Obi Worldphone SF 1 vs Samsung Galaxy E5

In this concise comparative review we take two mid range Android smartphones that entered the market this year, the recently launched Obi Worldphone SF1 and Samsung Galaxy E5. In an increasingly commoditized market, all emerging smartphone brands are vying to claim some differentiation and provide their best without challenging our pockets. In this contest, Obi Worldphone proudly claims a ‘Designed in San Francisco’ model with the best in line technology, while the veteran Samsung is already popular as a global smartphone leader that runs behind Apple. The slide below provides us with a quick comparative view on what the two devices have to offer.

If we look at the specifications, it is clear that Samsung’s E5 falls way short of Obi’s flagship SF1 on several counts. Both the devices are of moderate size, but Samsung E5 is a bit smaller and lighter. The two devices have the same screen size, however, it seems SF1 optimizes the screen better by providing a sharper view due to higher resolution and pixel density. Here Obi Worldphone has sincerely put up a great challenge in terms of innovation in gadgets. On the top, Obi also provides the protection of the latest Corning Gorilla Glass 4.

Also, beside making a difference through its Silicon Valley design, Obi SF1 has a well planned, latest in range OS and CPU backed by a good battery support and Quick Charge 1.0 that saves about 40% of the charging time. The multimedia experience in SF1 is also superior with Sony Exmor sensor camera (UBI Focus, Opti Zoom, Chroma Flash), 4G network, better resolution in display, Dolby Audio sound quality etc where surprisingly the old hand Samsung lags behind. Furthermore, both the devices are dual SIM. 

Considering the differences, it comes as a surprise that Obi SF1 costs lesser than Samsung E5. On the whole, Obi Worldphone SF1 can certainly win many hearts by proving that, if planned well, great design and high-end technology do not necessarily have to be expensive.

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Obi Worldphone SF1 steps into world's leading smartphone markets

Silicon Valley is the meeting place of world's most innovative technology and breath taking art. From the heart of the valley, Obi announces it’s unique range of smartphones under the master brand Obi Worldphone. Considering that the global legends like John Sculley and Robert Bruner of Apple fame have come together to envision, design, build and launch this range, we most certainly have to check Obi's flagship, the Obi Worldphone SF1, where SF stands for San Francisco and number 1 represents the first in series. This flagship device of Obi Worldphone had its global launch in San Francisco followed by regional releases in East Asia (Vietnam, Thailand), Middle East (Dubai, Saudi Arabia) and lately in India as well.   

In today’s hyper competitive smartphone market, the company claims that its mission is to bring beautifully designed, technologically superior smartphones, priced at an exceptional customer value. If this sounds like what you need, let's find out what this device really brings.

A design to stand out from the rest

With our phone becoming part of what we wear and carry, we also want it to reflect our unique style, choice and comfort. Even then, how easy is to discover and mould an original, unique design in a small utility device like smartphone? Well, Obi seems to have raised the bar here. A custom User Interface (UI) with original and authentic silhouettes as expected of Ammunition Group, where every detail and curve is carefully crafted to make the piece a class apart and instantly recognizable as Obi Worldphone.

Particularly, SF1 comes in the timeless classic black hue, with metallic accents and a unibody compose, with “Designed in San Fransisco” stamped right behind. The fiberglass-reinforced body has accents made of an alloy of Titanium and Aluminium. The High Young's module makes it less prone to bending. The premium of having an oleophobic, anti fingerprint and UV coating saves our time on keeping it new, clean and scratch free. It has an elevated floating screen experience, emphasizing on a more engaged interaction with what we see and do with our smartphone.

However, if you happen to be a smart, busy and, somewhat, clumsy person like me, your eyes would go looking for strength and durability. Thankfully, SF1 is built with Corning Gorilla Glass (GG4), the toughest in category to protect the display (It is important to note here that even iPhone6 has CGG3). The raised screen is placed with a special gasket for protection. The architecture is such that the metal end plates at the top and bottom are more likely to hit the ground before the glass and they have been designed to take the impact, so that we are ready to take knocks better, and explore life in style!

Read More: iPhone6 vs Obi Worldphone SF; It's specifications vs brand

SF1 comes with a rich and sharp display

With an eye for detail and expression, the smartphone screen gives a good 5 inch display, as is common and demanded in smartphones now a days. The dimensions are 146*74*8.1mm, giving it a sturdy look. The screen is equipped with High Definition (HD) 1080 X 1920 pixels, which means richer colour and sharper details with 443ppi in cell Display. To make you feel right in the middle of your movie experience, the device has Dolby 5.1 discreet channels of high fidelity surround sound. Having a secondary microphone helps in noise cancellation, so that you can communicate neat and be heard clear-cut no matter where you are.

A phone that runs on eight engines

Coming to the roots of the device, Obi’s SF1 processes on Qualcomm MSM8939 64 - bit Snapdragon 615 with 1.5 GHz Octa-core clock speed. This is a good speed, but there is more to it, especially considering that not only your smartphone should perform matching your pace but also save on power where you are taking it easy. Although the Snapdragon 615 is octa-core, it is not just eight cores. It is actually four fast (1.7GHz) plus four not-so-fast (1GHz) cores. As a result, the system shifts to the slower, less power-hungry, cores when there is no load, and back again smoothly when there is. The benefit is both performance and power saving. This is not yet common in smartphones, therefore, Obi’s SF1 sure comes with an advantage. The Adreno 405 GPU 64 bit in turn provides first class HD gaming experience due to its support for both 2D and 3D games, giving you both compatibility and performance. The phone operates on Google's, Android 5.02 (lollipop) software, hence all Google Play store supported applications run on Obi Worldphone.

SF1 comes loaded with softwares and storage choices

Beside Obi custom user interface, other softwares include Swiftkey, Accuweather, Clean Master, MS Office, AVG Anti virus and a lot more to come! To support all these there is a well planned option for either 16GB internal storage with 2GB RAM or 32 GB internal storage with 3GB RAM. Along with this it has a micro SD slot for an expandable memory upto 64 GB, hence we are never short of space. The DDR3 RAM and eMMC 4.5 ROM is the fastest possible option for the given processor, plus 15GB cloud storage on Google. The quick charge feature in 3000 mAh battery power supports phone life for 20 days standby time, upto 28 hours talk-time, 10 hours video playback time and a delightful 100 hours of music playback.

A camera that is supported with authentic hardware

Most importantly, with 13 Mega Pixels rear camera, 5 Mega Pixels front camera with LED flash on both sides powered by Sony Exmor IMX214 Sensor, SF1 is actually a professional camera in the palm of your hand. Not only it ensures superb lowlight photos, but in high density resolution too. The f/2.0 Aperture allows a good amount of light to fall on the lens to capture a sharper image. One can capture a scene with everything in focus or refocus the image taken as it is never too late, zoom to read text, click photos in low light as layered flash will not ruin the photo's brightness, texture, color or take split second perfect focus even in the sun. Capturing RAW images always allows higher quality photo, as it does not compress the photo like in JPG, BMP etc. formats. Touch focus, face/smile detection, panorama HDR. Video 1080p@30fps, Ubifocus, Chrome flash and optical zoom assist us to capture timeless memories and selfies, perfectly forever.

SF1 covers most of the networks

The network reach and communication features GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) /WCDMA (850/900/1800/1900 Mhz)/HSPA+ /4G LTE (FOD B3 1800 MHz and TDD B40 2300 MHz). The device supports Dual SIM (Micro and Nano, WLAN direct Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Dual band. Blutooth (v4.0 A2DP) and GPS with GLONASS. GLONASS is known to provide faster and accurate fixes, especially in EMEA, Asia and North America. The phone comes with a custom designed charger and a micro USB data cable (v2.0) to connect further. The brand upholds a standard one-year warranty in most markets. The phones are built by CK Telecom Limited, a leading mobile phone ODM/OEM provider in Heyuan, China.

Obi Worldphone SF1 takes smartphone experience to next level

Ammunition has designed Obi Worldphone from concept to completion. SF1’s industrial design, user interface (UI), superior features and packaging, everything is aimed at user experience, as if this stylish device is built to bring out the connection between the smartphone and its owner. With this combination of beauty and power, Obi aims to serve customers around the world. However, the most interesting aspect is the price tag (App. USD200-250), which actually makes one think as if the company is tactically underrating the device, as if this beauty deserved to cost more. Moreover, Obi promises to push the limits of smartphone experience by working to bring in more softwares and plans to sell its own line of accessories soon.

Well, SF1 most certainly brings some fresh air of Silicon Valley in the global smartphone market in terms of class, originality, display, camera, sound and battery life at an exceptional price. With its mission to fuel the dreams of those young and upbeat, we see every reason that the device would be able to attract attention across the markets. On the whole, to the great customer delight, Obi Worldphone SF1 seems to have raised the overall quality bar for the price point it comes in.

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Obi Fox S453 simply outshines Hisense U606 in UAE

The European smartphone brand Hisense, headquartered in Germany, is an established player in the UAE market. On the other hand, Obi Mobiles, co-founded by John Sculley, ex-CEO of Apple, is a new player in the UAE market. In this comparative review, we are comparing Hisense U606 and Obi Fox S453. The following spec-to-spec match will be useful for the potential customers.

Look & Feel : We start with the overall appearance. Hisense U606 has a dark front and white back, where as Obi Fox S453 is white on both sides, with a slightly greyish-white back. However, if colour is not the primary determinant of one's choice, there are other details that need attention. With overall measurements 127x64.3x9.9mm, Hisense is relatively smaller and thicker looking device than Obi’s Fox, a relatively sleeker looking device that measures 131.7x64x9mm. 

Display: The main difference lies in the display screen size, where Fox with 4.5 inch screen beats Hisense that has 4 inch screen. In terms of display technology, both the devices have a capacitive touch screen. A larger screen is always a plus from the point of view of viewing experience and a 4 inch screen is definitely small, considering that even 5 inch screen is common nowadays. Larger screen particularly acquires more significance for the youth as viewing videos on the smartphones is becoming part of their everyday life.

Processor & OS: Obi Fox S453 is powered by MediaTek MT6572 1 GHz dual core processor, as compared to Hisense U606 which has Qualcomm MSM8210 1.2 GHz dual core that offers a slightly better clock speed than Fox. However, Fox’s OS Android 4.4.2 KitKat is slightly improved version over Hisense U606 OS Android 4.3 KitKat. Both the devices have internal storage space of 4GB that can be expanded up to 32GB using a MicroSD card. However, the major difference between the two is RAM where Obi Fox’s 1GB RAM outshines Hisense U606 that comes with 512MB RAM. Extra RAM helps apps run smoother with reduced time lags, and when coupled with an excellent processor, it enhances overall quality of user interface and experience.

Battery & Cameras: Obi’s Fox S453 has a leg up on the battery front too. With 1600 mAh battery size, Fox gives 6 hours of talk time and 180 hours of standby time. On the other hand, Hisense U606 has 1500 mAh battery that gives 3 hours of talk time and 240 hours of standby time. Talking about the camera, Obi Fox has an impressive 5MP primary (rear) camera and 2MP secondary (front) camera for selfies. On the other hand, Hisense U606 has 3MP primary camera and 0.3MP secondary camera. Needless to say that Obi Fox outshines Hisense U606 on both the counts, i.e. Battery capacity and cameras.

Connectivity & Price: As far as connectivity is concerned both the devices have 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi with 802.11 b/g/n standards supported. Both the devices also have a dual sim card slots, Bluetooth, GPS, 3.5 mm audio jack and FM receiver. Furthermore, we also looked at the price tags of the two devices in the UAE market, where Obi Fox S453 is priced at around AED 280, where as Hisense U606 is at around AED 350. 

Bottom Line: Both the devices are marked for budget customers, where value for money is particularly important. Obi Fox S453 comes with some definite advantages including a lager display screen, superior operating system (OS), bigger RAM (double), better cameras, and higher battery capacity over Hisense U606. Moreover, Obi brings all this at a lesser price too. Therefore, making a choice between the two should not be difficult, unless of course you love brand Hisense. In that case, well, love has no parallels. 

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Obi Wolverine is a better deal than Samsung S Duos 2 in Kenya

This comparative review focuses on two mid-range smartphones that are competing against each other in East Africa, particularly Kenya. Samsung S Duos 2 has been a choice of many for a long time in Kenya, where as Wolverine S501 from Obi Mobiles, a company co-founded by John Sculley, ex-CEO of Apple and PepsiCo, has entered the Kenyan market in March this year. In spite of being new Obi Mobiles, as the review indicates, stands a good chance to give a healthy competition. So, as part of our comparative review series, in this review we compare Samsung S Duos 2 with Obi’s Wolverine S501.

Design: In the first look, we note that Samsung S Duos 2 (Size: 121.5X63.1X10.57mm) is comparatively much smaller looking device than Obi’s Wolverine (Size: 144X73X9.6mm) and weighs much lighter too, just 118g as compared to Obi’s 167g. With such dimensions, Samsung Duos fits well in the hand and easy to carry around, however, larger size is not necessarily a disadvantage, probably more of a matter of preference. Moreover, Duos 2 has a metallic body finish and comes in white and black colours, where as Wolverine comes in impressive black, leather-like cover that protects the device from cracks and scratches.

Display: The overall size seems to reflect in the display screen size, which is 4 inch in case of Samsung S Duos 2, where as Wolverine offers with a screen size of 5 inch; a significant one inch difference obviously means larger visuals. Moreover, while Duos comes with a display with TFT technology and a screen resolution of 420X800 pixels, Wolverine S501 has a TFT IPS Screen with capacitive touch with a screen resolution of 480X854 pixels. Given its larger screen size, superior display technology and slightly higher resolution, Obi’s Wolverine takes a slight lead on the visual experience front.

OS & Processor: Samsung Duos 2 runs on Android v4.2.2 Jelly Bean packed with a 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9 processor, where as Wolverine S501 runs on Android KitKat (4.4), powered by a MeditaTek MTK6572 1.2 Ghz dual-core processor, that gives it an accelerated touch screen and superior performance. On the OS front too, Wolverine has a leg up over Samsung Duos.

RAM & Storage: Samsung S Duos 2 comes with a mere 0.75GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage that luckily Samsung gives you an option of expanding up to 64GB, however, a low RAM and extra storage option can make the performance of the device suffer. Obi Wolverine S501, on the other hand, has a more balanced 1GB RAM support and 4 GB internal storage with external memory support up to 32GB via a MicroSD card.

Camera & Battery:  Samsung S Duos 2 sports a 5MP primary camera with flash. It also has a VGA secondary camera which with time has run out of fashion. Obi Wolverine S501 sports a 5MP primary camera placed in the middle of the device and comes with a LED flash. It also has a 0.3MP secondary camera. On the battery front, both Samsung S Duos and Obi Wolverine S 501 have removable batteries with 1500 mAh capacity that gives you a standby time of 280hrs in Duos and 180hrs in Wolverine. While Obi Wolverine takes a lead on the camera front, Samsung S Duos 2 claims better standby time.

Connectivity: On the connectivity front, both Samsung S Duos 2 and Obi Wolverine S501 are dual-sim phones, Wolverine being the smart one for it has 3G support for both the sim-cards, where as Duos 2 uses one as 2G and the other as 3G. Both the smartphones have WiFi 802.11/b/g/n and Bluetooth v4.0 support.

Conclusion: Both the devices are pretty much comparable on most of the indicators, however, there are specific differences. Samsung S Duos 2, with a certain brand value, would appeal to those looking for an elegant, easy to carry, smaller looking device, where as Obi’s Wolverine would appeal to those looking for a device that could afford better visual experience, especially youngsters who like to watch videos on the smartphone. The leatherish feel in the Wolverine design is unique too. In addition, Obi’s Wolverine has the advantage of superior OS, higher RAM and superior secondary camera.

Price: Finally, we look at the price in the Kenya market, where Samsung S Duos 2 is marked around 11,500KSh, where as Obi’s Wolverine S501 is at around 9000KSh. Therefore, unless there is specific brand priority and design preference, we find Obi Wolverine to be a better overall deal considering the specifications and the price point at which it comes.

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Obi Fox is out for a kill in Kenya, Huawei needs to watch out

If you are looking for an entry-level Android handset, the choices are generally limited, and sometimes even the budget market seems pricey. In Africa, Huawei has received notable praise for its affordable but high-performing smartphones. Huawei has added another member to the Y-series of entry level budget smartphones which is Huawei Y330. On the other hand, Obi Mobiles, co-founded by John Sculley, ex-CEO of Pepsi Co and Apple, is already making its mark in Africa since it entered the African market couple of months ago. Therefore, we have picked up Huawei Y330 and ObiFox S453 for our comparative analysis. Let us see how do they fare against each other.

Look & Feel

We start with the design of the two smartphone models. First point of difference is Huawei Y330 comes in black, white, red, blue and yellow colours, Obi’s Fox is only available in white colour, so if you are keen on a colourful device, there are more options with Huawei. However, there are other design considerations too. With 131.7x64x9mm dimensions, Obi Fox gives a more sleeker look than Huawei that is 122.1x63.5x11.3mm and has slightly shorter and thicker appearnce.

Display

The main difference lies in the display screen size which is 4.5 inch in case of Obi Fox and 4 inch in case of Huawei Y330. Furthermore, both the devices have a capacitive touch screen where Obi Fox display screen produces 854x480 pixels resolution where as Huawei Y330 slightly lags behind with 800x480 pixels. A larger screen is always a plus from the point of viewing experience. It particularly acquires more significance for the youth where video viewing and gaming on the smartphone is part of their everyday life.

Processing Capacity

Obi’s Fox is powered by MediaTek MT6572 1 GHz dual core processor, as compared to Huawei Y330 which is powered by similar MediaTek MT6572 1.3 GHz dual core processor, offering a slightly better clock speed. However, Obi Fox’s OS Android 4.4.2 KitKat is an improved  version over Huawei’s  Android 4.2 Jellybean OS. Moreover, Huawei has tweaked with the OS and has their own skin Huawei Emotion UI 2.0 Lite which gives the display a distinctive look. Both the devices have internal storage space of 4GB that can be expanded up to 32GB using a MicroSD card. However, the major difference between the two is RAM where Obi Fox’s 1GB RAM completely outshines Huawei Y330 which comes with 512MB RAM. Extra RAM helps apps run smoother with reduced time lags, and when coupled with a powerful processor, it enhances overall quality of user interface and experience.

Battery & Cameras

Obi’s Fox has a leg up on the battery front too. With 1600 mAh battery size, Fox gives 6 hours of talk time and 180 hours of standby time while, on the other hand, Huawei Y330 has 1500 mAh battery that gives 3 hours of talk time and 240 hours of standby time. Also, Fox S453 has an impressive 5MP primary camera and 2MP Front camera, whereas Huawei Y330 comes with 3MP primary camera and no Front camera. Huawei’s decision to bring a device without a front camera seems to be a big blunder considering the selfie generation. Needless to say that Obi Fox has emerged as a clear winner in this feature.  

Additional Features
Lets sum it up
Concluding Remark

As far as connectivity is concerned, both the devices have 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi with 802.11 b/g/n standards supported. Both the devices also have a dual sim card slots, Bluetooth V4.0, GPS, 3.5 mm audio jack and FM receiver.

We note that Huwaei Y330 offers more colour options, slightly more powerful processor and an operating system with its own skin for a distinctive effect, but also has a major drawback in terms of not having a front camera. On the other hand, Obi Fox S453 takes a clear lead on every other key component which includes a larger display screen with a slightly better resolution, double RAM, more advanced OS, higher battery capacity and, most of all, it comes with a 2MP front camera to respond to the needs of selfie generation. We also explored the price in the Kenyan market, where Obi Fox is priced at around KSh9000 where as Huawei Y330 is at around KSh6500. The price difference is justified on account of front camera.

It is important to note that both the devices are made for people on a limited budget and therefore it is obvious that in order to maintain the low price the manufactures have made some sacrifices. However, we find that Obi has been able to work out the trade offs better and manages to put together a device that balances youthful aspirations, specifications and price better. If one can squeeze out a better price deal, even better.

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In Africa, it’s Obi’s Leopard aiming at Samsung’s Galaxy

Samsung has been a global force to reckon with. It has consistently grown with the evolving smartphone market and pioneered the advent of the AMOLED display. On the other hand, relatively speaking, Obi Mobiles is a less than a year old smartphone company, co-founded by John Sculley, ex-CEO of PepsiCo and Apple, which is already begun to make its mark in Africa and Middle East. So, for today’s review, we have chosen two smartphone models from these two brands that are in the similar price range, i.e. Samsung’s GalaxyGrand Neo and Obi’s Leopard S502.

Look and Feel

Starting with the dimensions and weight, Galaxy Grand weighs 163g with dimensions 143.7x77.1x9.6mm whereas the Leopard weighs around the same at 164g with dimensions of 142.4x72.6x8.6mm that makes Obi’s Leopard a relatively slightly smaller, even sleeker, looking device. Leopard comes in black color with a brown top and bottom strip at the back, and its back is made of a blend of hard anodized metal and vacuum electroplating that looks good and is also resistant to wear. On the other hand, Samsung Grand offers wider color choice that includes white, black, orange and lime green.

Display

From the aforementioned physical dimensions, one would assume that Obi Leopard would have a smaller screen, however, interestingly both the devices have 5.0’’ display. The physical dimensions and the display screen size imply that though the viewing experience is same on both the devices, it is the overall size of the device that could impact customers’ decision. Would one prefer a smaller and slimmer smartphone than a bigger one if both the devices had the same screen size? Furthermore, Samsung’s screen technology is the Thin Film Transistor (TFT) whereas Obi’s Leopard runs of the TFT-IPS screen technology, which is superior to the TFT technology in terms of color reproduction and viewing angles. The resolution packed by Samsung’s Galaxy Neo is 480x800 pixels with a pixel density of 186ppi, which is on the lower end of pixel density. On the other hand, Obi’s Leopard has a qHD display with a resolution of 900x540 pixels. Therefore, Leopard has a leg up in terms of display technology and resolution over Samsung’s Grand Neo.

Processing Capacity

In terms of processing speed, both are neck to neck with the Samsung Galaxy Grand Neo clocking in 1.2GHz and Leopard clocking in 1.3Ghz on quad-cores. Samsung’s Grand runs of a Broadcom Spreadtrum chipset whereas Obi’s Leopard runs on a MediaTek chipset. Furthermore, operating system is Android on both models, however Leopard has Kitkat v4.4.2, a newer version of the OS, where as Grand Neo runs on the older version v4.2.2 (JellyBean), which once again gives Obi an edge over Samsung. Memory-wise, Samsung’s Galaxy Grand Neo is available in two capacities, 8GB and 16GB that are expandable to 64 GB through an external SD card. Similarly Obi Leopard is available in 8GB expandable to 32GB. Both models have 1 GB of RAM that ensures smooth running of the two smartphones.

Key Components

Obi Leopard has a definite leg up over Samsung Grand Neo as it contains 8MP primary (rear) and 5MP secondary (front) cameras, whereas Samsung’s Neo provides us with a mere 5MP primary camera and a VGA secondary camera. Moreover, both the models have the same battery capacity of 2100mAh.

Lets Sum It Up

This spec-to-spec comparison tells that both the devices have same display screen size, RAM, battery capacity and almost comparable processor; however, there are differences on other fronts. Obi Mobiles Leopard has advantage in terms of superior display technology and resolution, operating system (OS) and a definite leg up in cameras. On the other hand, Samsung offers the color choice and slight advantage in expandable memory. We also looked at the price tag in the Kenya market and discovered that Samsung’s Galaxy Neo is priced at around KSh14,000 whereas Obi’s Leopard is at around KSh12,000, which is a sure advantage Leopard.

Concluding Remark

In the end, it would come down to which specifications suit your needs better. If you are a video blogger keen on better viewing experience, use your front camera a lot and love to take selfies, then Obi’s Leopard would definitely be a better option as it comes with better display and superior cameras. On the other hand, if you are looking for higher memory then Samsung’s Neo could be a better choice.

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Moto E 2nd Gen (3G) vs Obi Hornbill: New making things tougher for old

Motorola has made a great come back as a global smartphone player. However, the competition in the smartphone industry only gets tougher by every passing day. Obi Mobiles, co-founded by ex-CEO of Apple and Pepsi, John Sculley, that launched its first range of smartphones less than a year ago, is attracting attention and may potentially become a challenger. Therefore, we decided to have a spec to spec analysis of products of these two players, i.e. Motorola Moto E 2nd Gen (3G) and ObiHornbill S551, to see how the new player living up to the standards set by an older player.

Look and Feel: 

In spite of having different overall dimensions, Moto E (137.9x 69.2x 8.6mm) and Obi Hornbill (146.8x73.3x 8.2mm) weigh the same 145gm. That makes Moto E a bit smaller and thicker looking device than Obi’ Hornbill which has greater length and breadth but is thinner. Moto has a very compact look with curved edges and a dull back-panel finish, where as Hornbill has a rather extended and posh look with sharp edges and metallic finish on the left and right side-panel. Moreover, while Moto E has a colour choice of black or white, Hornbill is available only in white. 

Display: 

The display screen size in Moto E is 4.5 inch, one inch lesser than Hornbill’s 5.5 inch, which means larger images and more comfortable viewing experience with Hornbill. At the resolution front too, Moto E with 960x540 Pixels is slightly behind Hornbill that has 1280x720 Pixels. In terms of display technology, Moto comes with IPS LCD display that allows wide angle viewing without any light hindrances but at the expense of extra power, where as Hornbill TFT IPS screen with capacitative touch HD. 

Under the Hood:

Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.2GHz Quad-Core processor, Moto E is relatively behind compared to Hornbill’s Mediatek MT6582 1.3GHz Quad-Core processor. In terms of RAM and Storage both smartphones have a 1GB RAM, internal memory of 8GB that is expandable memory up to 32GB through microSD. However, Moto E has a significant advantage when looking at the operating platform, as it runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop where as Hornbill runs on 4.4.2 Kitkat.

Battery & Cameras: 

Battery capacity and cameras are two two key features that customers are often concerned about. At the battery front, the difference is rather minor, where Moto E takes lead with 2390 mAh battery capacity, where as Hornbill follows closely behind with 2200mAh battery. However, on the front of cameras, Hornbill takes a big leap forward with its 13MP primary camera in comparison to Moto E’s 5MP. On the secondary camera front, Moto E with its outdated VGA cameras falls way behind Hornbill that comes with 5MP secondary camera, offering the possibility of much higher quality selfless. 

Other Features: 

Both Moto E and Hornbill have Wi-Fi capabilities (802.11 a/g/b/n), Bluetooth v4.0 and single SIM slot. Hornbill supports both Regular and Micro SIM cards while Moto E supports only Micro SIM cards.

Key Indicator	Obi Hornbill S551	Moto E (2ndGen) (3G)	Comparative Advantage
Dimensions	146.8x73.3x8.2mm	137.9x69.2x8.6mm	Customer choice
Screen Size	5.5 inches	4.5 inches	Advantage Hornbill
Resolution	1280x720	960x540	Advantage Hornbill
Camera (P)	13 megapixels	5 megapixels	Advantage Hornbill
Camera (S)	5 megapixels	VGA	Advantage Hornbill
OS	Android 4.4.2	Android 5.0	Advantage Moto E
Battery Cap	2200 mAH	2390 mAH	Advantage Moto E

Bottom line: 

Both the smartphones have the same RAM and storage capacity, but there are key differences. Moto E has an upgraded Operating platform and a relatively better battery capacity, where as Hornbill has larger dimensions, larger screen size, bigger processor, superior primary and secondary cameras. To get a sense of costs, we looked at the prices of the two devices in the Indian market, where Moto E costs around INR7000 where as Hornbill at around INR9000. Customers preferring an upgraded OS may like Moto E while those more interested in viewing experience, cameras and processor may prefer Hornbill.

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