Once a well-liked Indian smartphone model, Lava pale into the background over the previous couple of years as business heavyweights corresponding to Samsung and cash-loaded Chinese manufacturers corresponding to Realme and Redmi fairly took over the mainstream smartphone panorama. However, Lava marked its resurgence in 2021 with the Lava Z collection. Last 12 months, the corporate additionally launched its first 5G smartphone in India referred to as the Lava Agni 5G (Review). Now that the 5G rollout is in place, Lava desires to draw patrons who need the 5G expertise by spending the least sum of money. For such clients, the corporate has launched the Lava Blaze 5G.
The Lava Blaze 5G presently holds the title of the ‘most inexpensive 5G smartphone’ in India. The smartphone comes with a MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC, a “glass-back design”, and a triple-camera setup. Should you think about getting the Lava Blaze 5G? Here is our overview that will help you discover out.
Lava Blaze 5G value in India
The Lava Blaze 5G is obtainable for buy in a single 4GB RAM + 128GB storage choice. The gadget is available in two colors — Glass Blue and Glass Green. It was out there for an introductory value of Rs. 9,999 in India when it launched, however it’s presently listed for Rs. 10,999.
Lava Blaze 5G design
Despite being a price range smartphone, the again of the Lava Blaze 5G is product of glass which is sort of spectacular. The gadget feels good to carry nevertheless it does really feel a bit heavy at 207g. The Glass Green color that Lava despatched us additionally contains a matte end. If you might be somebody who likes a pastel shade, you must like this color. While the rear panel is product of glass, the flat body across the telephone makes use of plastic supplies.
Lava Blaze 5G in its Glass Green color
The Lava Blaze 5G comes with a USB Type-C port which is sandwiched between the bottom-firing single speaker and the headphone jack. On the precise edge is the ability button that additionally doubles up as a fingerprint scanner. The quantity buttons on the left edge supply good suggestions. The telephone comes with a hybrid-SIM slot, with assist for as much as 1TB of expandable storage by way of a microSD card.
The Lava Blaze 5G comes with a dual-tone rectangular digital camera module on the again which doesn’t protrude as a lot. On the entrance, the Blaze 5G sports activities a water-drop notch on the prime of the show. While the aspect and prime bezels are pretty skinny, the gadget will get the standard price range therapy with a thick chin bezel.
Lava Blaze 5G has a reasonably thick chin bezel
The Lava Blaze 5G comes with a 6.5-inch IPS LCD with an HD+ decision (720×1600 pixels). The display additionally helps a 90Hz refresh price for barely smoother animations and scrolling expertise. The viewing angles are surprisingly fairly good. The display is pretty vivid and is legible outside in daylight, supplied you push the brightness to its max setting. The Lava Blaze 5G comes with a WideVine L1 certification however on our unit, Netflix detected a WideVine L3 certification.
Lava Blaze 5G specs and software program
The Lava Blaze 5G’s spotlight characteristic is in its title. With assist for eight 5G bands, the gadget is presently essentially the most inexpensive 5G smartphone in India, and comes with a MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC. We have seen the chipset in different price range smartphones below Rs. 15,000 in India, together with the just lately launched Redmi 11 Prime 5G (Review). The telephone additionally comes with a 5000mAh battery. While it helps 15W quick charging, the Blaze 5G comes with a 12W dual-USB port charger within the field. In phrases of connectivity, the telephone helps Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, and so forth.
The Lava Blaze 5G runs inventory Android 12
The Lava Blaze 5G presents a clear, bloatware-free software program expertise with Android 12. There was no lag as such and the general expertise for day-to-day duties was fairly good. The firm has promised to roll out the Android 13 replace however the timeline stays unknown. Lava has additionally promised to supply quarterly safety updates for 2 years. At the time of penning this, our overview unit had the September 2022 Android safety patch.
Lava Blaze 5G efficiency and battery life
The Lava Blaze 5G didn’t have any points whereas performing fundamental, day-to-day duties. Be it scrolling via social media or switching between apps, the telephone did a good job. RAM administration was not as aggressive however some heavy apps operating within the background did reload once I switched again to them. This is regardless of the multitasking window displaying that the telephone had about 2GB of RAM out there.
When it involves benchmark assessments, the Lava Blaze 5G scored 507 and 1588 factors in Geekbench’s single-core and multi-core assessments. In comparability, the Redmi 11 Prime 5G, which comes with the identical SoC, scored 521 and 1757 factors. In AnTuTu, the Lava Blaze 5G scored 2,69,416 factors which was a lot decrease than the Redmi 11 Prime 5G’s rating of three,37,683 factors.
I additionally performed a number of video games on the Lava Blaze 5G. Call of Duty: Mobile, for causes unknown, took barely longer than regular to load. The recreation supported ‘Medium’ graphics and ‘High’ body price settings, which resulted in a mean framerate of about 40fps. The total gaming expertise was respectable however there have been some stutters at instances. For those that need a informal gaming expertise, the Lava Blaze 5G can do a good job.
The Lava Blaze 5G has a USB Type-C port on the backside
The 5000mAh battery lasted for greater than a day simply, courtesy of the not-so-hungry SoC and HD+ show decision. In our battery loop check, the Lava Blaze 5G ran for simply 11 hours and 56 minutes, which was surprisingly below-average. The bundled charger took over three hours to cost the telephone from zero to one hundred pc.
For biometrics, the Lava Blaze 5G has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, which is fast at authentication. It additionally helps AI face unlock which though is snappy to unlock the gadget, is much less safe in comparison with the bodily scanner.
Lava Blaze 5G cameras
The Lava Blaze 5G has a triple-camera setup on the again. However, solely one among them is definitely helpful. There is a 50-megapixel principal digital camera sensor, together with a 2-megapixel macro digital camera and a VGA sensor. For selfies, the telephone comes with an 8-megapixel entrance digital camera.
The Lava Blaze 5G sports activities a dual-tone digital camera module design
The principal digital camera on the again does an excellent job with regards to capturing daylight photographs. While the dynamic vary is poor, the sensor manages to seize good particulars. It does have a tendency to spice up colors although. Another factor to notice is that the highlights are often blown out in a bid to get some particulars within the shadows. In low gentle, the primary digital camera will get respectable photographs, supplied there may be some ambient gentle. However, the dearth of any type of stabilisation ends in shaky photographs with some lack of particulars.
I favored the entrance digital camera extra, which was very correct in capturing the precise pores and skin tone. It does smoothen the pores and skin textures a bit although. Portrait mode efficiency was additionally fairly good for a telephone priced at Rs. 10,999.
Lava Blaze 5G digital camera samples (faucet to see full measurement)
Night mode digital camera pattern shot on Lava Blaze 5G
Portrait mode digital camera pattern shot on the Lava Blaze 5G
The Lava Blaze 5G can document as much as 2K movies utilizing the rear digital camera, whereas the entrance digital camera can seize 1080p movies. Overall, the movies shot on the Lava Blaze 5G supply a little bit of boosted colors with respectable particulars. The dynamic vary can be fairly good, one thing which I didn’t anticipate from the gadget.
Verdict
The Lava Blaze 5G will get it proper in lots of areas with regards to a price range 5G smartphone. While the digital camera efficiency is its weakest hyperlink, it scores factors for its design and efficiency. Battery life, whereas respectable with precise utilization, underperformed in our video drain check. The gadget additionally gives as many as eight 5G bands in India. The show expertise can be above common for a smartphone on this value section.
Lava’s goal buyer for the Blaze 5G is somebody who desires to attempt 5G with out having to spend an excessive amount of. There are a number of shortcomings however once you have a look at the worth tag, it is onerous to complain an excessive amount of.