Obi Worldphone has just revealed its first smartphones, with former Apple CEO John Sculley’s new SF1 and SJ1.5 entering the mid-range of the market with pretty sleek-looking devices.
Set to be released to the public in October, the phones look different to competitors of a similar price range because of Obi Worldphone’s preference for design, with Robert Brunner – founder of Ammunition, and also a former Apple employee – also on board.
“We are committed to being a design-led company,” said Sculley to Engadget, with the two devices initially targeted at emerging markets.
The Obi smartphones’ release will be focused on the Middle East, Africa and Asia, with the cheaper SJ1.5 model coming with a 5in display, protected by gorilla glass. Its cameras are 8Mp at the back, and 5Mp at the front, with HD video-recording capabilities.
Obi Worldphone SJ1.5 (top) and SJ1
The higher end 4G LTE SF1 has the same display and runs with a better processor, sporting a 1.5 GHz 64-bit Octa-core in comparison to the SJ1.5’s 1.3 GHz quad-core.
It also has a better rear camera (13Mp) and an improved battery, amongst other changes like more sensors, and front flash.
Both devices run on Android Lollipop, and each has dual sim slots, crucial for developing markets.
“We have huge respect, both Robert Brunner and I do, for Apple, because we learned so much in our years there,” said Sculley.
“Apple is a design-led company. We’ve said we want to be a design-led company, in an entirely different market than Apple would ever go into.”
