this can also be done using only one hand on this device), the device makes it easier to hold and does not slip out of the hand.

• view

In addition, the device sports 2.4 inch horizontal QVGA display With 320x240p screen resolution. It’s not the best display you’ll find on the market on a feature phone, but can be bright enough and in broad daylight it tries to maintain its strength.

The only thing I don’t trust the JioPhone 2’s display is the image quality that looks like garbage on this small screen, but it’s actually not that bad (more on that later). That said, this is a phone for first-timers, so the display here is good enough for the price.

• QWERTY keyboard

Yes, let’s talk a little bit about the typewriter. This The USP of JioPhone 2 is the QWERTY keyboard This replaces the chunky T9 keypad on the previous model. While the keys are really small, they’re well spread and tactile, so you’ll remember the old Blackberry days.

Of course, it will take time to get used to the physical keyboard, as we’re all so used to slapping our fingers on a glass plate.

As you can see above, there is also a set of buttons above the keyboard. Besides the traditional call accept/reject keys, a dedicated Google Assistant key in the center. There are also shortcuts to access notifications, the MyJio app, or the camera from the navigation D-PAD.

You can long press the round microphone button to ask questions and get answers, and perform tasks such as turning on Bluetooth or sending texts.

The JioPhone 2 has no power or volume buttons on the sides, umm, it’s a feature phone. There’s a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top and a microUSB charging port at the bottom.

Software

Like the original JioPhone, this smartphone It’s powered by KaiOS (an updated v2.5 build only) and is truly feature packed. The notification center gives you access to many of the features you’d expect to see only on a smartphone, such as location services, privacy options, and other useful settings.

device is coming preloaded with lots of Jio appswith Facebook to help you keep track of your social life, including Jio TV, Jio Video Chat and more. But KaiOS’ primary asset should be Google Assistant integration, which should make it easier for many people to find their way around the device.

Like the original JioPhone, this device comes with NFC and JioPay, making it possible to pay for items at the supermarket using just your phone.

The device also has a Jio AppStore so you can choose to install apps like Google Maps, Hotstar, BookMyShow and Narendra Modi (NM) app, among others.

Yield

First, let’s get the specs out of the way, JioPhone 2 Powered by 1 GHz dual-core chipsetIt’s paired with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage. You also get a dedicated microSD card slot to expand storage up to 128GB.

While these seem like decent specs for a feature phone, there are some issues with the user experience. I mean the device works just fine but feels slow due to slow animationsalso unnecessary splash screens that appear when opening every application.

For example, I had to wait 3-5 seconds after dialing the number to see the call screen. It’s not really a big deal for such a low-cost phone, but the user experience could have been better. Call quality was good and I didn’t encounter any hiccups there.

I was mostly satisfied with 4G Internet speeds, as apps load fast, websites load well, and I even tried to book a taxi from the browser (more on that coming soon, so stay tuned).

Also a massive 2,000mAh removable battery pack It loaded onto the JioPhone 2, but my experience was normal in the few hours I spent with the device. The battery seems to drain pretty fast if you continue to use the device but oh well, I’ll test the phone more thoroughly to get a better idea. Charging is also slow as there is no fast charging support – which we shouldn’t expect.

cameras

As for optics, JioPhone 2 has 2MP rear camera and 0.3MP front camera, which the device carries forward from its predecessor. Photos clicked using this setup are fine for what you get in the package.

You can’t distinguish any details in the photos I take and the photos are full of noise in most cases, especially in low light, but you can transfer them to your smartphone or PC for sharing on social media.

I’d say the cameras on the JioPhone 2 are good enough for capturing memories, sharing selfies on WhatsApp, or video calling via the JioChat app. Don’t expect high-quality results from this, here are some camera samples we captured in different lighting conditions:

• daylight

• low light

• selfies

SEE ALSO: Here’s a First Look at WhatsApp and YouTube in Action on JioPhone

JioPhone 2 Hands-on: A Great JioPhone Successor!

From my short time with it, the JioPhone 2 looks like a great successor to Reliance Jio’s first feature phone. it’s a device The JioPhone 2 looks like a great “smart” feature phone for first-time phone buyers.

I think the JioPhone 2 has a lot in its favor as its horizontal screen and QWERTY keypad are its key selling points. They will definitely attract new and nostalgic users and will do their best for its intuitive experience at an affordable price. Can’t wait to buy JioPhone 2? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Buy JioPhone 2 from Jio.com (Rs. 2,999)