During GITEX Shopper this year, which concluded a couple of weeks ago, we saw around seven new smartphone brands enter the Middle East market. One of the new entrants were Obi Mobiles who launched a new range of Android-based smartphones onto the market. The company, which was founded by John Sculley, the ex-CEO of Apple, sent us the Obi Falcon S451 for review at Review Central Labs.
At first glance, the Obi Falcon looks quite similar to the Oppo N1 Mini. The phone packs in a 4.5-inch 960-by-540 pixel display, a dual-core 1.3-Ghz MediaTek MT6572 processor, 1GB of RAM, and 4 GB of internal storage. The internal storage space can also be expanded using the built-in microSD slot. The phone also comes with a 2200 mAh battery and Android 4.2, Jelly Bean, inside.
A major feature of the phone is its camera module that swivels- so you can either position it as a back camera for shooting pictures like you usually do on most phones, or swivel it around to use it as a front camera for selfies. The resolution of the sviwelling camera is rated at 8-megapixels, which is quite enough to shoot photos, videos and selfies.
The camera module supports a 206° rotation, and we found that it securely locks at any angle. Since it is an AF camera, shooting high quality pictures was quite a walk in the park. When it comes to connectivity, the Obi Falcon supports 3G, Wi-Fi, USB and Bluetooth options.
The Obi Falcon S451 also support dual-SIM – interestingly, one of the slots takes in a standard SIM, while the second accomodates a micro SIM. This is perfect for those who are upgrading from a dumb phone to a smartphone, since users will not have to worry about converting their standard SIM to a micro or nano SIM in order to use it with a new phone.
The performance of the phone is quite good for a budget phone. Reception and audio quality is also good. The Obi Falcon S451 is really aimed at youngsters and those looking for an Android-phone experience in a budget. If you do not mind considering a new brand for your next smartphone purchase, you could consider the Obi Falcon S451.
Price: AED 599
Specifications:
Display: 4.5-inch qHD IPS display
Processor: 1.3 GHz Dual-Core MediaTek MT6572 processor with Mali 400 GPU
Memory: 1GB RAM
Storage: 4GB internal, expandable via micro SD
Camera: 8-megapixel rotating camera with dual LED flash
Operating System: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
Battery: 2200-mAh
