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Though we live in a smartphone era, the feature phones haven't lost their charm. We say this as there are manufacturers working on such handsets and there is a widespread anticipation for these devices among users too.
Feature phones with 4G connectivity are in the rumors for quite a few months. It was Reliance Jio that was rumored to launch one such phone, but Micromax Bharat 2 was launched with the feature. Now, a recent Economic Times report tips that a 4G feature phone priced at Rs. 1,500 will soon be a reality. The report claims so as the chip maker Spreadtrum Communications has started slashing prices of its chipsets by half.
Also read: Reliance Jio is prepping 4G VoLTE feature phones
Rs. 1,500 4G feature phone
Spreadtrum Communications' India head Neeraj Sharma states that they are right now working on a technology to make a Rs. 1,500 priced 4G feature phone. He added that they concept promotions to their partners have already debuted, tipping that the launch of such a handset isn't far fetched.
Prices of 4G VoLTE phones are dropping
The domestic manufacturers such as Lava and Micromax have launched 4G feature phones priced around Rs. 3,000. Even Karbonn Mobiles has plans to reduce the cost of similar phones. Apart from these companies, Reliance Jio is speculated to unveil a Jio 4G VoLTE feature phone that could be priced at Rs. 1,500.
Also read: Expectations from Reliance Jio this year
Partnership with Reliance
Notably, Spreadtrum Communications and Reliance Industries have a two-year old partnership. The chip maker has powered the latter's LYF Flame 5 smartphone too. So, we can expect the Spreadtrum SoC to be used in the upcoming rumored Jio 4G VoLTE feature phone too.
Not only Jio feature phone
It is not only Jio, but many other handset makers are highly focused on launching low-cost 4G feature phones in order to make use of the disruptive data cost and plans offered by the telecom operators in the recent times.
No official confirmation
Though there is a speculation that the Jio 4G feature phone might be launched soon at around Rs. 1,500 as the Spreadtrum prices are dropping by almost half, there is no official confirmation from the company regarding the same. And, we need to wait until the same.
