India’s Much Hyped Freedom 251

As reported back in February the world’s cheapest smartphone, the Freedom 251  was launched in India just last month, but now its been out a while its time to take a closer look. It was launched in India in at a very affordable price of Rs. 251/-. Because of the low cost it is very much in the news. It is sold by Ringing Bells Private Limited, Noida based company that came on the market on 16^th September, 2015. The complete product set up is in India itself. The basic feature of the phone is 1 GB RAM, 8 GB internal memory, 1 GHz processor, 3.2 MP rear camera and also front camera. Other companies with these features are available in the market with the starting price of Rs 5000/-.

As the price of the smartphone being so less online booking was extremely high on the first day which in turn crashed the website. The offer was from 18^th February, 2015 – 21^st February, 2015.  Due to website crash the sales target of the company is lowered as they were able to book around 30,000 mobiles at the promotional price of Rs. 251/-.

Phone Specification

Controversies

Due to the controversy, the company has announced cash on delivery. It means customers who have pre-booked the phone will get the money returned and will pay Rs 251/- on the delivery of the phone.

This is not the end of the problem for the company. Kirit Somaiya, MP of Bharatiya Janta Party  said that Ringing Bell is a Scam. He described the company as “a Ponzi bogus company scam”. ICA has asked the Telecom Minister, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and many different mini tries to investigate the functionality of the phone due to its lower cost. The depth investigation result says that the price of the phone should not go below Rs. 2300 – 2400/-.

Some customers have placed a complaint that they have not received the confirmation email of the online order. The phone can be ordered online from the website Freedome251.com.

Pre-installed apps on the phone:

• Swachh Bharat
• Women Safety
• WhatsApp
• Facebook
• Twitter

The government officials while investigating raised a question to the Ringing Bells officials for not having the Bureau of Indian Standards Certification.

If we believe in the news it says that the phone looks like a Chinese phone and it has hidden the original brand with the help of the whitener. Not only that, but the Phone icons are copied from the Apple iPhone.

This guest post was written by Sonal Maheshswari, who loves pursuing fineness through writing & have a passion for technology. She currently writes for Intellipaat. You can reach her @LinkedIn