In a bid to counter the JioPhone, more than two weeks ago, telecom operator Airtel announced its partnership with Karbonn to launch an affordable 4G smartphone. As a part of that partnership, the company launched the Karbonn A40 Indian. Now today, Airtel has announced its partnership with Celkon to bring us yet another affordable 4G smartphone – the Celkon Smart 4G.
The Celkon Smart 4G is an entry-level Android smartphone with access to Google Play Store which means you can install and use almost all the apps that are available on Play Store, including WhatsApp. This isn’t possible with the JioPhone as it’s a feature phone and runs KaiOS.
Also, this partnership with Celkon is a part of Airtel’s ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ initiative under which the company aims to bring affordable 4G smartphones to the people at the price of feature phones by teaming up with device manufacturers.
The Celkon Smart 4G currently has a market price of ₹3500, however, with Airtel’s bundled offers, its effective price turns out to be ₹1349.
Airtel’s offers available on Celkon Smart 4G are the same as the ones on Karbonn A40 Indian. Customers have to make a down payment of ₹2849 to get this 4G smartphone, and after that, have to make recharges of ₹169 every month continuously for 36 months. This will entitle them to a cash back of ₹500 after first 18 months and ₹1000 after another 18 months. Making a total cash back of ₹1500 after 36 months.
Having said that, if the customers don’t’ want to make a recharge of ₹169 every month (which is the bundled plan), they still have the option to make recharges worth ₹3000 within the first 18 months to get a cash back of ₹500, and then another ₹3000 in the next 18 months to get the remaining ₹1000.
It’s also worth noting that customers are not required to return their smartphone to Airtel or Celkon to claim their cash back rewards. Something that JioPhone users will have to do.
“We are pleased to partner with Celkon in our endeavour to bring affordable smartphone options to the market and build an ‘open ecosystem’ of low cost devices. Celkon has strong brand affinity and deep distribution in southern Indian markets, and our partnership will enable us to serve a large set of customers with this affordable smartphone proposition. Airtel’s ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ proposition has received an extremely positive response from customers and we look forward to bringing more device partners on-board in the near future.” said Raj Pudipeddi, Director – Consumer Business & CMO, Bharti Airtel.
Celkon Smart 4G Specifications
- CPU: 1.3 GHz quad-core processor
- RAM: 1 GB
- Operating System: Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- Display: 4-inch WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) display
- Rear Camera: 3.2 MP with LED flash
- Front Camera: 2 MP
- Internal Storage: 8 GB
- External Storage: Expandable up to 32 GB via microSD card
- SIM: Dual SIM
- Connectivity: 4G VoLTE, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, micro USB
- Battery: 1500 mAh
Celkon Smart 4G Price and Availability:
- Price: Effective price of ₹1349
- Availability: Available through leading mobile stores across the country
