Ringing Bells Freedom 251 Worth It or Not?
Ringing Bells has been dealing a lot of heat and skepticism from the people for the Freedom 251. A smartphone that shaked the whole world when they announced it for $4. While the smartphone is currently being delivered in small numbers based upon a lucky draw, we got our hands upon a review unit to test out and giveaway from Ringing Bells.
The Freedom 251contains a 1.3GHz Quad-Core CPU along with 1GB RAM. The Phone has an Internal storage of 8GB which can be expanded up to 32GB via a microSD card. The Freedom 251 runs on Android 5.1.
Ringing Bells Freedom 251 specifications
- 4-inch (960 x 540 pixels) HD IPS display
- 1.3GHz Quad-core MediaTek MT6580M processor with Mali-400MP GPU
- 1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 32GB with microSD
- Android 5.1
- Dual SIM
- 3.1MP rear-facing camera, 0.3MP front front-facing camera
- Weight: 130g
- WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
- 1450mAh battery
Design
I know people will be saying that saying something about the design of a smartphone that costs less than a one time meal is not fair. But, all said the Freedom 251 does not look bad rather it looks really good. One thing the phone does not look like it is for Rs. 251, The design is kept really simple, nothing more has to be said.
The Freedom 251 has a 4 inch IPS display that looks great even in sunlight, just under the screen you see soft navigation buttons. and on the top you see the front camera which is a VGA camera and on it's side a proximity sensor. The screen also comes with a screen guard pre-installed.
On the Right side of the phone is the power button and on the left side we see the volume rocker. The buttons feel in the right place and has great tactile feedback.
The Back of the Phone contains the freedom 251 branding and on the bottom right we find the speaker grill, the speaker is loud and clear and had us astonished when we heard it, the back also contains the primary 3.2MP camera with a flash. The camera gives great results considering that the phone is just for Rs.251.
Software
The Freedom 251 runs on Android 5.1 with a Custom Skin which is not bad looking but it would have been better to just have the stock skin in there. While turning on the device you see the Indian Flag then you see the Freedom 251 branding. Thankfully we do not get a lot of bloatware which was our first tension when we heard there might be a lot of sponsored software.
Performance
Performance needs to be good if a device wants to sell even if it is only Rs.251. And the case of the Ringing Bells Freedom 251 is no exception. We do not expect for the Freedom 251 to show flagship level performance. We just wanted for the device to run smooth and handle everyday tasks. The phone is powered by a MediaTek MT6580M 1.3GHz Quad-Core CPU with Mali 400MP GPU.
The Freedom 251 took us by surprise, we were not expecting a lot from the phone. What we got was much more than we ever dreamt the phone could deliver. There are a few stutters sometimes here and there but we did not get stuck anywhere.
We also tested the device with Antutu Benchmark and it scored 18,987 points.
Display
The Display of the Freedom 251 looks like just a usable display when you first turn it on. But when you start to turn up the brightness you find that it is really great and in our experience we found it to be really good when used in direct sunlight.
Camera
While the Freedom 251 has added nifty features like the HDR mode, lets see how is the quality of the camera. The image quality is not good enough to take professional shots. But, then again it will make do for emergency situations.
Connectivity & Battery Life
The Freedom 251 includes WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS. In daily use we never faced any issues with the connectivity and we found out that it maintained a strong signal.
Conclusion
To be serious we were a bit skeptical when the company sent us the phone. Now when we started to use the phone we found that it is a great phone for a small price. And whomsoever saw the phone was amazed and awestruck like they saw a phone for the first time in their life.
Ringing Bells wants this to be peoples first smartphone, and we appreciate the effort the company has put into making the phone. And we would have suggested for you to just go and buy the Freedom 251 immediately but, unfortunately you can't. For now the company is sending the phone to all the people who booked the phone via a lucky draw system, and is seeking government cooperation to make this dream into reality so let's hope they get all the support they need and make the Freedom 251 available to all.
