Freedom 251 launch today, Ringing Bells new website, more products

Freedom 251, the cheapest smartphone in the world, will be sold for a mere Rs 251 ($4). The company behind the cheapest smartphone is Ringing Bells, which has now started their website and are selling smartphones from Rs 699 onwards and will also be selling power banks and LED TVs.

Just in: Ringing Bells launches Freedom 251, 32-inch LED TV for Rs 9,990

As for now, the Freedom 251, the cheapest smartphone, will start selling from July 7, and will be followed by shipping on July 8, 2016. According to media reports, the company with a weird name ‘Ringing Bells’ is confident that they will be able to deliver the phones, despite the marginal loss they will face with each device.

Also read: FAKE IN INDIA: Top memes and jokes from the Freedom 251 scam

As for now, Ringing Bells seems to be accepting the fact that they will be running into loses amounting to crores of rupees by selling the Freedom 251 smartphone for Rs 251 each. However, they have a strategy with them which will enable them to make sufficient profits in the long run. They also intend selling power banks and an LED TV for cheap is also in the pipeline.

Also read: Freedom 251, Ringing Bells is already making free cash from you

The cheapest Rs 251 smartphone Freedom 251 was announced in February. The company stated that they will launch the smartphone in order to help every Indian have a device and be connected to the internet. However, the deal was too good to be true—the company held an event in Delhi, which caused a major outrage on the internet. The smartphone industry were worried about how can a company be able to out a smartphone for mere Rs 251, which is comparatively the cost of a charger or a case itself. Ringing Bells was pronounced as a ‘fraud company’ after they opened registrations and started accepting pre-bookings online. Within hours of opening the registrations, the Freedom 251 website crashed and no more registrations were accepted.

Also read: Freedom 251: Ringing Bells now announces ‘cash on delivery’

Also read: 'Freedom 251' smartphone scheme a fraud: Congress MP Pramod Tiwari

Also read: Ringing Bells defers Freedom 251 delivery date to July 6

Later, after a media outburst about the issue, the company decided to return the amount to those who registered online for a handset and stated that they will now accept cash on delivery. There were also cases registered against Ringing Bells for fraudulently selling a product that did not exist.

Also read: Freedom 251: Ringing Bells claims handsets ready for delivery, smartphone shown

The media event that took place in New Delhi marked Ringing Bells showing off a smartphone that was not the actual product on sale. The product shown during the event was a smartphone from another company, which was ‘shabbily’ rebranded to make it look like a Freedom 251 smartphone.

In February 2016, Ringing Bells, a company unheard of, unveiled a smartphone brand Freedom 251, in India. They claimed that the world’s cheapest and most affordable smartphone will cost the consumer no more than Rs 251. People registered online for a smartphone and the deliveries, claimed the company, will start June 30, 2016 onwards.

Also read: Freedom 251, a smartphone copy of Rs 251, is nothing but fraud: BJP MP

The company soon announced that the product shown was a dummy and the actual product was still in the making. Last month, Ringing Bells showed the media the actual product that will be launched in July.

Also read: Freedom 251 gets tough competition, Rs 651 phone to launch soon

Also read: After Freedom 251, another smartphone launched for just Rs 888!

As for the smartphone, they claim that it will sport a 4-inch display, 1.3GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage (up to 32GB support) and with a dual SIM 3G support. The camera on the device will have an 8MP rear sensor and a 3.2MP front sensor, and the Freedom 251 phone will be fueled by a 1800mAh battery with Android 5.1 Lollipop. The phone will be available in two colours — white and black. Goel also mentioned to the media that for now they will see a loss of almost Rs 140 – Rs 150 on each handset, but is positive that he will make profits with volume sales. He further added saying that he is happy that that the dream of connecting rural and poor Indians as part of the Digital India campaign and Make in India campaign will be fulfilled by Freedom 251. He claims that the devices will be manufactured in India at a Haridwar-based manufacturing plant and they plan to sell almost 2 lakh devices each month.