Ringing Bells, the low-cost smartphone manufacturer has announced that the company will begin delivering the Freedom 251 smartphone from July 8 to 5000 customers. Moreover, a delivery fee of Rs. 50 will be charged from customers, which is more than 15 percent of the cost of the smartphone.
The company will deliver the remaining smartphones only after getting customer feedback. He also disclosed that the company has opened 500 service centers across India.
Earlier, the company announced that it will deliver smartphones based on lucky draw. It seems that company has gone back with their promise they made few days ago.
In the meantime, Ringing Bells CEO Mohit Goel has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking for government support. He disclosed that if the government is willing to shell out Rs. 50000 crore from its Digital India funds, the company will be able to provide 750 million people in India with a smartphone costing Rs. 251.
With multiple delays in the shipment of Freedom 251 smartphones, it seems unlikely that government will provide adequate funds to the company.
The company initially claimed that they will be able to provide handsets to over 2 lakh customers who have pre-ordered the device. But now the company has gone back with the original promise. The company also claims that it will be generating revenue by creating 100 Android apps and selling it for Rs. 1 to Rs. 3 to its Freedom 251 customers.
Even though the official website of the company is down, there is a message which claims that a new website will be unveiled on Thursday.
On the specifications front, the Freedom 251, available in Black and White color variants features a 4-inch display, a quad- core 1.3GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage (expandable to 32GB). While the rear camera offers an 8-megapixel sensor, the front-facing snapper is equipped with a 3.2-megapixel camera. A 1800mAh battery completes the package.