Freedom 251 was Google India's top trending smartphone in 2016

Google has outed the list of top trending smartphones of 2016 on Google Search in India. Surprisingly,  the controversial  Freedom 251 was the top trending smartphone of this year, beating Apple's iPhone 7 which is at second place.

For those unaware, the Freedom 251 was the most cheapest Android smartphone ever released in the world, which grabbed attention all over the world. It was priced at Rs. 251($4) and offered specs that you would find in a Rs. 3,000 phone. However it never really went on sale and turned out to be a ponzi scheme.

The Freedom 251 and iPhone 7 were followed by Xiaomi's sleeper hit Redmi Note 3, Lenovo's K4 Note and Samsung Galaxy Note 7, which are placed at third, fourth and fifth respectively.

Xiaomi's Redmi Note 3 was also the top trending budget smartphone of 2016. This is no surprise, since Xiaomi claims to have sold over 2.5 million units of the phone since launch.

The Moto G4, OnePlus 3, Apple iPhone SE, Google Pixel and Lenovo K5 Note were the other five most searched smartphones in the country this year. Note that the insights shared by Google represent top trending phones in the country, and do not reflect sales.