Remember Ringing Bells? Yes? No? Let me remind you, it is an Indian Electronics company that shot to fame for launching the cheapest phone smartphone in the world at Rs 251($4 roughly) in February 2016. It opened registrations for the phone on its website but soon got entangled in a number of controversies with allegations of running a huge scam. It’s founder and CEO Mohit Goel was called the mastermind behind the scam duping the general public. He defended himself and rubbished all the allegations
Now, he and his company are back with nearly 2 lakh (200,000) sets of the famed “Freedom 251” phone which he says are just part of the first phase of distribution to the seven crore (70,000,000) registrations they received through their company website in just 3 days of the launch announcement ,crashing the website and payment gateway in the process.
Mr. Goel has said to the media that the company will be incurring a loss of Rs 140-150 per phone but hope to recoup later with the huge volume of sales. Available in two colours, black and white, the phone is 3G enabled and packs a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, 8 GB internal memory, expandable upto 32 GB. Freedom 251 comes with an 8MP Rear camera and 3.2 MP front camera. It runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop) with a modest 1800 mAh battery.
The company is also expected to launch a 32 inch LED TV for just Rs.10000 which (according to MeraPhone research) is a feasible price and can be easily offered by other companies.
At Rs 251, I can even accept half the specifications offered but no other manufacturer(even the Chinese) agree that it is possible to even manufacture let alone sell such a phone under Rs. 2000. Mr. Goel defended this argument by claiming that the Freedom 251 is made under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make In India’ scheme with immense support from the Indian government. He said that the phones are being manufactured in their Haridwar based manufacturing unit.
Whether these are just claims, another scam or an actual promise is yet to be seen. I personally doubt that the company will ever be able to deliver the promises it is making. In my personal opinion, these are just cheap marketing gimmicks to garner free media publicity for selling the self claimed “Cheapest LED TV” in India.
MeraPhone will keep you updated on any news from Ringing Bells on Freedom 251 or other such unbelievable deals, till then you can express your opinions and queries in the comments section below.
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