Airtel and Jio get VoWiFi support
Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are the only two telecom operators in India to launch the new VoWiFi feature on their respective networks. The W-Fi based calling feature aims to help users that have low reception at their homes. With the introduction of this feature, Airtel and Jio aim to improve user experience and that too free of cost. Here's everything you need to know about VoWiFi as a Jio or Airtel customer.
What is VoWiFi?
VoWiFi or Voice over Wi-Fi basically users a Wi-Fi connection to make or receive regular calls. The feature takes advantage of IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs based networks with an internet connection to make Voice over IP (VoIP) calls.
Where is Wi-Fi calling supported?
Bharti Airtel announced the Wi-Fi calling support on its network in the first week of December. Soon after that, Reliance Jio started rolling out the feature for its users. Jio has announced that the rollout process will complete by January 16 and users across the nation can take advantage of the new feature on their smartphone. While Jio is rolling out support for all the cities, Airtel's VoWi-Fi feature is limited to a few cities for now.
Which devices are supported?
Airtel currently supports around a dozen smartphones from brands like OnePlus, Samsung and Apple. Reliance Jio, on the other hand, has a list of 150 devices under its support list. The list of devices supported by Reliance Jio includes the following:
Samsung
Galaxy S10 series, Galaxy Note 10 series, Galaxy S9 series, Galaxy S8 series, Galaxy S7 series, Galaxy S6 series, Galaxy J4 (2018), Samsung A10, Samsung A10S, Galaxy A30s, Galaxy A5 (2017), Galaxy A50s, Galaxy A70, Galaxy A8 Star, Galaxy A8+, Galaxy A80, Galaxy C9 Pro, Galaxy A20, Galaxy A30, Galaxy A5 (SM-A500G), Galaxy A5 (2016), Galaxy A6, Galaxy A6+, Galaxy A7, Galaxy A7 (2018), Galaxy A7 (2016), Galaxy A8, Galaxy A9 (2018), Galaxy A9 Pro, Galaxy C7 Pro, Galaxy Core Prime 4G, Galaxy J1 (2016), Galaxy J2, Galaxy J2 (2018), Galaxy J2 Ace, Galaxy J2 Hybrid Tray, Galaxy J3, Galaxy J3 Pro, Galaxy J4+, Galaxy J5, Galaxy J6, Galaxy J6+, Galaxy J7, Galaxy J7 Duo, Galaxy J8, Galaxy M10, Galaxy M20, Galaxy M40, Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note 4 Edge, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy J2 (2016), Galaxy J2 Pro, Galaxy J5, Galaxy J5 Prime, Galaxy J7, Galaxy J7 Max, Galaxy J7 Nxt, Galaxy J7 Prime, Galaxy J7 On Nxt, Galaxy J7 Pro, Galaxy Note 10, Galaxy Note 10+, Galaxy Note 5 Duos, Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy On 5 Pro, Galaxy On 7 Pro, Galaxy On 8, Galaxy On 6, Galaxy On 7 Prime and Galaxy On 8
Apple
iPhone 11 series, iPhone X series, iPhone Xs series, iPhone XR, iPhone 7 series, iPhone 8 series, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus and iPhone SE
Xiaomi
Xiaomi Redmi K20, Redmi K20 Pro and Poco F1
Vivo
Vivo V11, Vivo V11 Pro, Vivo V15, Vivo V15 Pro, Vivo V9, Vivo V9 Pro, Vivo 1904, Vivo Y81, Vivo Y81i, Vivo Y91, Vivo Y91i, Vivo Y93, Vivo Y95, Vivo Y15, Vivo Y17, Vivo Y91 and Vivo Z1 Pro
Pixel 3, Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL
Apart from these, there are phones from brands like Infinix, Lava, Coolpad and others on the list. While Airtel has a relatively smaller list, it does support the latest OnePlus devices that Jio lacks.
Both Jio and Airtel will be updating the list of smartphones and expanding the feature support to more smartphones soon. If your device is already on the list but you do not see the feature on your phone, you should try looking for any available system updates in the phone's settings.
How to use WiFi calling?
Initially, Airtel supported Wi-Fi calling only to Airtel Xtreme Broadband users. Now, both Jio and Airtel, support Wi-Fi calling on all broadband connections. In order to start using the feature, just enable it on your Android or iOS smartphone. Once enabled, it will automatically use Wi-Fi to make or receive calls when required.
