Obi Worldphone MV1 which is the third phone from the company has been with us for more than two weeks after its launch in Nepal. During this period we tested the Obi MV1 from multiple angles. Obi MV1 is a budget-range mobile just like the other two Obi SF1 and Obi SJ1.5. So this Obi MV1 actually combines the design and hardware from both and provides a new culmination. We did lots of tests and benchmarks for a long time to provide you with in-depth insight.
Obi Worldphone MV1 is a smartphone for starters who want most of the features. This phone provides an exotic Cyanogen OS experience out of the box and there are no other products like this in the market at this price. We are actually based in Nepal right now and there is nothing like Obi MV1 in the Nepali market. For the price, Obi MV1 costs Rs 15,610 in Nepal. So this is a $150 range smartphone in the international market.
Obi MV1 Specifications
Design and Build
The Obi MV1 has a polycarbonate body of 72.6 x 145.6 x 8.95 mm dimension and 149g weight. On the top of the body, there is a floating screen. The screen looks like it is separate from the main body. So this is quite a different look. It actually combines the curved design of Obi SJ1.5 and the floating screen of Obi SF1. All the sensors, cameras, and earpieces of the front are on a floating display.
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The back of the phone has a camera, led flash, and a mic at the top. Then at the bottom of the back side, there is a speaker grill and Obi branding. The top of the phone’s body is flat and the bottom is rounded. Thus this phone looks asymmetric but very uniquely beautiful.
Internal Hardware and Benchmark Results
Delta Digit always places performance, processing, or computing power as the top priority of any device. So Obi Worldphone MV1 comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 chipset which boasts a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor and Adreno 304 GPU. The SoC or chipset has 2 GB RAM which is quite good for the price. Snapdragon 212 is just a year old SoC so the system is decent. For storage, Obi MV1 comes with 16 GB inbuilt storage which can be expanded up to 64 GB using an external SD card.
The hardware power is good enough to provide a good multitasking experience. Obi has improved the software experience since the Obi SF1. Thus Obi MV1 performs better during minimal and simple usage like internet browsing, listening to music, etc. Gaming and heavy tasking were also as normal as expected. However, there are a few lags sometimes under very heavy loads with some normal heating also.
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In order to provide more information to our readers, we also performed benchmark tests using various apps such as Geekbench and AnTuTu Benchmark. Here are some of the results of Obi MV1 benchmarks.
Obi MV1 is powered by a 2500 mAh battery which performs really well. We got quite a good screen on time and standby. In our experience, Obi MV1 can go up to two days on stand-by with a SIM card. The charging takes up to 2 hours because of the lack of a fast charger.
Display
The front side of Obi MV1 has a 5” IPS LCD screen that looks like it is floating. This unique display is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 and oleophobic coating. The screen has a resolution of 720×1280 because the processor only supports a maximum of 720p. The pixel density is 294 pixels per inch but users can select the LCD density in settings. LCD density is set at 320 dpi by default but can be changed from 240 to 360 DPI.
People can also benefit from the Adaptive brightness using Ambient light sensors. Our favorite feature is Live Display which provides a sort of blue light filter function. These are useful features and phones should come with those more often.
Camera
The camera is given very big priority when buying a new phone. It is because the phone is closer to us and we can take it out to capture whatever is necessary. Obi MV1 is holding an 8 8-megapixel sensor with LED flash at the back and a 2-MP selfie camera at the front. Both cameras can record videos at a maximum resolution of 1280×720 videos.
Image quality from the back camera is nice in sufficient light conditions but we see noise and disturbance in darker conditions. Users can use the front camera to have satisfactory selfies and have a decent video conference. Overall, it can take pretty good photos in noble conditions and settings.
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There are regular features such as Auto Focus, HDR, Panorama, etc available inside the camera app. Surprisingly we also get a higher frame rate option for videos. Thus, users can record videos up to 90 fps in two different modes. This includes ‘Slow Motion‘ and ‘High Speed‘ options. The ‘Slow motion’ is normal slow motion as it should be but the ”High speed’ is just normal video at a really smooth but high frame rate. We have experienced 60 fps video on YouTube before but Obi MV1 gives the option to shoot at 90 fps as well.
Software and Other Features
Obi MV1 comes with Cyanogen OS based on Android 5.1 Lollipop. Running Cyanogen OS is a great experience. We are fans of stock Android experience with zero disturbance and Cyanogen OS provides that. There are also options for customizations. There is now a themes option that allows users to download free or buy new themes from the store. The boot loader is unlocked in the Obi Worldphone MV1 and users can change the boot animation as they like.
There are improvements over the predecessors but it requires further polishing. The phone is using Android 5.1 which really should be upgraded to Marshmallow with some serious changes. We hope Android 6 comes soon and improves things further.
In the name of the network, it has micro-size SIM slots and supports 2 SIM cards. Obi Worldphone MV1 is 4G LTE ready so it can also take the benefit of 4G and VoLTE as soon as the service is deployed in Nepal.
The speakers on Obi MV1 are satisfactory in terms of sound and music. But the DTS Sound technology really enhances audio via headphones. So DTS is a really good add-on and it impressed us.
Another eye-catcher is security options. Obi provides options to lock the apps and folders using a password. There is a pin scrambling option for the main home screen unlock. We do appreciate the emphasis on security. However, a fingerprint scanner would have made this phone even better. Obi missed a golden chance by missing a fingerprint scanner.
Conclusion
Obi MV1 has some fantastic features packed in this tiny package. UV Coating, sunlight display, Blue light filter, and LED Notification are one of them. The company stated that this phone is targeted at the youth. Thus it has a unique design, an attractive display, and a really solid build. As the mobile is in the budget range and the hardware set is of starting range the performance is accordingly.
Overall, Obi MV1 provides good performance with its Snapdragon processor, and 2 GB RAM, and has a really nice display protected with Corning glass. It does provide some exciting features and options that make it enjoyable with Cyanogen. In the future, we also wish to see updates with new OS upgrades that can further improve the battery life. It is quite a good smartphone in this price range due to its design, software, and hardware. In our view, the best parts of the Obi MV1 are the design, OS, and display so it is a recommended option at this price point.
