If you have lost track of it the world’s cheapest 3G smartphone, the Freedom 251 was promised by its makers to be delivered this month. On being queried on the matter, Ringing Bells has said that it will commence the device’s release from June 28 onwards.
As its name suggests, the Freedom 251 happens to be priced at Rs 251. It had come under heavy scrutiny not just for having such a low cost, but also due to the fact that Ringing Bells seemed like a pretty shady company that had jumped into the limelight out of nowhere.
Many had alleged that the firm would never be able to stand by its promise of delivering the ordered Freedom 251 handsets by June. However, Ringing Bells had stood strong on its pledge, and it’s doing the same now. It remains to be seen whether the units will actually be ready by June 28.
A look at the specs of the Freedom 251:
– Display: 4-inch IPS qHD
– OS: Android 5.1 Lollipop
– Storage: 8GB, expandable till 32GB
– RAM: 1GB
– CPU: 1.3GHz quad-core
– Camera: 3.2MP rear, 0.3MP front
– Battery: 1450mAh
When this phone was first made available for purchase, the company’s website was quick to crash due to the huge response. Despite this, Ringing Bells said that 30000 customers had booked it during the first phase of the sale. When the government expressed concern over its authenticity, the firm decided to refund all the payments and sell the device only on Cash on Delivery basis.
Ringing Bells claims that the phone actually costs Rs 2500 to make, but it fails to clearly reveal exactly how it will manage to sell it without incurring a loss. It has come to light that the Freedom 251 units showcased at launch were actually Adcom’s Ikon 4 smartphones which had their logos covered with white ink. What’s more interesting is that Adcom later threatened to sue Ringing Bells for the whole ordeal.
Also Read: After Freedom 251, Docoss X1 now launched at Rs 888
Let us now wait and watch whether Ringing Bells will be able to actually deliver its promised Freedom 251 units by June 28, or will it indeed end up being a scam like most people think it is.