Former Apple CEO's new smartphone is coming to the UK

Obi Worldphone

The cheap Android phone made by Apple's ex-CEO is now ready to come to the West.

The company, which was born in Silicon Valley, is called Obi Worldphone,, and has already launched its first phone in ten markets around the world including India and Vietnam – but the UK is its next target.

Obi Worldphone was founded by John Sculley, famous for ousting Steve Jobs from Apple in 1985, and is now trying to take on cheap smartphone brands in the UK.

The Obi Worldphone MV1 4G – which doesn't exactly roll off the tongue – comes with an interesting design and middle-of-the-road specs, but quite a surprising price.

It features a 5-inch 720p IPS display that includes Gorilla Glass 3 technology, and a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 processor clocked at 1.3GHz.

As for its looks, the phone was designed by a studio called Ammunition. Again, there's an Apple connection here, with Ammunition having been founded by Jony Ive's predecessor at Apple, Robert Brunner.

Although the design certainly looks good for a cheap phone, it's still a far cry from the iPhone 6S.

Obi-one

The MV1 4G features an 8MP rear facing camera with f2.2 aperture and HDR support, while the selfie shooter sounds a little disappointing at only 2MP.

The MV1 also features 16GB of onboard storage, 64GB of microSD support, 4G connectivity, 2,500mAh battery and dual SIM technology.

It runs Cyanogen 12.1.1 software, and Obi Worldphone have guaranteed it will one day see an update to at least Cyanogen 13.1.

It also features a microphone on the back, which the company claims will help improve the clarity of your voice when you're on a call.

The best thing about the Obi Worldphone MV1 4G is the price – it's only £119 (about US$171, AU$235).

There's no word on an Australian or US release for the phone yet, but if it takes off in the UK we can expect it to spread further around the world.

There's also no news of a Western release for Obi Worldphone's other phone, the SJ1.5.

Obi Worldphone are entering a hard-to-compete market of phones with impressive spec and low price points.

Consumers are currently surrounded by options from Motorola, Huawei, OnePlus and a plethora of Chinese companies will prove tough competition for Obi Worldphone.

James Peckham

James is the Editor-in-Chief at Android Police. Previously, he was Senior Phones Editor for TechRadar, and he has covered smartphones and the mobile space for the best part of a decade bringing you news on all the big announcements from top manufacturers making mobile phones and other portable gadgets. James is often testing out and reviewing the latest and greatest mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets, virtual reality headsets, fitness trackers and more. He once fell over.