Freedom 251: world's cheapest smartphone launched in India

An Indian electronics company has launched a smartphone that costs just 251 rupees, the equivalent of £2.60.

The Freedom 251, which was released yesterday, will bring a "revolution to the industry", a spokesman for manufacturer Ringing Bells told AFP.

"Considering it costs about as much as a cup of coffee, the 251 boasts some fairly decent specs," says [1] The Independent.

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The handset and has a four-inch screen, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal memory, a 3.2-megapixel camera and a 0.3-megapixel front-facing snapper. Add to that a 1,450mAh battery and the fact it runs Android Lollipop 5.1 and you have the kind of specifications many would be content with, says Gizmodo. "Not too shabby," they add.

The Freedom 251 also comes with a number of pre-installed programmes, including farming and fishing apps designed for its target market. Users have access to more software and apps from the Google Play store.

While low-cost smartphones, many Chinese-made, are already on the market, until now the cheapest models have cost around £20.

It is unclear how Ringing Bells has been able to produce the model at such a low price, although it has been rumoured the Indian government may be part-subsidising the company.

The BBC had a hands-on with the new device at the launch and after a few pokes and prods, began to notice some oddities.

Firstly, while it runs on an Android operating system, a lot of the user interface mimics the iPhone, as does the phone's overall design.

Secondly, Ringing Bells told the BBC the phone is set to be made in India, yet scratching off a slither of white paint above the screen revealed an Adcom logo – a smartphone manufacturer based in China.

This, allied to the phone going on sale at around 10 per cent the price a device with similar specs usually would in India, has led to deep scepticism from some sections of the press.

According to the India Times, the 251 is possibly the "scammiest scam of 2016", with the paper saying: "Nothing adds up about the Rs. 251 phone."

As well as noting the painted-over Adcom logo, too, they also report on discrepancies in the company's operations – such as taking out full-page newspaper advertisements but having a website that can't handle "one second" of internet traffic.

After reporting that order books for the phone are now back open after "unprecedented demand", NDTV sets out a few ground rules for those looking to buy the Freedom 251. "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," they say, adding that the handsets customers will receive in four months' time will likely be different to the launch model journalists have had their hands on and that the unknown company doesn't appear to have a returns policy – though a one-year warranty is mentioned.

One Indian MP tweeted to say that the whole thing resembles a "Ponzi scheme" and warned that the authenticity of the device needs to be thoroughly checked, says India.com.

The phone is available to buy online and at 650 locations in India.