Vivo Y35 vs Obi Worldphone SF1: The winner is clear

While Vivo has been around for sometime, Obi Worldphone is a relatively new entry in the smartphone market. The teasers we have seen so far indicate that both Vivo and Obi Worldphone are targeting youth with their beautiful designs and high-end specifications in a reasonable price range. In this review we are particularly comparing Obi Worldphone SF1 with Vivo Y35 that fall in somewhat comparable price segment to see which one of the two still makes up for a better deal.

Vivo Y35 is elegant, but Obi SF1’s raised glass makes it look premium

Let us start with what strikes the eyes first, the color. Obi SF1 is available in standard black color, where as Vivo Y35 offers multiple options such as white, black and gold color range. In overall physical terms, Obi SF1 measures 146x74x8 mm (7.8 mm body with 0.2 mm floating display) and weighs 147 grams, where as Vivo Y35 measures 143.3x71x6.78 mm and weighs 153 grams. Even though SF1 has a bigger body, it is lighter in weight that Vivo. Obi SF1’s unibody with metallic accents and raised glass display gives it a quite distinctive and premium look, while its rounded edges make it even more comfortable to hold. Although Vivo Y35 looks elegant but apart from that it does not offer anything new in terms of design.

Obi’s SF1 takes a definite lead in display quality and glass protection

Both the devices come with a 5inch display screen, however there is a huge difference in the display quality. While Obi SF1 has an astonishing Full HD (1080x1920 pixels) display with 443 ppi, Vivo Y35 lags behind with HD (720x1280 pixels) with 294 ppi. No doubt Obi SF1 offers much better visual experience whether it is reading or watching graphics. When it comes to screen protection Obi SF1 again moves ahead with the latest Corning Gorilla Glass (CGG) 4 compared to Vivo’s CGG 3. Here it is imperative to note that CGG 4 comes with native damage resistance technology that makes it stronger than CGG3 in terms of resisting scratches and overall durability. Needless to say that Obi SF1 is a clear winner when it comes to display quality and protection.

Obi SF1 maintains the lead at the performance front too 

Obi SF1 is powered by 1.5 GHz Quad-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 (MSM8939) processor and Vivo Y35 runs on 1.2 GHz Quad Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (MSM8916) processor, indicating that Obi SF1 has an edge over Vivo Y35 with faster processor as well higher clock speed. With its Operating System (OS) Android Lollipop 5.0.2, Obi SF1 retains the slight edge over Vivo Y35 which comes in slightly older version of Android Lollipop 5.0. Furthermore, Obi SF1 comes in two variants including 2GB RAM (16GB storage) and 3GB RAM(32 GB storage) which can be expanded up to 64GB via microSD card. On the other hand Vivo Y35 offers only 2GB RAM option with 16GB in-built memory but it can be expanded up to 128GB via microSD card.

Cameras are somewhat comparable, but SF1 comes with a better battery

Both Obi SF1 and Vivo Y35 offer 13 MP primary/rear cameras for an outstanding photography experience. However, Obi SF1 gives user more features with Ubi Focus, Chroma flash and Opti zoom. These features just take the overall camera experience to the next level. For selfies, both devices have a 5 MP secondary/front camera. But, in Obi SF1, there is a LED flash that enables capturing bright and clear selfies even in dark. At the battery front, Vivo Y35 has a 2300 mAh Li- Po battery which clearly lags behind Obi SF1 3000 mAh battery. Also, Obi SF1 supports quick charge 1.0 technology. While the cameras may be somewhat comparable, Obi SF1 jumps ahead in battery capacity too.

The winner is clear

We have noted that SF1 has a clear advantage in terms of resolution, pixel density, CGG4 protection, a slightly higher version of the OS, better processor and superior battery. On the other hand, in comparison, Vivo Y35 offers the singular advantage of higher expandable memory option, which is not all that critical as SF1 too offers the option to expand. If we add in price as a factor, we find out that while Vivo Y35 is available at around USD230, the equivalent Obi SF1 (2GB/16GB) variant is marked at USD199 (Obi’s 3GB/32GB variant costs USD 249), essentially indicating that Obi Worldphone has managed to offer better specifications and premium design at relatively lesser price than Vivo. It is obvious that Obi Worldphone SF1 has clearly established itself as a much better device than Vivo Y35.