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freedom 251

Non long agone, smartphones were universally expensive and non at all suitable for the developing world. What a difference a few years can make. A new smartphone has been announced in India, which is non unusual past itself. Nevertheless, this Android phone volition only cost INR 251. That works out to less than iv bucks. Oh, you'll make some compromises to get a $four smartphone, merely it looks like a surprisingly capable device.

The appropriately named Freedom 251 has specs that place it well backside almost of the budget offerings you'd become from major OEMs like Samsung and Motorola, but not really terribly far behind. The screen is four-inches and qHD (960×540) in resolution. Some people even prefer smaller devices like this. The front-facing camera is VGA resolution and the rear one is 3.2MP, a fraction of what you lot get with flagship phones.

Inside is 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, a 1,450mAh battery, and a 1.3GHz quad-core processor of unknown make. Because the price, it's nigh certainly a MediaTek chip. It too only supports 3G data. With just 8GB of storage, in that location won't be much space left over when you become the phone in your easily, but there's a microSD bill of fare slot that supports upwardly to 32GB of additional space. The card will cost more than the entire phone, though.

This is an Android telephone running 5.1 Lollipop with all the usual Google services. It also includes a few more than arranged apps that entry level buyers in India might find useful. Even if information technology's not the fastest phone out there, having access to the software selection in the Play Shop could totally change someone'due south life if they're coming from a dumb phone and have no other computing devices.

You might notice some of the coverage for this device appears to use images of a completely different phone. Indeed, when the Freedom 251 was announced, the landing page had unlike device renders. That phone had what appeared to be a larger screen and a row of capacitive buttons. The images were replaced a few hours later on with a device that appears to be the real bargain.

The chipset will be imported from Taiwan, simply the goal is to make and get together 75% of the device in India to keep costs down. There was speculation at showtime that the low cost was a issue of authorities subsidies, and the announcement was hosted past MP Murli Manohar Joshi. All the same, the company backside Freedom 251, Ringing Bells, says it's not getting any direct fiscal support from the government.

You could exist forgiven for skepticism here — Ringing Bells is basically giving this telephone away. There's no way it could brand any money on a $four device, and it's nigh certainly taking a loss. Despite the earlier strangeness with the device renders, the actual device, complete with iPhone-ish home button, has shown upwardly on video now. It looks like a existent piece of hardware, which is more than you tin can say for many Kickstarter smartphones. The visitor is set to get-go taking reservations for this phone in the next day or so, but it seems probable information technology volition be in very short supply.