Welcome to my review of the Obi Worldphone MV1. So who are Obi Worldphone? Obi Worldphone state –

“Obi Worldphone, is a global smartphone company that has announced its entry into the UK market with the launch of its signature MV1 4G smartphone. It is available from Amazon UK for £99.

Born in Silicon Valley and co-founded by ex-CEO of Apple, John Sculley, Obi Worldphone is the first to bridge the gap between high-design smartphones at high prices and generic smartphones at low prices.

Fronted by Ammunition, the celebrated design house behind “Beats by Dre” headphones, and designed in the USA, the Obi Worldphone merges style with their custom user interface – Lifespeed™. Unifying the software and hardware experience, Lifespeed™ is a balance of colourful excitement and having everything where you need it. The phone, camera, and web are all easily accessible from the launch screen ensuring that the user’s favourite apps and phone features are easy to find and configure into any custom setup.”

The Design

The MV1 features a thin 5” ‘floating display’ that appears to hover just above its body. The screen is a 5 inch 1280 x 720 HD display and has excellent sunlight readability. The sunlight visibility is an added feature. You can see how good this is, looking at the photo below and the video review. The rear of the phone has a removable back, giving you access to the removable battery, 2 micro sim slots and then the micro SD card slot. The look of the MV1 is striking. It is unusual and like no other phone.

The Key Specifications

– Networks- GSM / WCDMA / HSPA+ / LTE , Europe, South East Asia, Middle East & Africa:GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz , WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz,Bands 4G LTE: FDD B1/3/5/7/20 ,TDD B38/40/B41
Latin America: GSM: 850/1800/1900 MHz, WCDMA: 850/1700/1800/1900/2100 MHz, 4G LTE: B2/3/4/7/28A
– Dimensions – 145.6 x 72.6 x 8.95mm
– Weight 149g (with battery)
– Build Polycarbonate body
– Finish UV coating, smudge-free matte finish
– Display Fully laminated IPS, 5 inches HD (720 x 1280 pixels), 294 ppi
– Protection Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3, Oleophobic Coating
– Special Feature – Sunlight Display
– Android Lollipop 5.1/Cyanogen OS 12.1.1 based on Android Lollipop
– Chipset Qualcomm® MSM8909 Snapdragon™ 212, CPU 1.3 GHz Quad-Core, GPU Adreno 304
– Memory Internal 16 GB + 2 GB RAM for Cyanogen OS version/16 GB + 1 GB RAM for Android Lollipop 5.1 version
– External Expandable up to 64 GB through MicroSD™ card (separate slot)
– Camera Primary 8 MP AF rear camera with LED flash, aperture f/2.2, autofocus, OV8865 sensor
Secondary 2 MP front camera
– Features Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, panorama, HDR, continuous shot, beauty face, still image during video recording,Video 720p@30fps
– Sound Mic Dual Mic for noise cancellation, Audio DTS Sound Communication
– SIM Dual Micro SIM (2 separate slots – unlocked & ready to use across all networks)
– WLANWi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi® Direct
– Bluetoothv4.1, A2DP
– GPSA-GPS, GLONASS
– USB MicroUSB v2.0
– Sensors Accelerometer, proximity, ALS
– Battery Capacity 2500 mAh Li-ion battery
– Stand-by Up to 13 days (2G), Talk time Up to 16 hours (2G),Web Browser 5.5/6 hours (3G/Wi-Fi))
Music Play Up to 28 hours (speakers),Video PlayUp to 8 hours (speakers)
– In the box – phone, one battery, one USB cable 2.0 & one power adapter (1 amp)

Photo – The 8mp Rear Camera with Flash

Photo – Demonstrating the MV1’s Special Sunlight Visibility

The Basics

I have already mentioned the design. This phone looks great. Also of a surprise and at this price point is the fact the screen has sunlight readability built in. The screen also has an oleophobic coating and gorilla glass 3. Viewing angles are ok. I am concerned that the phone OS is based on android lollipop 5.1 with Cyanogen 12.1.1. The security update shows 1st May 2016. Cellular signal was average. Call quality was average. Battery life seemed to max out at 3 hours screen on time, so a recharge during the day might be necessary depending on usage. The loudspeaker is on the lowish side for quality and volume output. The headphone jack (yes there is one) and the Audio FX produces good quality sounds and a decent volume output too. The rear camera is 8mp and the front 2mp. The quality is poor but if you only post to social media, then a filter will hopefully hide the softness and overall quality. The video review shots shots from the front and rear cameras. The snapdragon 212 is not the fastest processor available. In fact, it is slow. Lag is present. Graphic intense games don’t play well with this processor. Bear in mind this is a £99 phone and not a £919 iPhone 7 Plus. Despite the slower speeds of the 212 processor, for most phone related type tasks , messaging and such like, the phone is fairly fluid.

Video Review

Conclusion

The Obi Worldphone MV1 has an interesting pedigree of ownership. The phone is aimed squarely at the budget sector costing a mere £99. It is versatile with 2 sim slots and a 3rd slot for the micro sd card. The snapdragon 212 processor ensures this is not a gaming device but for generic phone duties and light gaming, it gets by. Battery life could be better, so could the camera. But at £99 it does offer features than some other phones fail to offer.

More information on the Obi Worldphone MV1 – Click HERE.