"Cheap" Reliance handsets

Reliance recently launched very attractive offers like Jodi (unlimited free calls), 1234 lifetime, etc. with a new range of dirty cheap "Classic" handsets, and it has already caused a tremendous boom in Reliance subscriptions. These handsets are manufactured by a 2005 startup company, Rose Telecom, located in Seoul Korea. The cheapest handset, RC-R601, comes only Rs. 777/-. This combined with offers from Reliance makes them a definite buy for any cost conscious consumer.

Recently, a friend of mine bought a new Reliance connection with a Classic RC-R631 colored handset in the evening. It was promised that the connection would be started by night. As, expected, connection was not activated on time but unexpectedly, we could not find any mention of SAR limits in the product manual. Though, we did find some scary law jargons like, "... NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY HARM CAUSED BY THE USE OF PRODUCT". How good would it be to trust such a handset? The answer is "not at all".

Next day we called up Reliance Store to ask for a replacement of this handset with any LG, Nokia or Samsung. Even after a lot of arguments, the answer was "Not Possible". We went to the store and ended up in more useless heated arguments. Our reason was simple that

"If you do not allow us to open up the box and look at product manual until we buy it, how can we come to know about this important technical detail. At least pass on this customer feedback to Reliance asking to justify the product on this aspect."

We got to hear many interesting statements in return,

"Largest handset manufacturer", "How can you NOT trust a big company like Reliance", "How are you so sure that any other company's handset is safe", "How can you trust what is there in the product manual", "why are you buying a cheap handset", "Of course if company is giving something for cheap it would have somethings missing"

Though the threats of canceling the credit card transactions did not work, but the customers buying Classic handsets left empty handed. My friend was fortunate enough to receive a phone call in the evening from the store giving an apology and readiness to replace the handset with LG RD-3000. This time we dug up the internet to locate the FCC certification (FCC ID: BEJRD3000) for this model. It was surprising to note that this product is not listed on LG's website. But is mentioned on Reliance web without giving important details.

How many of us have ever been concerned about the health impact caused by the use of wireless technology, especially from mobile handsets? I guess few and, I am not excluding well educated people from this list. Dr. G Prakash Babu has already recited his experience about "cheap" Classic handset loudly on Complaints Board. Usually people don't like grazing through Product Manuals, probably because most of them are so easy to use.

There has been a tremendous amount of research done and still going on to understand the affect of Radio Frequency radiation on human health. Nevertheless, it is definitely considered as a threat beyond mentioned limits which is 1.6 W/kg by FCC and 2.0 W/kg by EU. Usually this information is revealed in a secretive manner in one of the pages of product manuals. Also, the websites try to hide this information to its best, by burying it in 2.5MB product manual, or by mentioning on obscure pages of a sub-domain.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate information about any Indian regulatory body which sets such standards for handset distribution. So, I strongly suggest that one should take an informed decision before buying such handsets. One can do the following

• Don't buy such "cheap" handsets
  or
  
• Dig up the product website or other informative websites like engadgetmobile
  
• Always insist on looking at the product manual at the store
  
• Try to spot an FCC ID mentioned on the box or inside the handset before inserting the battery. This works only if product is also launched in US or EU
• In general and specifically with cheap handset, keep it as far as possible from you by using headsets while in calls and keep them in mobile case or best in bags while carrying with you
• Also, buy a model such that the antenna is as far as possible from brain and ears. Flip phones suite the bill quite well.
  

Also, please suggest a way to proliferate this information to our cost conscious public before its late for them.