The much-awaited and much talked-about sub-Rs 500 smartphone is coming to India today. Domestic handset maker Ringing Bells is all set to introduce what is believed to be the world's cheapest smartphone at an event in Delhi on February 17.
Here's everything we think you should know about the upcoming phone, that could disrupt the booming handset market in the country.
1. The highlight of the phone is its jaw-dropping price tag. The company, which had intially teased the phone saying that it would be priced under Rs 500, revealed that the Freedom 251 smartphone will carry a price tag of Rs 251. Only.
2. Talking about the specs, the Freedom 251 handset will have a 4-inch qHD IPS display, 3.2 megapixel auto-focus rear camera, 0.3 megapixel front camera, 1.3 GHz quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB of internal storage with SD card support, 1450 mAh battery, and Android 5.1 Lollipop OS.
3. The phone will come with a standard warranty of 1 year. According to the company's website, "This warranty of the product extends for a period of 12 months for the host unit, 6 months for battery and charger, and 3 months for earphone commencing from the date of purchase."
4. Bookings for the phone open on February 18 at 6AM and close on February 21 at 8PM.
5. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikkar will launch the smartphone 'Freedom 251' on February 17. The launch is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for "empowering India to the last person, transforming India's growth story", the Noida-based company said.
At such a low price-point it is assumed to disrupt the smartphone market in India, but it's yet to be seen if the phone really delivers on the promise.
At present, smartphones available in the market are priced around Rs 1,500. Last year, DataWind had announced that it is teaming up with Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Communications (RCOM) to launch the world's most affordable smartphone, priced at Rs 999. The phone is yet to hit the market.
Established last year, Ringing Bells will start with the assembly of handsets in Phase-I and aims at full indigenous development of the feature-rich smartphones, it said.
It did not disclose any other details about manufacturing, products and pricing.
A new entrant in the Indian mobile phone market, Ringing Bells had launched one of India's cheapest 4G smartphone at Rs 2,999, recently. It has launched two other feature phones in the market.
India, one of the fastest growing smartphone markets globally, is poised to overtake the US as the second-largest market in next few years.
In the last few months, global smartphone makers, including the likes of Xiaomi, Motorola and Gionee have commenced assembling their handsets in India, where the government is pushing local manufacturing through its Make in India initiative.