Obi Worldp Worldphone MV1
This could be the budget phone we’ve all been waiting for. Then again…
A few big companies dominate the smartphone market, but that doesn’t mean there are no alternatives. Oneplus has released some excellent phones at a range of prices over the last couple of years (see our reviews, Issues 466, 474 and 480). Wileyfox’s Storm, Swift and Spark (see Issues 460, 467 and 482) were flawed but worth considering. This summer even Argos came out with a decent £200 phone, the Bush Spira E3X (see Issue 485).
Now Obi, founded by former Apple employees, is bravely competing at the £100 mark, where Motorola’s Moto devices (now owned by PC maker Lenovo) traditionally reign.
On paper, the Worldphone MV1 is no match for the Moto G 3rd Gen (£113 from Amazon www.snipca.com/21923), with an 8- megapixel camera (five fewer than its rival), and a slower Snapdragon processor. But while the Moto G looks so generic it’s almost a child’s drawing of a mobile phone, the MV1 is thrillingly distinctive. The bottom corners are more than usually rounded; at the top, the front glass echoes this shape, but the case is squared off. It reminded us of Apple’s ipod Nano, but it’s unique, and the combination of satin plastic and metal finishes feels superb.
The 5in 1280x720-pixel screen covered almost as much of the SRGB colour range as the Moto G, at 81 per cent, with better brightness and contrast. But we weren’t as impressed by the camera, which showed fuzzy detail and a slight pink tinge in outdoor shots and was grainy indoors, not helped by a green-tinged flash.
Like Wileyfox, Obi uses the independent Cyanogen edition of Google’s Android software – a fine choice. The MV1 comes with version 12.1.1, promising an upgrade to 13.1. Unfortunately, the phone doesn’t quite have the processing power to run it smoothly, and as a result heavy web pages, such as the BBC’S, struggled to load. The Moto G would be a much better choice for regular internet use, although neither is good for advanced games. At nearly nine hours of video playback, the MV1’S battery life was disappointing.
It looks distinctive, but lacks power and battery life