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.