Reliance Jio JioPhone review: A KaiOS-powered "smart feature phone" that connected hundreds of millions in India to 4G.
India's 4G mass-onboarding device.
JioPhone was a phenomenon — Reliance Jio's ~$24 KaiOS-powered "smart feature phone" that brought 4G data, WhatsApp and YouTube to hundreds of millions of Indians who had never had internet. A landmark in mobile inclusion.
01Display
42/10042/100 — right at the average for budget phones of 2017.
02Camera
36/10036/100 — right at the average for budget phones of 2017.
03Performance
36/10036/100 — right at the average for budget phones of 2017.
04Battery
64/10064/100 — right at the average for budget phones of 2017.
05Build
56/10056/100 — right at the average for budget phones of 2017.
06Value
80/10080/100 — right at the average for budget phones of 2017.
- Sold for the equivalent of ~$24 with refundable deposit.
- WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook on KaiOS.
- 4G VoLTE for first-time-online buyers.
- Connected hundreds of millions in India.
- T9 keypad limited typing.
- QVGA screen.
- 2 MP camera.
- Locked to Jio network.
How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 1-phone cohort of budget devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .