The feature phone from Reliance versus the smartphone from Karbonn launched in association with Airtel India. There is indeed a lot of difference in this case but we know that Airtel’s phone comes with Android OS while it is the KaiOS that runs in the JioPhone. The JioPhone had got a lot of interest when it was launched, and over a million pre-bookings were done for the same. The Karbonn A40 Indian is a rather basic smartphone and not a feature phone, and although the device was already known, the offer from Airtel gave it some hype.
Here’s a comparison between the two phones in terms of what the actual pricing is, and which device comes with better network offer. First, let’s start with what you are paying and what you get.
The pricing breakdown
The recharge clause is there with both the companies as they ask you to recharge for a minimum value in total for the next three years. But to begin with, you are already paying Rs. 2899 instead of Rs. 1500 to get the phone in your hand. In the table below, you will be able to see how they differ with what you are paying and what you are supposed to pay. Also, the refund of Rs. 1500 is given back to you by Jio when you hand over the device back to Jio but that is not the case with Airtel.
|
What’s on stake |
JioPhone |
Airtel-Karbonn phone |
|
| Cost to customer | Rs. 1,500 | Rs. 2,899 | |
| Effective price of phone after cash-back | Rs. 0 | Rs. 1399 | |
| Min. recharges to get Rs. 1500/- cashback | Rs. 4500 | Rs. 6000 | |
| Total cost to customer in 36 months | Rs. 4500 | Rs. 7399 | |
| Average spend by customer | Rs. 125 | Rs. 205 |
What all is offered in the devices?
Network is how they differ, to begin with. The JioPhone works only with Jio network and that is a VoLTE network. On the other side, even though you are purchasing the Karbonn phone with Airtel network, you can use any other SIM and the phone would also support 2G and 3G networks in case there is no 4G available in particular areas and there has to be a roll down of a network. In the case of JioPhone, if there is no 4G network, there is no network available at all.
The JioPhone has only the Jio apps and some features limited to only this phone. On the other hand, the Karbonn phone with Airtel is a smartphone with Android OS, thus you are not limited to any apps and can download the ones you want to use, rather than being limited to any apps.
While with the JioPhone, the Jio Media Cable that will be available later will help in streaming the JioTV content to any TV, that is not easily possible on the Karbonn phone.
Hotspot is a feature where the Airtel phone is a better one because sometimes when you want to share the data network from your smartphone to other devices around. The JioPhone doesn’t offer any such option to tether the Internet to laptop or computer or any other phone through Wi-Fi. This is because the OS does not support the option of sharing the data. Tethering is a basic Android functionality and thus, the Karbonn A40 Indian offers it.
The JioPhone has a much better 2000 mAh battery when compared to the 1400 mAh battery on the Karbonn phone. Also, the consumption is different because the JioPhone relies on the 4G VoLTE network all the time while the Karbonn device will have the battery consumption based on the network it is connected to.
The limits
There are calling limits on Airtel, in certainly the plan they want you to take along with the phone. The Rs. 169 recharge every month gives you free calling while on local network while on the other side, the Jio network gives free calling irrespective of whether you are on local network or on national roaming. On Airtel, it is only the incoming calls that are free when you are on national roaming but there are certain call charges when you make outgoing calls.
The SMS sending is completely chargeable on the Airtel network, i.e. you have to pay for an SMS while on both, local network and national roaming. When we talk about that on the Jio network, there is a good 100 SMS for free every day.
The data limit is another important aspect here, and with the limits, Jio is better in every way as you can see in the above two points as well. The data is limited to 500MB per day on both the network plans but then, once you reach the FUP limit for the day, Jio allows you to still access the Internet for free with just the 128 Kbps speed. On the other side, Airtel doesn’t offer any slow-speed free data after the limit has been reached.
Conclusion – Which is an actual choice to go with?
For a fair recommendation after taking several factors, especially the limits into consideration, the JioPhone is what you should be choosing. The Karbonn phone is the one to choose only if you wanted an Android phone and not a feature phone because Apps are a requirement. One of the reasons for that is the availability of WhatsApp.
Also, with the tethering option, the Airtel Karbonn phone is a good one. But on the other side, the JioPhone has great plans and also, the apps such as JioTV, JioCinema, JioVideoCall, etc. are all free with full access in that little phone. So, you will have to choose based on what you really want from the phone. With regards to the cash back for the phone, it is hard to get it back because you will surely have to do some regular recharges.
