Reliance LYF launched the LYF F1 smartphone today that looks very good on paper, incorporating newer network and communication technologies. The smartphone is priced at ₹13,999 and comes bundled with a bunch of offers for early buyers.
The phone's most noticeable features are related to network technology, such as Carrier Aggregation. This technology enables seamless 4G experience in theory, by combining multiple carriers or multiple spectrums to increase the bandwidth for faster data speeds.
Another important element in the phone is Rich Communication Services (RCS), which is considered an evolution of SMS. It can handle features beyond voice and text, such as file sharing, location sharing, drawing on pictures, live video and more.
Apart from these features, the device has specs of a good mid-range phone with a 5.5 inch full HD IPS screen. In the few few minutes that I spent with the phone, the display didn't appear to be very impressive. Under the hood, the phone runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor with 3 GB of RAM.
It has a rear 16 MP camera and front 8 MP camera. The company claims that it has worked especially on the camera's low light photography technology. LYF F1 has a battery capacity of 3200 mAh and, according to the phone-maker, it will last longer because of the Carrier Aggregation technology. The
phone has 32 GB of internal memory with an expansion slot supporting a MicroSD card of up to 128 GB.
The phone comes with Reliance Jio's welcome offer which gives the user free data until 31 December and will be available from today at all the Reliance digital stores.
Given the unique features and the Jio bundle to go with it, the phone's price point is good. It can be a good choice if the phone does perform to the specs provided on paper.
Yesterday, TRAI had announced a mandate, directing Reliance Jio to end its welcome offer by 3 December. So new users will need to grab a SIM before then to be able to enjoy the free data and other features.