The Freedom 251 smartphone is one of the most talked about smartphones in the market to launch. The USP is: the Rs. 251 price point, causing consumers all over the country run into a frenzy to buy this specific phone. Unfortunately, the unique concept was mimicked by Docross X1, which soon followed with a smartphone for just Rs. 99, making the Freedom 251 lose its "world's cheapest smartphone,” tag. However, there appears to be a new entrant into the market with an offering of a smartphone for just Rs. 501: Champ1India.
The Jodhpur based company has announced the launch of a smartphone device, which includes a 5-inch HD display screen along with a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor. It includes a 2 GB RAM and an 8 megapixel rear camera along with a 5 megapixel front camera sensor. It has 16 GB internal storage and a 2500mAh battery. The phone is 4G LTE enabled, dual SIM compatible, and comes in white, silver, and gold colours and it has a fingerprint sensor.
However, there have been reports (mostly propagated by the Huffington Post) that while Champ1India is registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the phone is not yet listed under the BIS certification list. The reports also state that after the initial promotional offering of the phone at Rs. 501, they will return to their original price of Rs. 8,000 per piece. However, the company has not publicly confirmed this report.
The ChampOne C1 is predominantly a Rs. 8000-10,000 range handset and shares design similarities to that of Micromax' phones. The company has also listed a 2A charger as one of the components of the phone. This begs the question into how the company plans to finance this operation at such an exorbitant loss? However, going by specs of the phone alone, it is not probable to assume that consumers would buy such an offering especially when they have more trust-worthy alternatives like the Xiaomi Redmi 3s, which is available at similar prices.
To talk about the website service for ordering the phone, their order button is currently out of work. Apparently, the website is facing issues with its payment gateway partner and will be launched again on the 2nd of September upon resolution of the issue. There is a message on the website saying, "We are facing technical issue with our payment gateway partner [Ccavenue (Avenues India Pvt. Ltd.)]. You would not be able to register for the application for the next 24 hours. We sincerely regret your inconvenience and would try to get it fixed as soon as possible. Thank you for your support.."
If the website is further analysed, the future plans of the company are sorely revealed, where they plan to launch a tablet and smartwatch in the near future. However, it would be wise to exercise caution when ordering these units. One does not want a repeat of the Freedom 251 saga where thousands of orders were apparently ‘misplaced.'
Move Over Freedom 251 The Champ-One C1 Is Here
The Freedom 251 smartphone is one of the most talked about smartphones in the market to launch. The USP is: the Rs. 251 price point, causing consumers all over the country run into a frenzy to buy this specific phone. Unfortunately, the unique concept was mimicked by Docross X1, which soon followed with a smartphone for just Rs. 99, making the Freedom 251 lose its "world's cheapest smartphone,” tag. However, there appears to be a new entrant into the market with an offering of a smartphone for just Rs. 501: Champ1India.
The Jodhpur based company has announced the launch of a smartphone device, which includes a 5-inch HD display screen along with a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor. It includes a 2 GB RAM and an 8 megapixel rear camera along with a 5 megapixel front camera sensor. It has 16 GB internal storage and a 2500mAh battery. The phone is 4G LTE enabled, dual SIM compatible, and comes in white, silver, and gold colours and it has a fingerprint sensor.
However, there have been reports (mostly propagated by the Huffington Post) that while Champ1India is registered with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the phone is not yet listed under the BIS certification list. The reports also state that after the initial promotional offering of the phone at Rs. 501, they will return to their original price of Rs. 8,000 per piece. However, the company has not publicly confirmed this report.
The ChampOne C1 is predominantly a Rs. 8000-10,000 range handset and shares design similarities to that of Micromax' phones. The company has also listed a 2A charger as one of the components of the phone. This begs the question into how the company plans to finance this operation at such an exorbitant loss? However, going by specs of the phone alone, it is not probable to assume that consumers would buy such an offering especially when they have more trust-worthy alternatives like the Xiaomi Redmi 3s, which is available at similar prices.
To talk about the website service for ordering the phone, their order button is currently out of work. Apparently, the website is facing issues with its payment gateway partner and will be launched again on the 2nd of September upon resolution of the issue. There is a message on the website saying, "We are facing technical issue with our payment gateway partner [Ccavenue (Avenues India Pvt. Ltd.)]. You would not be able to register for the application for the next 24 hours. We sincerely regret your inconvenience and would try to get it fixed as soon as possible. Thank you for your support.."
If the website is further analysed, the future plans of the company are sorely revealed, where they plan to launch a tablet and smartwatch in the near future. However, it would be wise to exercise caution when ordering these units. One does not want a repeat of the Freedom 251 saga where thousands of orders were apparently ‘misplaced.'