#SmartphonesFaceoff: JioPhone 2 v/s Micromax Bharat 1
What's the story
JioPhone 2, the successor to Reliance's popular JioPhone, recently went on sale in India. The JioPhone 2, in the low-budget smart feature phone segment, takes forward the legacy of its predecessor with improved specs and added functionalities. And while the phone has limited competition, there is a challenger in 2017's Micromax Bharat 1. Here's our spec-to-spec comparison.
Design & Display
At a glance
JioPhone 2 features a BlackBerry Curve-like design with a 2.4-inch horizontal screen, QWERTY keypad, and a four-way navigation pad. On the other hand, the Micromax Bharat 1 sports a traditional candy form with a 2.4-inch vertical screen, T9 alphanumeric keypad, and a four-way navigation button. The JioPhone 2 is a clear winner here for its wider display and QWERTY keypad.
Camera
For the shutterbugs and selfie lovers
Considering we are looking at low-budget feature phones, both the Jio and Micromax phones offer pretty basic and identical cameras. On the back, both the JioPhone 2 and Micromax Bharat 1 sport a 2MP camera. Up front, both phones come with a VGA camera. Result: Tie.
Internals
All the important stuff
The Micromax Bharat 1 is powered by a Qualcomm 205 processor, paired with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage which is expandable up to 32GB via microSD card. On the other hand, the JioPhone 2 is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor, paired with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of onboard storage which is expandable up to 128GB. Winner: JioPhone 2.
Software
Software: Lifeblood of your smartphone
While both the phones run KaiOS, there are a couple of differences. The JioPhone 2 has a dedicated App Store along with Jio suite of apps including JioMoney, JioMusic, JioCinema, and JioTV. On the other hand, Bharat 1 comes pre-loaded with BHIM UPI payments app and BSNL's wallet app. Winner: JioPhone 2 for its native Jio suite of apps.
Battery & Connectivity
Staying connected
Both the Jio Phone 2 and Micromax Bharat 1 are fuelled by 2,000mAh battery. However, in terms of connectivity options, the JioPhone has a three major advantages. The Bharat 1 supports Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi hotspot, dual 4G, VoLTE, Bluetooth and microSD card while the JioPhone 2 has these options along with NFC, VoWi-Fi and GPS as additional features. Winner: JioPhone 2.
Price and plan
Pricing: The Key factor
In partnership with BSNL, Micromax's Bharat 1 was officially launched for Rs. 2,200 and came bundled with a Rs. 97 monthly-plan that offers unlimited voice calls and data. JioPhone 2 is priced at Rs. 2,999. Jio is offering three prepaid plans for all users. These plans are valid for 28 days and offer free voice calls, unlimited data connectivity, and access to Jio apps.
Our result
How things stack up!
While the Micromax Bharat 1 costs less, comes with LTE support and has the benefits of KaiOS apps, the JioPhone has all these features along with a few key advantages. The JioPhone 2 has a wider display with QWERTY keypad; access to Google Maps thanks to inbuilt GPS; NFC; VoWi-Fi and the advantages of Jio's own apps. Our winner is JioPhone 2.