Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have released a list of supported mobile phone handsets that can be used with their newly launched ‘WiFi Calling’ feature.
While Airtel supports only four brands — Apple, OnePlus, Xiaomi and Samsung, Reliance Jio’s WiFi calling can be activated on phones from 12 brands.
Besides three of the four companies supported by Airtel, Jio’s WiFi calling is supported on selected models from brands such as Vivo, Motorola, Lava, itel, Infinix, Coolpad, Google and Tecno.
Jio, however, does not support OnePlus, according to the list given on its website.
It should be noted that not all handsets from the above brands are supported.
Taking the case of Xiaomi, for example, Jio supports only three, high-end models: Poco F1, Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro.
However, Airtel supports a wider range of Xiaomi handsets. Besides the above three, Airtel WiFi Calling works on Redmi 7, Redmi 7A, Redmi Note 7 Pro and Redmi Y3.
However, popular Xiaomi devices such as Redmi 8, Redmi 8A, Redmi Note 8, Mi A3, Redmi Note 8 Pro and Note 7S are not in the list of supported mobile phones.
It is believed that these will soon be added to the list on both networks.
The highest number of devices supported today are from Samsung.
While Airtel lists 14 Samsung handsets, Jio supports over 75 Samsung models — including practically all the recent models including Galaxy M30, M40, A50 and A10s. Samsung is one of Jio’s key network partners.
Samsung’s high-end devices like S10, S10 Plus and Note 10 are also included in Jio’s list of compatible devices.
As for OnePlus, it is supported only by Airtel’s network as of now. The company supports both the 6 series and the 7 series, including OnePlus 6T, 7 Pro, 7T and 7T Pro.
Jio supports Google Pixel 3, 3A and 3A XL, none of which are found in Airtel’s list.
Jio also supports about 20 models from Vivo, including V9, V10 and V11 series.
Among the cheapest models that are currently compatible with WiFi calling on Jio network are iTel S42, and several models from Infinix, Lava, Mobiistar and so on. These devices are currently available for around Rs 6,000.
WiFi calling can be a life-saver for those working or living in large buildings, particularly on lower floors, and those living in rural and remote areas where cellphone signals tend to be weak.
Instead of routing the call via the regular cellular route, WiFi calling patches the call through the local WiFi network. The feature works with any broadband connection, irrespective of who the provider of the broadband service is.
You can check out Jio’s list of supported mobile phone models here, and Airtel’s list here.
Vodafone Idea has not revealed any plans of introducing the feature yet. However, the company can be expected to unveil the feature later this year.
