
The 4$ smartphone - donbox
http://freedom251.com
======
userbinator
Here's what's in a $34 smartphone (completely un-subsidised, actual purchase
cost):

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9568004](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9568004)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9558854](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9558854)

It's around a year ago, but I don't think technology has gotten cheap enough
in that span of time for even a $4 _dumb_ phone now. This one is pretty close
though:

[http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?page_id=3107](http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?page_id=3107)

Edit: why does it look so iPhone-ish?

~~~
kamaal
>>I don't think technology has gotten cheap enough in that span of time for
even a $4 dumb phone now.

You underestimate how far we have come, here is $30 phone :
[http://www.walmart.com/ip/44465710](http://www.walmart.com/ip/44465710)

You won't be getting this for $4 next year. The margin of profit is already so
small, no body is going build phones and sell them for profits of a chewing
gum.

But you can bet a $100 phone will be available for $30 very soon.

~~~
zoe345
Isn't that phone on Walmart locked with AT&T?

------
donbox
It costs 251 INR to be exact. That's 3.654 USD as per today's exchange rate.

Specifications at a glance:

\-- Android Lollipop 5.1

\-- 4 inch qHD display

\-- 1.3 Ghz Quadcore processor

\-- 1 GB RAM

\-- 8 GB internal memory, expandable to 32 GB

\-- 1450 mAh battery

\-- 3.2 MP AF Rear camera, .3 MP Front

~~~
nitin_flanker
The specs are great but, what actually 4inch qHD means? Quad HD or is it some
sort of marketing slang?

~~~
duskwuff
qHD is a standard display resolution: 960x540. Not to be confused with QHD
(2560x1440).

~~~
nitin_flanker
Thanks, I just figured out that it's for Quater HD, not Quad HD.

~~~
tracker1
I can't see fine detail that small/close anyway. My OPO is set to max fonts,
and I still tend to zoom sometimes in browser.

------
pitchups
Clearly, $4 is far below the cost of the components listed. Assuming this is a
legit offer - how are they doing it? One possible explanation - maybe it is
supported by ads. They are counting on revenues generated by ads within the
various applications - inlcuding search. If you notice the Search screen does
not show a Google logo - it looks like a reskinned version of Google's home
page. So presumably it could generate revenue via Adsense. Not sure if this is
allowed as per Android Licensing terms for OEMs though but it could be an
explanation.

~~~
ck2
It's government subsidized, not carrier subsidized.

~~~
digi_owl
And not their first attempt.

The nation has a severe problem of inequality. You have villages that are
bordering on pre-industrial, at the same time as you have near scifi highrises
in the cities.

I recall one project that basically equipped young ladies with a bicycle and a
laptop loaded with textbooks on everything from agriculture to medicine. The
ladies would then cycle between villages and help improve crop yields and
diagnose illnesses.

~~~
vinaybn
This isn't their latest attempt though. It's not subsidized.

------
skbohra123
Hands on review - [http://www.bgr.in/photo-gallery/freedom-251-first-
impression...](http://www.bgr.in/photo-gallery/freedom-251-first-impressions-
the-worlds-cheapest-smartphone-is-a-rebadged-chinese-phone-sold-at-
loss/freedom-251-hands-on-13--392558/)

------
dotdi
__EDIT: I was unaware of the issues of the Nexus 7. Seeing that they are not
related to the phone 's specs, my previous statements no longer hold.

Also, this has very similar specs to the 2012 Nexus 7 which is basically
unusable with Android 5.1

Unusable meaning up to 20 seconds delay between a tap and the expected app
opening up or the keyboard showing. Random hangs with the question if you want
to kill the offending app.

I don't expect a $4 phone to be fast but unless there are some major
differences, I think you'd just get $4 worth of frustration.

~~~
milankragujevic
Interestingly, I have a $99 smartphone with quadcore 1.3GHz cpu, 1GB of RAM
and a 720p 5" screen, and it works marvelously. No lag, keyboard works as it
should, can play 1080p video without any issues, 2100mAh battery lasts for a
day. I don't think that 2012 phones are the same as 2015/16 phones. As a x86
dual core 1.6GHz cpu from today and 4 years ago is not the same.

edit: cpu 1.6 to 1.3 ghz

~~~
hudo
I had Moto G 2nd gen which is similar specs. Said I had, because it was so
slow I couldn't use it at all. So slow that calls would drop because phone app
took 10sec to open.

~~~
avian
Just to give a counter-anecdote: I still use a 1st gen Moto G. I previously
had a mid-range HTC and a low-end Samsung phone. The Moto G is without doubt
the best Android phone I owned so far.

------
anotheryou
It's a rebranded "Adcom Ikon 4" some say

[https://gadgets360.com/shop/adcom-
ikon-4-gold-8-gb-3738342d3...](https://gadgets360.com/shop/adcom-
ikon-4-gold-8-gb-3738342d31323631)

------
droithomme
I bought a pretty great Android cellphone, brand new, contract free, with a
SIM card for $10 only 3 months ago with free shipping.

It was discussed on Hacker News and other tech news sites at the time. In
various threads people and even some tech journalists claimed it was a scam,
would end up costing more, wasn't really $10, would not work just as a wifi
device if you didn't activate it, or that developer tools would somehow be
disabled. Some of the articles got hostile with anyone that reported it
actually worked fine and really did cost only $10.

Well here it is several months later and not only is my total investment still
$10, but I've got it set up with free texting, a free telephone plan, and I am
using it to target for Android development with no problems. And it works very
well as a nice mp3 player with high quality sound, internet browser, voice
recorder, and bluetooth robot controller as well. What it doesn't have is a
good camera, the camera is OK outdoors and very poor indoors. But good optics
cost money so that is not surprising.

I'm done arguing with people though, especially the tech journalists that
didn't know what they were talking about, arguing and making accusations
against those who were reporting actual first hand experience. Crazy stuff.

~~~
frogpelt
Where did you get free text and voice?

------
pmontra
$4 should be much less than the cost of the components. How do they stay in
business?

~~~
b169118
crapware (see preinstalled apps)

~~~
agumonkey
How long until it's rooted ?

------
lossolo
It's subsidized phone for India market. India nation's defense minister will
be at the launch event.

~~~
AstralStorm
So it probably won't be available at the super low price elsewhere. I bet
Indian customs will have a lot of work on their hands...

------
hanniabu
I'm not up to date on leading edge hardware, but this seems impressive
especially for that price. Is there some sort of catch? This would be great to
root and mess around with.

~~~
tachyonbeam
Seems there must be. I'm assuming this is with some kind of plan or contract.
The price is below the cost of the components it seems to me. The quad core
1.3GHz ARM processor alone is probably worth more than $4. The display panel
and flash probably are also each worth $4 or more.

If these cellphones can really be bought for $4, then I want to buy 100 and
network them into a cluster.

------
geoah
Social media links might be of use.
[https://www.facebook.com/RingingB/](https://www.facebook.com/RingingB/)
[https://twitter.com/RingingB](https://twitter.com/RingingB)
[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6BBJhi7x8eD1QKJsLG6OiQ](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6BBJhi7x8eD1QKJsLG6OiQ)

------
nashashmi
These phones need to start becoming recyclable, not just electronics
recyclable, but plastic lot recyclable.

Screens are difficult to be made of plastic right now, but someone is working
on a replacement to LED lights that uses plastic instead. So there is promise
here.

That leaves the battery. I cannot think of a recyclable material (plastic or
aluminum metal) to replace the battery. When that happens, I think such $4
smartphones will not be damaging to the environment.

~~~
jimrandomh
Why? Phones are very small, so the amount of material in them is small, too.
Compared to most other things one could do for the environment, this seems
like it would be a waste of effort.

------
edent
This sounds like Datawind's "$35 Tablet" all over again -
[https://asiancorrespondent.com/2012/02/aakash-brings-a-
daily...](https://asiancorrespondent.com/2012/02/aakash-brings-a-daily-dose-
of-embarrassment/)

A company over-promises, the Government over-funds, and the product under-
delivers.

~~~
IkmoIkmo
On the contrary, it seems it's doing what the article suggested.

i.e. instead of trying to be the next Samsung, doing R&D and manufacturing of
your own new smartphone tech and reinventing the wheel, they're just importing
low-cost (maybe ± $40) existing phones from China and subsidising them to be
dirt cheap ($4). Exactly like the article you linked to suggests:

> To bridge the digital divide — an avowed goal — it could have simply
> contracted a company in Taiwan and imported the tablets and sold it at
> subsidized rates to students. The cost would have been nominal — after all,
> the Indian government is subsidizing the cost of Aakash 1, which costs $50
> to produce — and the tablets would have reached students sooner.

------
mychaelangelo
the link seems to be dead, here's the cache for those who can't view the
website [http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:eD-
BK_b...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:eD-
BK_bP25cJ:www.freedom251.com/+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk)

------
seek
Reasons why I think it is shady.

[https://medium.com/@seekshiva/reasons-why-i-think-
freedom-25...](https://medium.com/@seekshiva/reasons-why-i-think-
freedom-251-is-a-scam-48573a67a167#.gq85mjbe6)

------
Yaggo
The $4 cannot be the cost of the phone but the government-subsized end-user
price tag.

~~~
goldenkey
The government might want to subsidize some programs to fix the issue with the
Indian people shitting in the street first.

"Indians like to shit on streets -- no doubt. They would rather spend monies
on Iphones that get themselves a toilet."

[1] [http://theplanetd.com/india-is-filthy/](http://theplanetd.com/india-is-
filthy/)

[2] [http://veritas-lux.blogspot.com/2013/11/indians-and-their-
sh...](http://veritas-lux.blogspot.com/2013/11/indians-and-their-shit-looking-
at.html)

------
duran12
It is probably a loss leader to create a splash. It does not seem to be
supported by the Govt. Likely, only a few will be in stock at that price.
Later the price will increase or the model will be discontinued.

------
moron4hire
I wonder how good the IMU is? If it's any good at all, this might make an
excellent device for pairing with my VR rig and using as an input device.

------
ck2
I have a box of $5 smartphones from last Black Friday but some would argue
they are subsidized.

In fact they are almost exactly the same specs as the freedom one.

~~~
AstralStorm
Those aren't subsidized, they are loss leaders instead. You're supposed to buy
more of something else or they're dumping ancient hardware nobody wants for
low prices.

------
slaxman
Wow! I am extremely surprised to see this. If this device actually works, it
will do a lot to push internet connectivity in India.

------
wishinghand
I see the specs are better, but I wonder how it measures up in real world
usage to the $35 Intex phone.

------
dangerpowpow
How is it so cheap? A good haircut is 4 dollars. Is the Indian Govt
subsidizing it? Shady tbh

------
akhilcacharya
Are we sure this isn't a typo? If it were 2510 INR it would make more sense.

------
techthumb
Trying to order it, but their site is erroring with a 503

------
cgtyoder
Can someone fix the typo in the headline?

------
slantaclaus
I can't believe no one has mentioned this yet, but that looks like a violation
of some of apple's design and utility patents.

------
hathym
smells like a scam

------
satyajeet23
wow that's shady!

------
byteofprash
Forget the whole "smart" features in the phone. I am extremely happy if I am
able to make calls with this phone, message peeps through Whatsapp, update
status on Facebook. As a power user, I'm sure most of us wouldn't want this
phone, but imagine the power this could give to the poor people in India. With
just Rs.251, communication is just one touch away. This is going to make the
farmer, fishermen, plumber, merchants far more connected, productive and
simply get onto to the internet and explore the taste of connectivity. I'm
definitely thrilled to see the outcome of this. My only fear is the subsidies
that the government has poured into this.

Rs.251 is what I spend for a tasty dinner. If someone could have a phone for
that cost, why the hell not.

------
vain
This would have been great with free basics. But thanks to post colonial
Indian white suspicion, that's not about to happen.

~~~
mcphage
Yeah. Too bad Facebook's self-interest was so blatant; if their technology
offering had matched their rhetoric it really could have been something
amazing.

