Airtel Mera Pehla 4G Smartphone, Karbonn A40 Indian at ₹1399

[Mario D'souza]

Taking on the sensational Jio Phone, Bharti Airtel today inked a deal with Karbonn Mobiles to announce Mera Pehla 4G Smartphone. Under this new initiative and partnership, the Airtel will offer Karbonn A40 Indian smartphone for an effective price of just ₹1399.

Launched in July 2017, the handset Karbonn A40 Indian is retailing at ₹3,279 on Flipkart and other stores. India’s leading telecom network Bharti Airtel has partnered with the Indian smartphone maker to provide My Smartphone Phone at an effective price of ₹1399.

Airtel ₹169 Recharge Benefits:

The Airtel is offering a bundled pack of benefits including unlimited voice calling and 500MB 4G data with ₹169 recharge that has a validity of 28 days.

Airtel My First 4G Smartphone Effective Price ₹1399 – Terms & Conditions:

If you are unaware, even Reliance Jio has used this effective price term in its offering. Here, in case of Bharti Airtel new initiative, the Karbonn A40 Indian handset will be priced at ₹2899. The company claims to provide cashback of ₹1,500 and thus arrived at the figure of ₹1,399.

As per the terms and conditions, the subscriber needs to make recharges of ₹169 for 36 continuous months. In this scheme, the customer will get a cash refund of ₹500 after 18 months and another ₹1000 after 36 months. That means a total cash back of ₹1500 after a period of 36 months.

Interestingly, you don’t need to return the handset for claiming cashback from Airtel.

Airtel 4G Karbonn A40 Indian Smartphone Specifications:

Regarding the specifications, Airtel My First 4G Smartphone has got a bigger 4-inch WVGA display with 480x854 pixels resolution when compared to Jio Phone.

Powered by 1.3 GHz Quad-core Mediatek Processor and 1GB RAM, the handset has 8GB internal storage expandable up to 32GB via microSD card slot. On the camera front, Karbonn A40 Indian mobile has got 2-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and camera modes including smile shutter, burst mode and Panorama shot. There’s a 0.3-megapixel front camera for selfies.

The smartphone has 1400 mAh battery that claims to provide a standby time of 240 hours and up to 4 hours talk-time on 2G network.

The Airtel 4G Mera Pehla 4G smartphone boots Android Nougat 7.0 and is pre-loaded with all the Airtel applications including MyAirtel, Airtel TV and Wynk Music.

Contrary to Reliance Jio Phone which is locked to Jio 4G SIM, the Airtel 4G Karbonn handset has dual-SIM support and can be used with respect to any network.

On the connectivity front, the handset supports Airtel VoLTE and 2G, 3G and 4G network. That’s great. If you happen to reside in Airtel VoLTE coverage, then you can enjoy VoLTE services of Bharti Airtel. It also supports other connectivity options such as Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Hotspot, and GPS.

What’s Your Opinion?

Airtel which is desperately looking to counter Reliance Jio has succeeded in its initiative. The company is looking for partners to develop affordable 4G handsets and this tie-up with Karbonn Mobiles is a first step in its journey.

Instead of engulfing in brutal tariff wars, the telecom companies should work towards creating an open ecosystem of affordable handsets to bridge the urban-rural gap.

Certainly, the Airtel certified Karbonn A40 Indian has a distinct advantage over Jio Phone leaving the cost factor. The access to all apps on Google Play Store including WhatsApp, Facebook, and YouTube is a big plus to Airtel My Pehla 4G Smartphone initiative.

However, the battery backup and mediocre camera is a big letdown.

Also Read: Jio4G VoLTE Feature Phone Unveiled for an Effective Price of ₹0