Reliance Jio announced in June that they will launch the JioPhone Next on Ganesh Chaturthi (today) on September 10, 2021. However, the company late last night announced that its’ delayed rollout and will commence before Diwali (November 4, 2021). The company has also announced that the phone is currently in advanced trials in a press release.
“Jio and Google have begun testing JioPhone Next with a limited set of users for further refinement and are actively working to make it available more widely in time for the Diwali festive season”.
RIL in a press release
Also Read: Reliance JioPhone Next Launched In India: Price, Specs, Availability
Moreover, the company says that this additional time will also help mitigate the current industry-wide, global semiconductor shortages. We know that semiconductors are the components that power most consumer electronics. Its’ short supply this year is impacting everything from automobiles to smartphones to video game consoles. However, this short supply stems from the COVID-19 induced factory closures and heightened demand for consumer electronics. This situation is apparently one of the reasons for the delayed rollout of JioPhone Next.
During the announcement, RIL states that “The device and the operating system will offer premium capabilities that have until now been associated with the more powerful smartphones. Features including voice-first features that enable people to consume content and navigate the phone in their own language, deliver a great camera experience, and get the latest Android feature and security updates”. As we know, JioPhone Next is meant to provide people who are still using 2G featurephones a path to upgrade.
Also Read: Reliance Jio Freedom Plans With No Daily Data Limit Announced
Reliance JioPhone Next Features: Expected
Although Jio has not given detailed specifications of the upcoming smartphone, it did reveal a few details about the phone. It will be a full-fledged smartphone with support for the Google Play Store, Google Assistant and more. JioPhone Next will run on the Android Go version of Android 11. It will also have Google Duo Go, Google Chrome Go and Google Camera Go, along with a native Snapchat integration. Whereas, according to rumours, the phone will have an HD display with a 1440×720 pixel resolution. Although this is something unheard of in smartphones as of now. Reliance JioPhone Next also runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 215 chipset. However, we do not know how much RAM and storage will be on the device.
Also Read: Jio 5G Phone: Everything You Need To Know
In terms of optics, Reliance JioPhone Next will have a 13MP camera on the back and an 8MP camera on the front. It is also expecting to have a swappable battery and removable back panel. Mostly because feature phone users are still used to that kind of stuff. In addition, it will have dual-SIM card slots, an essential feature for budget devices in India.
Sushmita Choubey
Marketer to the core, a writer from the soul. Engineer and an MBA turned budding tech writer - dabbling her hands in all genres of writing from tech to fiction. If not writing, you will always find me reading anything and everything. Otherwise, you will find me learning new languages.