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.