[rohan_iitr]

Originally Posted by Sheel

I was advising my sister to buy a Samsung Note 3 Lite. It is priced at 7K [perhaps] and is a damn neat phone as per specs. But she got herself some Gionne and is pretty happy it.

Samsung Note 3 Lite. It is priced at 7K

You mean CoolPad Note 3 Lite, right ?

Rohan

[Rajeevraj]

Just read this. A smartphone for Rs 251. Sounds unbelievable. How can you sell a phone with the below specs for Rs 251? Marketing Ploy?

Indian smartphone maker Ringing Bells has launched the most affordable smartphone dubbed as 'Freedom 251' in India. The company has priced the handset for Rs 251, and it will be available in white colour option. The device will be available for order via freedom251.com starting from February 18th.

On the specifications front, the Freedom 251 features a 4-inch qHD display with 960x540 pixels resolution. The device runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system and is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor. The smartphone offers 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage which can be expanded further up to 32GB using a microSD card.
The smartphone comes equipped with a 3.2MP rear camera and a 0.3MP front facing snapper for clicking selfies. Its connectivity attributes include 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and packs a 1,450 mAh battery.

Source: TOI

[mukul32]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Just read this. A smartphone for Rs 251. Sounds unbelievable. How can you sell a phone with the below specs for Rs 251? Marketing Ploy?



Source: TOI

I'd heard that the government was going to subsidize it under the digital India scheme. That, and perhaps some sponsored ad-supported software thrown in, and it sounds like a possibility. Anyway, smartphones are getting ridiculously cheap these days. Outdated Indo-Chinese junk running ICS/GB sells for under 2k quite commonly now.
Still, the kind of hardware they've managed to equip it with, at that kind of money, is really surprising. It gets a front camera, flash, a quad-core processor, one gig of RAM, and a qHD screen. For a comparison, my Xperia E1, which costed 8.5k no less, had none of this!
And it now seems ridiculous that 3-4 years ago, the likes of Samsung, Sony and HTC were selling what are complete paperweights by today's standards for absurd prices!! (12-15k!)

[vdhaimo]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

What is the App name ? Will search on Play Store.

The name of the app is Xhp. Here is the link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...m.pnda.goi.xhp

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

I checked it on Play store.

Hi Suresh, did you try it ? were the readings accurate ? If you have any suggestions, please let me know

[petrol_power]

Amazon is selling a mobile called "coolpad Note 3" for just 7k.

With some mind blowing specifications:
3GB ram, 5 inch display, 13 + 5 MP camera, Finger print scanner, 2500 mah battery.

Guess its high time for Samsung to launch their S7 edge in 30k as I feel all branded players will definitely take a hit very soon. Within just 2 years, market is already flooded by cost economical brands and by another 2 more years, all big brands will struggle heavily.

I was in market to buy a phone for around 30k, but after seeing the spec and price of these small scale brands, I am confused. Its true that we pay for brand, but not to the extend of 400% - 600% extra over chinese companies. Even branded phone requires replacement in every 2 years!!

[civic-sense]

Originally Posted by mukul32

I'd heard that the government was going to subsidize it under the digital India scheme. That, and perhaps some sponsored ad-supported software thrown in, and it sounds like a possibility. Anyway, smartphones are getting ridiculously cheap these days. Outdated Indo-Chinese junk running ICS/GB sells for under 2k quite commonly now.
Still, the kind of hardware they've managed to equip it with, at that kind of money, is really surprising. It gets a front camera, flash, a quad-core processor, one gig of RAM, and a qHD screen. For a comparison, my Xperia E1, which costed 8.5k no less, had none of this!
And it now seems ridiculous that 3-4 years ago, the likes of Samsung, Sony and HTC were selling what are complete paperweights by today's standards for absurd prices!! (12-15k!)

No way anybody can sell at this price. Ads, promotion, service centers etc are going to cost them more than 250 per piece, forget even the hardware cost. At best, it is a con-job.

[sanmish]

I read an article online which mentioned that the Indian Cellular Association (ICA) has written to the Telecom Minister to look into the issue of the pricing of the Freedom 251. As per the article, ICA said the rate of the handset could not be less than Rs. 3,500!

Unable to find the article. Will post the link if I can trace it.

Rs. 251 for a handset with such decent specs is indeed very low. I doubt we even get those old Nokia handsets at such price. Latest is that booking for the handset is open now but people trying to book it have had issues on the website. Would be interesting to see how this turns out in the next couple of days.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by sanmish

I read an article online which mentioned that the Indian Cellular Association (ICA) has written to the Telecom Minister to look into the issue of the pricing of the Freedom 251. As per the article, ICA said the rate of the handset could not be less than Rs. 3,500!

Unable to find the article. Will post the link if I can trace it.

Rs. 251 for a handset with such decent specs is indeed very low. I doubt we even get those old Nokia handsets at such price. Latest is that booking for the handset is open now but people trying to book it have had issues on the website. Would be interesting to see how this turns out in the next couple of days.

Looks like a Con job 100%. No phone could cost 251 Rupees, at least not with these specs. If you check out the company details of "Ringing Bells Pvt Ltd" on Zauba or any other website, the company was registered on Sep 16, 2015 and has a paid up capital of 1,00,00,000 only. Can a company started less than 6 months back with 1Cr capital make a phone of Rs 251 and beat all the other giants who have invested 1000 of crores. It seems like a huge scam in the making and probably they will collect money from lakhs of gullible buyers and then run away with the money, or worse, steal the credit card information and misuse it!
The irony is that they are using pictures of Government bigwigs and putting out full page ads in TOI (a single page ad costs upwards of 2Cr!). How are they doing this with 1Cr capital if they have not sold any phones or other products yet?

[Lij]

Very wary about the Rs. 251 smartphone. Especially after reading this.

Moreover, the device says it’s a ‘Made in India’ project, but clearly there is no doubt now that it is the same Adcom Ikon 4 being sold on Flipkart at almost 16X times the price at Rs 4,081. Lastly, the device has not been BIS certified. In fact, it is not even listed, points out another report. So, how can we be so sure it is safe to use and adheres to the standards like radiation and so on, that are required for the Indian market. The Indian Cellular Association (ICA) is also known to have raised its concerns.

Their about us page!!

[landcruiser123]

Just wanted to know how good are the current Lenovo phones(at around 10k)? Are they better than their cousin: the moto G3?

My mom needs a new phone. Budget: 10k INR (+/- 1K)
She doesn't need anything fancy. Any phone with a 5 inch display will do.

The de Facto choice seems to be the Moto G3.

[Speed.Demon]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

My mom needs a new phone. Budget: 10k INR (+/- 1K)
She doesn't need anything fancy. Any phone with a 5 inch display will do.

The de Facto choice seems to be the Moto G3.

Stick to it, the Moto G is a good phone.
Decent build quality and performance, plus a good camera and the IPX7 certification.

The Lenovos will have more power, but I don't think that will be an issue for your mother.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by Lij

Very wary about the Rs. 251 smartphone. Especially after reading this.



Their about us page!!

Their print ad said 4" WVGA while the icon next to it said 5". Imagine the level of thought that went into the phone.

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Just wanted to know how good are the current Lenovo phones(at around 10k)? Are they better than their cousin: the moto G3?

My mom needs a new phone. Budget: 10k INR (+/- 1K)
She doesn't need anything fancy. Any phone with a 5 inch display will do.

The de Facto choice seems to be the Moto G3.

My sister in law has the Lenovo A6000+. 7500 in Jun 2015. She's very happy with it. No complaints. She just uses WA/FB/G+ - presume your mother would need something similar.

Also see the amazon offer on mi4i till 19th. at 10k its better value than the G3 - better processor, nicer/higher res screen etc.

[sbkumar]

I just moved to cm13 nightly on my year old one plus one. It started showing signs of ageing with the official cm12. It feels like a brand new phone after the flash of cm13. Would strongly recommend anyone who is fairly comfortable with the process.

[Gokrish]

Originally Posted by sbkumar

I just moved to cm13 nightly on my year old one plus one. It started showing signs of ageing with the official cm12. It feels like a brand new phone after the flash of cm13. Would strongly recommend anyone who is fairly comfortable with the process.

I have been using CM13 for more than 2 weeks now and the battery life has improved considerably compared to CM12. My sincere suggestion to all is not to install Facebook app on any OS platform and instead use browser to access FB.

[skumare]

I have Symantec Mobile Security on my Nexus-5, it's mandatory as I have my office mail installed on the phone. Issue is this security app consumes 1/3rd of the total battery and I have to recharge the phone twice a day now. Earlier, I used to charge the phone only once in a day or two.

I also noticed that the app scans the phone for malware, but this scan always gets stuck at 88% or 89% completion. May be the app is trying to scan the rest 12% and wasting the battery in the process.

Any thoughts on how to resolve this issue?