Reliance Jio is still not at the point of a commercial rollout, so it’s too early to say what the actual user experience will be like on the network. Even the actual pricing has to be announced – as of now, not much is clear really about the network. But you can sign up for Jio and enjoy high-speed connectivity without paying a paisa, and free hai to acha hai, right? The actual rollout of Jio will no doubt affect speeds, network availability, and could lead to call drops as well – while other networks, which stand to lose customers in the process, might actually see some improvement in their services. That’s all hypothetical though – but for now, we are really enjoying using our Jio account, and would recommend that you try and get one too. There are a few different ways in which you can get a Jio SIM. The network works on 4G, and uses VoLTE for calls, but the latter is not available on old phones. There is an app called JioJoin that Reliance offers which works around this through VoIP calling, in case your phone doesn’t support VoLTE, so it isn’t a very big problem. If you have a 4G compatible phone, you can get started with Jio, here’s what you need to do to get a Reliance Jio sim: 1) Make friends with someone working for Reliance The easiest way to get a Jio SIM is to know someone who works with Reliance. The company allows employees to refer a certain number of people to get Jio SIMs that can be used in your phone. Most Reliance employees are probably used to getting friend requests on Facebook from people that just want a SIM, so you might want to try one of the other methods instead.
2) Buy a Lyf phone
Reliance Retail’s Lyf range of phones hasn’t been getting the most spectacular reviews, but it’s the easiest way to get a new Reliance Jio connection right now. Just walk into a Reliance Digital Store, ask for a new Lyf phone, and you’re live on Reliance Jio. You can get a phone for around Rs. 3,000, and you’ll get three months of free, unlimited Internet access and calling along with it.
We can inform you that buying a phone like this, turning on the Wi-Fi hotspot, and using 4G to power your entire home’s Internet access, works just fine, and the speed and reliability (at the moment) is better than most broadband connections at home.
This gives you free, unlimited data, calling, and access to all of Jio’s apps for three months, or until the commercial launch of Reliance Jio, whichever is later. But if you don’t want to carry around an extra handset everywhere you go, there are more options.
3) Get a high-end Samsung phone
If Lyf is Jio’s bottom up approach to getting people to try out the network, then it’s Samsung offer is the top-down method. If you’ve got one of the following (relatively recent/ better) Samsung phones, then you just need to download the MyJio app, and tap on “Get Jio SIM”. Here are the eligible phones.
Samsung Galaxy A5 2015, Galaxy A7 2015, Galaxy A8, Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy Note 5 Duos, Galaxy Note Edge, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, Galaxy S7, and the Galaxy S7 Edge. There is also talk of the offer being extended to iPhones in the near future but this has not been announced yet.
Once that’s done, you will get a bar code that you need to take to a Reliance Digital where you have to show your phone and you’ll get a SIM. Remember to carry a photograph for the form, and your photo ID, and the staff will do the rest. Quick tip: in our experience – and what many other people online are also telling us – the Reliance Digital Xpress Mini Stores are much more efficient about this process than the larger Reliance Digital stores.
This method was earlier working on all 4G phones, but the company seems to be plugging the gaps now – however, the SIM you get can still be used on other phones. The SIM, and usage, are both free for now even using this method.