Docoss tries its luck with Rs888 smartphone after Freedom 251 flop
Indian smartphone maker Docoss has the X1 ready to take over the mantle of the most affordable Android smartphone
Ringing Bells created a stir in February with its Freedom 251 smartphone, priced at just ₹ 251, handing out review devices with the Adcom branding clumsily hidden by whitener. While Adcom initially denied knowledge of this, the company later said it had made the phones for Ringing Bells. Ringing Bells still says it will deliver the phones by 30 June.
Another Indian smartphone maker, a Jaipur-based start-up called Docoss, is trying something similar with the Docoss X1, priced at ₹ 888. The most affordable Android smartphone so far is Micromax’s Bolt S301, at ₹ 2,150.
The Docoss X1 is available on the company’s official website (www.docoss.com), but unlike Ringing Bells, which was going to deliver the phone four months after registration, the X1 will be delivered from 2 May. The company has shared most details of the phone on the website. Bookings closed on 29 April.
We couldn’t book the phone despite repeated attempts on the website. But you can register for it by sending a text message with your name and address.
The X1 has a 4-inch IPS display with a screen resolution of 800x480 pixels. The device weighs 102g and is 9.3mm thick, so it’s lighter than the Freedom 251, which weighs 116g. The picture shows a black plastic back panel, with a gold-coloured metal frame. It is a 3G device with dual micro SIM slots, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and a micro USB for connectivity. It offers 4 GB of internal storage while the micro-SD card slot can be used to add another 32 GB. It has a 1,300mAh battery, and a 1.2 GHz dual core processor, with 1 GB RAM.
The phone runs Android 4.4 (KitKat), which isn’t a bad deal. Google’s numbers show about 35% of Android smartphones still run on this two-year-old operating system.
It is advisable to wait for further updates if you are planning to order the Docoss X1.
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