Airtel launched 4G smartphones @ Rs 1,649 : All you need to know

Airtel partners with Intex to expand it's "Mera Pehla 4G Smartphone" initiative and launch three new 4G smartphones in India -- Aqua Lions N1, Aqua A4 and Aqua S3 4G at a starting price of Rs 1,649. Under the 'Mera Pehla 4G Smartphone' initiative, Airtel aims to partner with multiple mobile handset manufacturers to create an 'open ecosystem' of affordable 4G smartphones and bring them to market for virtually the price of a feature phone. The telecom operator very recently partnered with another homegrown smartphone maker - Karbonn to launch A1 Indian and the A41 Power for Rs 1,799 and Rs 1,849 -- "effectively at the price of a feature phone."

Coming to the newly launched 4G smartphones under the Airtel, Intex partnership -- Aqua Lions N1 is actually available at a price tag of Rs 3,799 - this is the market price of the phone. However, the 4G smartphone -- Aqua Lions N1 will be available to Airtel customers at an effective price of just Rs 1,649.

To get the Aqua Lions N1 at Rs 1,649 -- customers will first need to make a down payment of Rs 3,149 while buying the smartphone, however, later Rs 1500 will be refunded back to them. After making the down payment of Rs 3,149, customers will have to make 36 continuous monthly recharges of Rs 169 recharge plan on their Airtel number. After 18 months of the continuous recharge, the customer will get cash refund of Rs 500, while another Rs 1,000 will be refunded back to them after 36 months, taking the total cash benefit to Rs 1,500.

Just in case the customer doesn't wish to avail the Rs 169 bundled plan, Airtel gives them the flexibility of taking up any plan and of any denomination as per their requirement. However, to claim the cash refund benefit, recharges worth Rs 3,000 must be done within the first 18 months (to claim the first refund installment of Rs 500) and another Rs 3,000 over the next 18 months (to claim the second refund installment of Rs 1,000).

Unlike the JioPhone, the ownership of the Aqua LIONS N1 is fully with the customer and there is no need to return the device to Airtel/Intex at any point to claim the cash benefit. It is noteworthy that JioPhone comes at an effective price of Rs 0. To get a JioPhone, the customers need to make a down payment of Rs 1,500 - however, if the customer decides to return back the JioPhone to the company, Jio will refund the entire Rs 1500 to the customers, but that's only after 3 years of using the phone.

Aqua Lions N1 specifications

Going by the specifications, the newly launched Aqua Lions N1 come with dual SIM 4G support and is powered by MTK chipset. The 4G smartphone comes with a 4-inch full touch WVGA screen, 2-megapixel rear camera and Front VGA camera. It also includes 1GB RAM and is further coupled with 8GB of internal storage which is expandable up to 128GB. In addition to the Aqua Lions N1, Intex and Airtel launches two more affordable 4G smartphones have been introduced under the 'Mera Pehla Smartphone' initiative -- Aqua A4 and Aqua S3 4G.

Intex Aqua A4 specifications

The Intex Aqua A4 comes at an effective price of Rs 1999 (compared to market price of Rs 4999). Likewise the Aqua Lions N1, Rs 1500 will be refunded back to the customer - in the similar manner. As per the specifications, the Aqua A4 comes with 1GB RAM and an 8GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 64GB. The 4G smartphone is powered by 1.3 GHz quad-core processor, and has a 5-megapixel camera on the rear and a 2-megapixel sensor on the front.

Intex Aqua S3 specifications

On the other hand, the Intex Aqua S3 -which is supposedly the most advanced phone in this range, is available an effective price of Rs 4379 (compared to market price of Rs 6649). Likewise the Aqua Lions N1 and Aqua A4, Rs 1500 will be refunded back to the customer - in the similar manner. The newly launched Intex Aqua S3 comes with a 5-inch HD IPS display and is powered by 1.3GHz quad processor. The smartphone comes with 2GB RAM, 16GB of internal storage which can be expanded up to 64GB via a microSD card. Intex Aqua S3 is backed by a 2450 mAh battery and features an 8-megapixel primary camera at the back and a 5-megapixel selfie camera along with an LED flash.

Aqua Lions N1 price:

Down payment: Rs 3,149

Airtel recharge: Rs 6,000

Cashback: Rs 1,500

Total charge incurred after three years: Rs 7,649

Airtel users get the phone at an effective price: Rs 1,649

Intex Aqua A4 price:

Down payment: Rs 3,499

Airtel recharge: Rs 6,000

Cashback: Rs 1,500

Total charge incurred after three years: Rs 7,999

Airtel users get the phone at an effective price: Rs 1,999

Intex Aqua S3 price:

Down payment: Rs 5,879

Airtel recharge: Rs 6,000

Cashback: Rs 1,500

Total charge incurred after three years: Rs 10,379

Airtel users get the phone at an effective price: Rs 4,379

All the three devices -- are Android powered and offer full access to all apps on Google Play Store, including YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp. The smartphones come preloaded with MyAirtel App, Airtel TV and Wynk Music. "With today's launch, Airtel now offers seven 4G smartphone models under its 'Mera Pehla Smartphone' initiative. It has partnerships with Karbonn Mobiles and Celkon in addition to Intex," notes Airtel.