Remember when the US$4 (about RM16) Freedom 251 smartphone was announced a few months ago, only for it to be exposed as a rebranded Chinese Smartphone from a company called Adcom? Well, Ringing Bells – the company manufacturing the Freedom 251 – has apparently told The Indian Express that the smartphone is real and it will be coming out by the end of June – in large quantities.
Ringing Bells’ CEO, Mohit Goel, mentioned that there are currently up to 200,000 Freedom 251 smartphones ready to be shipped. Goel went on to say that the company has learned from its mistakes and have now genuinely manufactured its own non-rebranded smartphone. Interestingly, the estimated date of delivery for the RM16 smartphone will be on the 30th of June, which is less than three days away from the time this article was written.
That aside, consumers shouldn’t expect the RM16 Freedom 251 smartphone to come with jaw-dropping specs or design for that matter. The smartphone comes with a 1.3GHz quad-core processor; 1GB RAM; 1800mAh battery; along with 8GB of internal storage capacity. Oh, almost forgot to mention that the Freedom 251 will only be compatible with 3G networks.
Since the very beginning, Ringing Bells have stated that its upcoming smartphone will be made for the rural and poor Indians that are in need of being connected. According to the company, manufacturing a single unit of the Freedom 251 smartphone translates to a loss of up to Rs150 (about RM8). Ringing Bells looks to compensate its manufacturing loss by expecting a wave of insane demand for the “affordable” smartphone once it’s made available for the public.
Whether or not Ringing Bells will be able to live up to its promises this time round remains to be seen.
(Source: The Indian Express, Engadget, The Next Web)
