Lava 4G connect M1 feature phone with VoLTE launched at Rs. 3,333

Lava's latest offering is a "smart" feature phone and it comes with one special feature. Called Lava 4G Connect M1, the feature phone supports 4G and VoLTE (Voice over LTE). This means if you have a Relaince Jio SIM card, you can use it with Lava's 4G Connect M1 to make calls and browse the internet.

The Lava 4G Connect M1 sports 2.4-inch (320 x 240 pixels) display and has a T9 Keypad, D-Pad and dedicated keys to launch camera, browser, FM radio, music player and torch.

Under the hood, there's 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 512MB RAM and 4GB storage, which can be expanded via microSD card. It comes with wireless FM, box speaker with K-class amplifier, VGA camera, LED torch and pre-loaded with Facebook Lite and messaging apps.

Apart from 4G and VoLTE, the feature phone also supports voice calling over 2GB and Edge connectivity. A 1750mAh battery completes the specs sheet.

The Lava 4G Connect M1 is priced at Rs. 3, 333 and will be available via retail stores and multi-brand outlets across the country in the coming weeks. Reliance Jio is also expected to launch a couple of 4G VoLTE enabled feature phones later this month starting at Rs. 1,500.

It's worth mentioning that the market is flooded with Android smartphones under Rs. 3,000, so one would wonder if anyone will consider buying Lava's feature phone. However, according to a recent report feature phones account for 55 percent of total handset shipments in the country, and 85 percent of feature phone users do not switch to smartphones on their next handset purchase. The reason due to the feature phone's simple UI, durability, battery life and easy repair.