Freedom 251, a new smartphone from Indian-based company Ringing Bells, is set to launch on Feb. 18. Priced unbelievably at Rs 251 (around $4), the Freedom 251 handset could just be the world's cheapest smartphone to hit the market.
According to the company, it wants to empower every citizen in India with the current digital technology without consumers having to worry about the high prices that a number of smartphone makers usually charge for their devices.
Inspired by a mission that aims "to provide futuristic technology products of the highest quality and best service at the lowest cost of ownership" and supported immensely by the government of India, Ringing Bells announced that it is launching the Freedom 251 smartphone officially on Wednesday.
The phone comes with a 4-inch qHD IPS display with a pixel resolution of 960 x 540. It runs on a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor and features a RAM of 1 GB. Internal storage is set at 8 GB, which can be expanded to 32 GB with a microSD card.
Freedom 251 is an Android phone with Lollipop 5.1.
As for the camera, Freedom 251 boasts a 3.2-megapixel rear camera and a 0.3-megapixel front camera.
"Freedom 251 with its inbuilt touchless technology is Ideal for perfect Selfie. For Selfie lovers life just got a little easier," says Ringing Bells.
The budget-friendly Freedom 251 smartphone will also feature a 3G radio and a 1,450 mAh battery, which may not be enough to last for one day. However, such worries on battery life may be easily ignored considering the handset's affordable price offer.
Some of the apps that are pre-installed on the device include Medical, Farmer, Fisherman, Swachh Bharat, Women Safety, WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook and Google Play, among others.
Backed by a warranty period of one year, the company adds that it has 650 service centers sprawled across India.
Ringing Bells says that its Freedom 251 smartphone is built in connection with India Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of enriching and building connection among the people of India. The company adds that the smartphone is its way to support the government-launched "Make In India" project, which aims to attract both multinational and domestic players on establishing their manufacturing businesses in India.
Ringing Bells will start accepting orders for the Freedom 251 smartphone on its official site at 6 a.m. on Feb. 18. Manohar Parrikar, India's Defense Minister, is officially launching the handset. Shipping will begin by the end of June.
