Ringing Bells finally launched the Rs 251 smartphone, Freedom 251, at a media event held in a prominent hotel in New Delhi with a slogan 'Jo Kehte Hai, Wo Karte Hai'. 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, and they have now started their own website ringingbells.co.in which is selling smartphones from Rs 699 onwards and other products such as power banks and LED TVs. Ringing Bells also announced a 32-inch LED television priced at Rs 9,990, with deliveries starting from August. Ringing Bells also announced that they will deliver the first batch of 5,000 smartphones, but did not comment on what will be next, claiming they will wait for 'customer feedback'. They also claimed to have ordered 200,000 more smartphones. Shiopping charges of Rs 40 will be added to the price tag of the Freedom 251. Ringing Bells also launched a series of other phones during the launch. These include smartphones King, Boss, Raja, Elegant, and Elegance and four feature phones starting from Rs 699.
During the launch, Mohit Goel confirmed that they are requesting for government subsidy to support the affordable smartphone move. When questioned about the various scam accusations in the media, he said 'we are not fly-by-night operators.'
Photo courtesy: PhoneBunch
The company has also presented the address for Ringing Bells’ corporate office as: The Corenthum Office Complex, Plot No. A-41, Sector 62, Block A, Industrial Area, Sector 62, Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201309. Phone: 9599587353, Email: info@ringingbells.co.in. The website is now open, but there are no options to buy or register for the Freedom 251 not any of the other products.
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. ‘Ringing Bells’ is confident that they will be able to deliver the phones, despite the marginal loss they will face with each device.
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.
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.
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.
The media event that took place in New Delhi in February 2016 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.
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: FAKE IN INDIA: Top memes and jokes from the Freedom 251 scam
As for the smartphone, 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 3.2 MP rear sensor and a 0.3MP front sensor, and the Freedom 251 phone will be fuelled by a 1450mAh battery with Android 5.1 Lollipop. The phone will be available in two colours — white and black.
Also read: Freedom 251, a smartphone copy of Rs 251, is nothing but fraud: BJP MP
Also read: 'Freedom 251' smartphone scheme a fraud: Congress MP Pramod Tiwari
Goel earlier 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.
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!
