Indian mobile phone "Jio Phone 2" that can be bought in the 4000 yen range is the second coming of BlackBerry!

Cheap QWERTY keyboard terminal, Jio Phone 2

　Indian carrier Reliance Jio announced the "Jio Phone 2" with a QWERTY keyboard. It will be available in India from August 15th. The price is 2999 rupees (about 4900 yen), which is just below 5000 yen. The Jio Phone 2 isn't a pure smartphone, but it's not a feature phone either. A new genre of products called smart feature phones. Google services are also attracting attention as a moving terminal.

Reliacne Jio to launch Jio Phone 2

　Jio Phone 2 has an unknown CPU, 512MB of memory, and only 4GB of internal storage. The rear camera is 2 million pixels, and the front camera is 300,000 pixels, which is a performance that seems to be a single digit mistake. The display is not compatible with touch and is 2.4-inch QVGA, an old-fashioned size. However, it supports LTE and can use VoLTE for calls, and has the latest functions around communication.

　It is reckless to run Android with these specs. Actually, Jio Phone 2 uses KaiOS. KaiOS is an OS that is said to be derived from Firefox OS, and is a quasi-smartphone-like OS that runs well even with feature phone class specs. The latest version supports the app store, and it is also possible to add apps later.

KaiOS adopted by Jio Phone 2

Speaking of Kai OS, Nokia (HMD Global) has also adopted the reissue model "Nokia 8110 4G" announced at MWC 2018 in February this year. Google also invested in KaiOS at the end of June. This will allow you to use various Google services on your KaiOS device. Google Maps and Google Search are still available on the Nokia 8110 4G.

Nokia 8110 4G with KaiOS

Jio Phone 2 seems to be able to use Google's basic services as well. And from August 15th, Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc. will also be available for download from the app store. Even if the OS is light, the specs are low and the screen is narrow, so you won't be able to have the same experience as a smartphone, but you can still use SNS in general, so it seems that you can use it as a sub-terminal.

However, there is currently no Japanese input system on KaiOS, so Japanese input is not possible. There is no problem with Japanese display, so it can be used as a viewer. That said, the Jio Phone 2 has a QWERTY keyboard, so maybe some developer will come up with a Japanese input app that uses romaji input.

Major SNS can also be installed from the app store. Japanese input is expected in the future

　As a terminal equipped with KaiOS, the same Reliance Jio released the "Jio Phone" almost a year ago. It is a numeric keypad terminal similar to Nokia 8110 4G. Others include Alcatel's folding terminal "Go Flip". Unlike these terminals, Jio Phone 2 has a QWERTY keyboard, so it seems easy to enter passwords for Wi-Fi and web services.

　In the smartphone era, KaiOS-equipped super feature phones are in the spotlight because they are cheaper than low-priced smartphones, and the ease of use with just key operations is popular among current feature phone users. It's from Low-priced smartphones can now be purchased for less than 10,000 yen, but low-spec smartphones are slow and have poor operability. In that case, a super feature phone that can use web services and SNS is more convenient.

Reliance Jio is gaining momentum as a latecomer in India with low fees and low-cost terminals. Looking at the global share of feature phones in the first quarter of 2018 (January to March), Reliance Jio, which has only Jio Phone, is the top with 15%. The second place is Nokia/HMD Global with 14%, and the third place is ITEL with 13%. 4th place is Samsung with 6%, 5th place is Tecno, which is explosively popular in Africa with 6%, and the rest is 46% (counterpoint survey).

Top 5 feature phones. Sales of Jio Phone (1st generation) are by far the best

　Jio Phone ranked first with 15% by far. The second place Nokia 105 (2017) is 7%, so it is selling more than double that. Jio Phone's figures are only for India, but that's why the Indian market is a huge market. This is similar to the situation a few years ago when Xiaomi reached the third place in global market share with sales almost exclusively in China (IDC survey, Q3 2014).

Jio Phone's popularity is due to its extremely low price of 1,500 rupees (2,460 yen), and in addition, if you subscribe to a monthly plan of 153 rupees (approximately 150 yen), you can make calls and use the internet for free. That's why. Moreover, if you can use web services with KaiOS, it will be a much more convenient product than a 2G dedicated phone and SNS terminal. The Jio Phone sells as it should.

Jio Phone (first generation) with cheap main body and low communication charges

With the arrival of the Jio Phone 2, posting photos on SNS will be easier to see, and the QWERTY keyboard will allow you to type text smoothly. Moreover, this spec is almost the same as BlackBerry's "BlackBerry Curve 9300" released in 2010 (although the communication is 3G). It is possible to think that the famous machine from 8 years ago was revived for 5000 yen in 2018.

Specs are close to BlackBerry Curve 9300

　For the time being, it would be interesting to use it as an SNS viewer terminal. I would like to see it released outside of India. And I dream that one day, if Japanese input becomes possible, I will be able to type Japanese on the Nokia 8110 4G as well. I'm looking forward to it.

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