The JioPhone was a 4G feature phone powered by KaiOS sold by the Indian network operator, Reliance Jio. It had a candy bar design with alphanumeric keys and a 2.4-inch color display. Last year it was followed by the JioPhone 2 which runs the same OS and same screen size but packs a physical QWERTY keyboard. News of the JioPhone 3 have surfaced and it is said to be a full touchscreen smartphone.
According to a company executive that decided to remain anonymous, the next JioPhone will have a 5” touchscreen display, 2GB of RAM, and 64GB of expandable storage. There is no info on the processor and the OS but Android seems to be the only option available.
The cameras will also be upgraded – a 5MP rear shooter and a 2MP front-facing camera. Hopefully, there should be an LED flash for the rear camera and the battery should be bigger.
These upgrades mean the phone will cost more – INR 4500 (~$63) to be specific. This is triple the price of the original which sold for INR 1500 (~$21). The JioPhone 2 sold for INR 2,999 (~$42).
The launch of the JioPhone 3 is reported to be in June with pre-orders starting in July and sales in August. We are not sure yet but RelianceJio may offer an exchange program as it did for the JioPhone 2.
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It was reported back last year that Jio was planning to launch affordable 4G smartphones with large displays. One of the companies it is said to be working with is Flex Ltd., a US-based original design manufacturer (ODM).
