Can Lenovo’s colourful RocStar outsmart Obi’s Fox?

Kenya’s smartphone market is becoming more competitive with the entry of new players. Obi Mobiles, co-founded by JohnSculley, ex-CEO of Pepsi Co and Apple, is the new entrant in the Kenyan smartphone market with its eight smartphone models, which are starting to attract attention in the market. On the other hand, the well known global brand, Lenovo, has been in Kenyan market for a while with its impressive range of smartphone models. As part of our daily reviews, we have picked up Lenovo’s RocStar A319 and Obi’s Fox S453 to see how they compare with each other.

We start with the design of the two smartphone models. Both the devices have a similar concept with a bar design and a three touch keys on the bottom. While Obi’s Fox is available only in white colour, Lenovo’s RocStar comes in red, white and black variants. Furthermore,  Lenovo’s RocStar gives a broader feel with 123.5x63.8x10.2mm dimensions, but Obi’s Fox with 131.7x64x9.0mm dimensions has a bit longish and sleeker look. However, the main difference lies in the display screen size which is 4.5inches in case of Obi’s Fox and 4inches in case of Lenovo’s RocStar. Both the devices have a capacitive touch screen. Needless to say that a larger screen is always a plus from the point of view of viewing experience. It particularly acquires more significance for the youth where video viewing on the smartphone is becoming everyday part of their lives.

Both the devices are powered by MediaTek MT6572 dual core processor, however, Obi’s Fox is 1GHz and Lenovo’s RocStar is 1.3GHz. However, Fox’s OS Android 4.4.2 KitKat is slightly improved version over RocStar’s OS Android 4.4 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 Lenovo’s RocStar comes with 512MB RAM and Obi’s Fox is just double 1GB RAM. Extra RAM helps apps run smoother with reduced time lags, but when coupled with a better processor, it enhances overall quality of user interface and experience.

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, Lenovo’s RocStar has 1500 mAh battery that gives 3 hours of talk time and 240 hours of standby time. Furthermore, both the devices have 5 megapixel rear cameras with flash with flash and 2 megapixel front cameras with a fixed focus. The cameras of the two devices are moderate considering the price range. As far as connectivity is concerned both the devices have Wi-Fi with 802.11 b/g/n standards supported. Both the devices also have a dual sim card slots, however, Obi’s Fox supports 3G on both SIM slots whereas Lenovo’s RocStar supports 3G in primary sim and 2G on the other. Both the devices have Bluetooth, GPS, 3.5 mm audio jack and FM receiver.

The price difference between the two is rather small. In the Kenyan market, while Obi’s Fox is priced at around KSh 9000, Lenovo’s RocStar is at around KSh 7500. Slightly higher price in case of Obi’s Fox seems justified on account of three major advantages over Lenovo’s RocStar, which include a lager display screen, larger battery life and, most of all, double RAM contributes towards enhancing the viewing experience. However, in every other respect the two models are comparable, with Lenovo’s RocStar having the advantage of three colour variants.

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Kenya watches Obi’s Racoon chase Tecno’s P5

Racoon, a medium sized grayish looking mammal native to North America, is known for its intelligence. However, Racoon that is creating buzz in East Africa’s smartphone market is one of the eight models that a new smartphone maker, Obi Mobiles, co-founded by John Sculley, the famous ex-CEO of Pepsi Co and Apple, has recently launched in the region. However, Obi’s Racoon has to face some established challengers out there in order to create its territory. One of the challengers is Tecno Mobiles, which was first to introduce dual SIM smartphones in the region and is now a familiar brand. In this review, we have picked up two models, i.e. Tecno’s P5 and Obi’s Racoon S401, that fall in the so-called affordable segment.

Let us start with what is the most visible in a smartphone, the colour. While Obi’s Racoon offers customers an option between white and black colours, Tecno’s P5 comes in standard black. The physical dimensions of Tecno’s P5 are 124.3x65.5x10.5 mm, where as Obi’s Racoon comes with 126x64x10mm, which makes Racoon a relatively sleeker looking smartphone. However, both the devices compare well in terms of screen size, 4inches screen with a TFT (thin-film transistor) capacitive touchscreen, and resolution 480x800, which means viewing experience would be the same, except that one may prefer it either on a sleeker device or a broader looking device.

The performance of Obi’s Racoon S401 is determined by the Android OS 4.4.2 (KitKat) on which it is based, whereas Tecno’s P5 runs on 4.2 (JellyBean), which is advantage Racoon. Both the devices have a 512 RAM (Random Access Memory), expandable to 32GB but while Racoon has dual core 1GHz processor, it is 1.3 GHz for P5. Here, it is important to understand the relationship between RAM and processor. Normally, higher the RAM, smoother the ability of the handset to run several tasks at once and faster the processor, better is the device’s ability to handle operations. However, if the fast processor does not come with higher RAM then one is likely to encounter bottlenecks such as memory shortage.

In addition, both these devices possess dual SIM capacity and support EDGE/GPRS and 3G. The difference appears in the battery where Obi’s Racoon has a 1500 mAh, removable Li-ion battery capacity with up to 6 hours talk time and standby time of 180 hours, while Tecno’s P5 has a 1800mAh, non removable battery with 8.5 hours of talk time and 288 hours of standby time. Furthermore, both the models have 5MP, fix focus rear cameras and 2MP front cameras, but Obi’s Racoon also comes with other features such as geo-tagging and multi shot.

When the features and specifications of the two devices compete with each other almost neck to neck, it is the price tag that could make a real difference, where Obi’s Racoon set at around KSh 6500 acquires an edge over Tecno’s P5 which is around KSh 8000. Besides, the customer choice may also be influenced by the colour options and the shear look.

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Samsung’s Galaxy Grand Prime has a sure challenger in Tanzania

The recent arrival of a new smartphone company, Obi Mobiles, in east Africa has created a buzz in the tech-market of the region, as Obi gradually spreads its foot prints in the region starting Kenya and Tanzania. However, there are already many established players in the region, which means Obi’s devices will have to live up to the challenge posed by many competing devices of companies   such as Samsung, HTC, Huawei and Tecno. In this review, we have picked Samsung’s Galaxy Grand Prime and Obi Mobiles’ Hornbill S551 for a spec-to-spec review with the intention to help the smartphone consumers in the Tanzanian market make a smart purchase.

Let us start with the basic physical dimensions, where Obi’s Hornbill’s dimensions are 156x76.8x7.9mm and that of Samsung’s Galaxy Prime are 144.8x72.1x8.6mm, which clearly makes Obi’s Hornbill larger but sleeker looking device. Interestingly, in spite of the larger length and breadth, Obi’s Hornbill weighs only 145g where as Samsung’s Galaxy weighs at 156g. However, the critical indicator is the display screen size that is 5.5inches in Hornbill and 5inches in Galaxy Prime, besides offering a better resolution that is 720x1280 pixels for Hornbill and 550x960 pixels for the Galaxy Prime. Considering Obi Mobiles’ focus on youth, the sleeker look and larger screen size have an outright advantage from the perspective of video viewing experience. Moreover, the sleeker look also adds to the youth statement of Obi’s Hornbill.

Some of the similarities in the two devices include 1GB RAM, 8GB internal space and expandable storage up to 32GB through micro SD cards. Also, both the smartphones have 5 megapixel front or secondary cameras. However, the rear or primary in Obi’s Hornbill has 13 megapixels, where as in Galaxy Prime it is only 5 megapixel, which is another advantage for youth who may be interested in taking lots of photos. Furthermore, Hornbill has an advanced Quad Core 1.3GHz Processor (from MediaTek) where as Galaxy Prime has a Quad Core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53 Processor (from Qualcomm Snapdragon), which again provides Obi an edge. Moreover, Hornbill also seems to stand out in terms of OS where it runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat where as Galaxy Prime runs on a slightly older Android 4.4 KitKat. Therefore, at the performance level, Obi' Hornbill has a clear edge.

In terms of Connectivity, Hornbill and Galaxy Prime have 2 SIM cards slots, Wi-Fi capabilities (802.11 b/g/n), support GPS and have Bluetooth v4.0, but Hornbill allows users to use both Regular SIM cards and Micro SIM cards where the Galaxy Prime is capable of supporting only Micro SIM cards. But Galaxy Prime has Wi-Fi Direct that enables its consumers to use their device as a Wi-Fi Hotspot, something that Hornbill currently does not provide. Another similarity is that both devices support 3G, but Galaxy Prime also runs on 2G GSM: 850/900, DCS: 1800 and PCS: 1900. One front where Galaxy Prime takes an edge is the battery capacity with 2600 mAh, which will obviously last longer than Hornbill that holds 2200 mAh.

The most pleasant surprise, however, for the people in Tanzania is the price tag, where Hornbill is priced at around TSh 2,50,000 where as Samsung’s Galaxy Grand Prime is at around TSh 3,90,000. Galaxy Prime’s higher price could be justified on account of longer battery life, Wi-Fi direct and the option to run on 2G network, however, Obi’ Hornbill seems to have edged out its competitor on almost every other front and seems to be worth the money spent.

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