Apple announced its new iPhone models roughly two weeks ago, and after going up for pre-order in India last week, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus (Review) officially launched in the country at an event on Friday with Reliance Jio, and you can now go buy one, both online and offline. Apple CEO Tim Cook also spoke at the event, via a video link. The launch of the iPhone X is still due for November in India, so for about a month at least, if not more, these two phones are the best iPhones you can possibly buy.
The iPhone 8 price in India is Rs. 64,000 for the 64GB variant and Rs. 77,000 for the model with 256GB storage. iPhone 8 Plus 64GB and 256GB storage options are priced at Rs. 73,000 and Rs. 86,000 respectively. The iPhone 8 and the iPhone 8 Plus offer incremental improvements over the last year's models, but bring in some interesting new features such as wireless charging, and a major performance boost thanks to the new A11 Bionic SoC, as well as cameras that are now at par with the best in business.
There are some offers you can grab on the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus as well. If you choose to buy from Amazon, there's an exchange offer of up to Rs. 12,100 off, plus an additional Rs. 3,000 if you're exchanging an old iPhone. Flipkart also has exchange offers, a buyback guarantee, and a bank cashback offer. You can also avail Jio's 70 percent buyback offer via Amazon, under which, Jio-iPhone plan users that return the phone after 12 months will get a buyback of Rs. 44,800. To use the offer, you need to either recharge Rs. 799 per month for a year, or get a one-time Rs. 9,588 (or higher) recharge from Jio. Snapdeal, too, has some interesting offers in partnership with some banks, including Rs. 13,000 instant discount on the iPhone 8.
At the other end of the spectrum, there's the Jio Phone (review) from Reliance Jio. "Bharat ka smartphone" promises to be effectively free, since you can return it in three years for a full refund, but obviously, nothing is ever that simple. Deliveries of the phone have started, and as is usually the case, there's a bit of fine print involved.
For one thing, Jio Phone users have to pay a minimum of Rs. 1,500 per year for the first three years of using the phone if they want to keep using it. So that "free" feature phone will set you back by Rs. 1,500 (refundable) and usage charges of at least Rs. 4,500 (non-refundable). If you return the phone within one year, you will be charged Rs. 1,500 plus taxes. Before two years, the charge is Rs. 1,000, plus taxes. Before three years, the charge is Rs. 500. The refund amount of Rs. 1,500 is still paid to you, adjusted against these charges. After three years, there is only a three-month window to return the Jio Phone.
As you might expect, the phone is also SIM-locked - you can't put a SIM card from a rival network into the Jio Phone. You are also not allowed to sell, lease, transfer, or assign the phone to someone else. As we noted in our review, the phone has the potential to succeed and delivers a good enough experience for the price. The Jio apps give you access to movies, TV, and music at no additional charge, and OTA updates could add new features over time. It's not a replacement to a smartphone, but the Jio Phone is definitely an interesting prospect.
Between these two phones at the extreme ends of the pricing spectrum, the Nokia 8 has been launched in India by HMD Global at an event in New Delhi. The price had already been revealed by an Amazon listing, and the phone will be available from October 14, online only via Amazon India and otherwise available on select offline stores. The Nokia 8 price in India is Rs. 36,999, which pits it against the OnePlus 5 smartphone.
The Nokia 8 has a 5.3-inch QHD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC, and 4GB RAM. It comes with 64GB of storage, microSD support, and a 3090mAh battery. It has a dual-rear camera setup with two 13-megapixel sensors, and there's another 13-megapixel camera on the front as well.
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