Obi Worldphone MV1 Dual-SIM Budget Smartphone Launched at MWC 2016

Obi Worldphone, the company backed by ex-Apple CEO John Sculley, has unveiled a new smartphone, the MV1, at the MWC 2016 in Barcelona. The company says that the Obi Worldphone MV1 smartphone is targeted at "young professionals" markets across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe.

Priced at $149 (approximately Rs. 10,000), the smartphone will be available in 2GB and 1GB of RAM models. Both of which will feature 16GB of built-in storage. The 1GB RAM model has been priced at $139 (approximately Rs. 9,500). The Obi Worldphone MV1 will be available immediately in Asia and Africa while will also launch in Latin America and Europe in March. The company says that the smartphone will be available via online and traditional retail channels.

As before, the company has teamed up with San Francisco-based Ammunition for the design, and Obi says Ammunition gave it "sculptural look."

The MV1 is said to be available in both stock Android Lollipop 5.1 and Cyanogen OS 12.1.1 variants. The addition of Cyanogen OS means users will get options to personalise and customise their device experience from icons and themes to boot animations and lock screens. It also brings features such as Truecaller and LiveDisplay, which adjusts the user's screen based on light. Additionally, the MV1 runs Lifespeed, which the company's UI.

The Obi Worldphone MV1 features a 5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) display and comes with a pixel density of 294ppi. The smartphone also packs Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 processor with Adreno 304 GPU. It sports an 8-megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash with f/2.2 aperture and also sports a 2-megapixel. It supports expandable storage up to an additional 64GB via microSD. The dual-SIM Obi Worldphone MV1 supports a Micro and a Nano-SIM. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi direct, Bluetooth v4.1, GPS/ A-GPS, GLONASS, and Micro-USB. It measures 145.6x72.6x8.95mm and weighs 149 grams.

Commenting on the launch, Obi Worldphone Co-founder John Sculley said, "This is an industry with 200 different brands vying for consumers' attention. There will be 1.4 billion Android phones produced in 2016 alone, so there needs to be a way to stand apart from the pack. The components for all these different phones are mass produced, in the same countries, and often in the same exact factories. What we've done with the Obi Worldphone from the very beginning is show that it's possible to have a beautifully designed phone that fits into your lifestyle at an accessible price without sacrificing form and technology. You don't have to give up style in exchange for substance. With the MV1, you can have both."

Disclosure: John Sculley's Inflexion Point is an investor in NDTV's Gadgets 360.