Reliance Jio: The Ultimate Review
BloombergQuint’s Aayush Ailawadi brings you the ultimate lowdown on Reliance Jio 4G
It’s been nearly a month since Reliance Jio launched its services, enough time to analyse and review the user experience and that’s what I’ve done here, with some help from my colleagues at BloombergQuint.
Now, before I start with this review, here are a few things to keep in mind.
Firstly, BloombergQuint purchased the JioFi 2 Wi-Fi hub and LYF Flame 1 phone at a Reliance Digital store in central Mumbai in late August. It took nearly a week to activate the JioFi device and a little over three weeks to activate the smartphone. Why the delay? Well, apparently the company was taking longer than usual to conduct the ‘know your customer’ (KYC) process, that’s what the store staff had to say.
One telecom services dealer told BloombergQuint that this was a classic demand-supply problem- that the number of tokens dealers could activate was measly when compared to the tokens dished out at that dealership. After receiving a SIM card, a customer needs to complete a verification process via SMS.
Some customers attributed the delay to strict verification standards adopted by Reliance. They claimed that several personal documents submitted by them were rejected by the company for not being recent enough.
Now onto the review...like every other story, there’s good news and bad news. Let’s begin with the bad news?
Voice Or VoLTE: Hello?
It’s no secret that Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio has been at war with the COAI (Cellular Operators Association of India), which essentially means incumbent operators like Vodafone and Airtel, over points-of-interconnect (PoI). Jio alleges that incumbent telecom companies are not allowing internet telephony calls to their networks by denying the requisite interconnection. Jio claims that’s why calls from its network to other carriers and vice versa are not getting completed.
Call failure has been our experience as well. Be it in Mumbai or Pune or Bangalore - nine of ten calls made or received on a Jio SIM (at earthly hours) did not go through.
Speed: Tortoise Or Hare?
When it comes to the Jio service, a lot has been said about rampant call drops and failed connections, but here’s the good news - Jio 4G certainly lives up to its promise of offering lightning fast speeds, especially outdoors. I tested the service extensively in Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore and was impressed with the results. Even on the highways between Mumbai and Pune, and Bangalore and Mysore, the data speeds were impressive, ranging from 2 MBps to 35 MBps, which is more than enough to get the job done on the go.
If you’re using the Jio service, you can definitely enjoy your favourite songs, shows and movies whilst travelling. Also, you could use both the LYF smarthphone and the JioFi device as a WiFi hotspot and ensure all your fellow travellers enjoy the same connectivity.
Although high speeds were recorded in a number of tests, in some spots, primarily indoors, I did get some dismal results. For example, at the BloombergQuint office in Elphinstone, central Mumbai, I barely managed to get a speed of 1 MBps on Jio. In the same location, on Vodafone 4G, the speed was as high as 12 MBps.
Battery: What About The Juice?
JioFI: It has a 2,300 milliampere hour (mAh) battery that the company claims will last just 6 hours, when charged to the fullest. However, from our combined user experience it got us through most of the day on a single charge with average usage.
LYF: While the pocket router’s battery life was a standout, the LYF smartphone’s 2,000 mAh battery is nothing to write home about. It cannot cope with the drain caused by 4G data usage, and so it needs to be charged more than a couple of times every day if you are using this as your only phone.
Also, as of now, most calls don’t connect on the Jio network in the first place, so you could only imagine the impact that added usage would have on this phone’s battery life, if and when Reliance Jio sorts out its connectivity issues!
For the purpose of this review, I stuck with Reliance devices, and did not test the Jio SIM on a other handsets (iPhones, Samsungs etc). Also, the cheapest LYF phone costs Rs 2,999, but when the BloombergQuint team went to purchase it in August, it was out of stock. Instead, we purchased the cheapest LYF device available on that day - LYF Flame 1 (LS 4503), which cost us Rs 4,199.
Bang For Your Buck?
With the speeds and functionality that it offers, the JioFi router seems to be a steal at Rs 2,000. It is cheaper than installing a WiFi router at your home and is also incredibly compact and useful on the go. Add to that Jio’s preview offer of free services till the end of the year and you’ve effectively recovered the cost of the router in that time period. Once the preview offer ends, you can choose from several plans based on validity and your data usage. This video from the day of the Jio launch showcases some of the plans on offer, although rival operators have since launched innovative schemes to combat Jio. For example, last month Vodafone launched a free data plan offering new customers 10 GB of 4G data at the price of a 1 GB plan, but with many riders.
The LYF smartphone is a whole different story. Prices as low as Rs 3,000 might sound attractive to some, but the phone performs dismally on several counts - battery, display, multitasking. Others might justifiably argue that at such a low price point, Reliance has packed in a lot of features. But, if you’re willing to shell out some more money, do remember there’s no dearth of affordable and functional 4G enabled smartphones in the market!
The Icing On The Cake
Now, along with all the freebies that Reliance is offering, it’s also promising zero roaming charges throughout India, which sounds great on paper but this can only be experienced once the company resolves all existing interconnect issues with rival operators
But, content really seems to be king for Jio considering what’s on offer in the form of Jio Music, Jio TV and Jio Cinema. If you’re an entertainment junkie, then this might just seal the deal for you. On my regular phone, Apple Music is my preferred music streaming service. But, whilst testing the Jio services, I was pleasantly surprised by the extensive library of high quality music and movies.
The Verdict
Well, the verdict is pretty simple. If you’re looking for great 4G speeds at competitive prices, then Reliance Jio offers you just that. But, if you’re planning to switch from your existing operator and like most normal people, you want to make voice calls from your smartphone, then you’re better off waiting and watching how the battle between Jio and the incumbent operators pans out.
So, for now, that makes the JioFI router a must have in every pocket for lightning fast internet speeds. But, if you’re sitting on the fence about ditching your existing smart phone SIM, then it’s safe to say, it won’t hurt if you remain seated a little longer.