JioPhone Next, an upcoming affordable smartphone offering Reliance Jio is going to make its entry in the Indian market soon. The thing is, JioPhone Next will have to recover from the branding gaps left by LYF. This is not the first time that Jio is trying to come out with a smartphone. It has already tried doing that with LYF in the past. The issue was the user experience. While LYF smartphones were cheap and made 4G a possibility for the masses, they failed to deliver a decent user experience.
However, a key point to note here would be the Reliance Jio never intended to avail users of a strong smartphone experience with LYF devices. Jio was only trying to proliferate the availability of VoLTE supportive smartphones in the market so that its network business can grow faster.
But with the JioPhone Next, Jio must deliver a strong user experience. There are already affordable 4G devices available in the market. Consumers don’t want a slow and laggy Android experience; regardless of the price, they are paying. This is where the partnership with Google might help Jio.
JioPhone Next Price Is Less Relevant than User Experience
JioPhone Next’s price will be less relevant than the kind of user experience it can deliver. With the financing options, most people with moderate income and exposure today can go for a decent 4G device in the Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 range.
A large number of people might be aware of the slow performance that LYF phones had. Reliance Jio will have to ensure that a smooth Android experience is delivered to the users. Because if that happens, then consumers will be ready to pay even Rs 7,000. It will still be a good deal because of the kind of power the smartphone will have. But if there’s no good user experience, the JioPhone Next could go very wrong for the company.
The smart idea would be to not purchase the smartphone right away as it comes to the market. There will be pre-booking options available, but wait until the time reviews are out and it would be a wise thing to test out the device in your hand before you purchase it. If you feel it’s good enough, purchase it, if not, then let it go.