Obi launches the Worldphone SF1 and SJ1.5 for emerging markets

Sculley launched several smartphones between the $70 and $200 range past year but as the Economic Times reported today, he said Obi Worldphone’s former strategy of sourcing devices from Chinese factories without differentiating them was a misstep. Engadget reports that former Apple CEO, John Sculley will be launching a line of unique and low priced smartphones in the next couple of months. The devices are kept cheap with Qualcomm, Sony and Dolby parts, and Obi is focusing on design to try to differentiate itself from its competitors. Obi has been naming their phones after American cities as SF stands for San Francisco and SJ stands for San Jose. These two have joined forces to bring new smartphones that feature all the best of Silicon Valley from design to technology to the standards in manufacturing.

The thing is, Sculley and his company will focus more on how the Obi Worldphone looks rather than what it’s equipped with. Samsung sells the most phones and other leaders include Lenovo, Huawei, Xiaomi and LG. The SJ1.5 has an asymmetrical design, with a crisp, squared-off top and a curved bottom that gives it a distinctive silhouette.

There is also a slightly more powerful model with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage for $249. The SF1 features a Snapdragon 615 proc with 2 gigs of RAM and 16 gigs of storage space.

The Obi SF1.5 is backed up by a 3000mAh battery pack and will run the LightSpeed overlay which is based on stock Android Lollipop.

The flagship dual-SIM 4G-capable SF1 features an elevated 5-inch 1080p display that’s protected by Gorilla Glass 4.

Obi Worldphone isn’t exactly a brand new company.

Targeting regions with “rapidly growing youth populations”, the phones will be available in Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, Pakistan, Turkey and India.

The SF1 has a 13-megapixel rear camera that snaps two photos – one with flash and another without – to create balanced shots. Would you consider purchasing either the Obi Worldphone SF1 or the Obi Worldphone SJ1.5?

The Obi Worldphone SJ1.5 is a 3G smartphone powered by the MediaTek MT6580 Quad-Core processor.