As soon as a standard Indian smartphone model, Lava pale into the background over the previous couple of years as trade heavyweights resembling Samsung and cash-loaded Chinese language manufacturers resembling Realme and Redmi fairly took over the mainstream smartphone panorama. Nevertheless, Lava marked its resurgence in 2021 with the Lava Z collection. Final yr, the corporate additionally launched its first 5G smartphone in India known as the Lava Agni 5G (Review). Now that the 5G rollout is in place, Lava needs to draw consumers who need the 5G expertise by spending the least amount of cash. For such clients, the corporate has launched the Lava Blaze 5G.
The Lava Blaze 5G at the moment holds the title of the ‘most reasonably priced 5G smartphone’ in India. The smartphone comes with a MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC, a “glass-back design”, and a triple-camera setup. Must you think about getting the Lava Blaze 5G? Right here is our evaluation that can assist you discover out.
Lava Blaze 5G worth in India
The Lava Blaze 5G is offered for buy in a single 4GB RAM + 128GB storage choice. The gadget is available in two colors — Glass Blue and Glass Inexperienced. It was obtainable for an introductory worth of Rs. 9,999 in India when it launched, however it’s at the moment listed for Rs. 10,999.
Lava Blaze 5G design
Regardless of being a finances smartphone, the again of the Lava Blaze 5G is manufactured from glass which is kind of spectacular. The gadget feels good to carry nevertheless it does really feel a bit heavy at 207g. The Glass Inexperienced color that Lava despatched us additionally incorporates a matte end. If you’re somebody who likes a pastel shade, it is best to like this color. Whereas the rear panel is manufactured from glass, the flat body across the telephone makes use of plastic supplies.
Lava Blaze 5G in its Glass Inexperienced color
The Lava Blaze 5G comes with a USB Kind-C port which is sandwiched between the bottom-firing single speaker and the headphone jack. On the appropriate edge is the ability button that additionally doubles up as a fingerprint scanner. The quantity buttons on the left edge provide good suggestions. The telephone comes with a hybrid-SIM slot, with assist for as much as 1TB of expandable storage through a microSD card.
The Lava Blaze 5G comes with a dual-tone rectangular digicam 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 high of the show. Whereas the aspect and high bezels are pretty skinny, the gadget will get the everyday finances 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 screen additionally helps a 90Hz refresh fee for barely smoother animations and scrolling expertise. The viewing angles are surprisingly fairly good. The display screen is pretty shiny and is legible open air 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 function is in its title. With assist for eight 5G bands, the gadget is at the moment probably the most reasonably priced 5G smartphone in India, and comes with a MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC. We now have seen the chipset in different budget smartphones under Rs. 15,000 in India, together with the just lately launched Redmi 11 Prime 5G (Review). The telephone additionally comes with a 5000mAh battery. Whereas it helps 15W quick charging, the Blaze 5G comes with a 12W dual-USB port charger within the field. When it comes to 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 affords 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 corporate has promised to roll out the Android 13 replace however the timeline stays unknown. Lava has additionally promised to offer quarterly safety updates for 2 years. On the time of scripting this, our evaluation 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 primary, day-to-day duties. Be it scrolling by way of social media or switching between apps, the telephone did an honest job. RAM administration was not as aggressive however some heavy apps working within the background did reload after I switched again to them. That is regardless of the multitasking window exhibiting that the telephone had about 2GB of RAM obtainable.
In relation to benchmark exams, the Lava Blaze 5G scored 507 and 1588 factors in Geekbench’s single-core and multi-core exams. As compared, 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 couple of video games on the Lava Blaze 5G. Name of Obligation: Cell, for causes unknown, took barely longer than typical to load. The sport supported ‘Medium’ graphics and ‘Excessive’ body fee settings, which resulted in a mean framerate of about 40fps. The general gaming expertise was first rate however there have been some stutters at instances. For individuals who desire a informal gaming expertise, the Lava Blaze 5G can do an honest job.
The Lava Blaze 5G has a USB Kind-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. Nevertheless, solely considered one of them is definitely helpful. There’s a 50-megapixel principal digicam sensor, together with a 2-megapixel macro digicam and a VGA sensor. For selfies, the telephone comes with an 8-megapixel entrance digicam.
The Lava Blaze 5G sports activities a dual-tone digicam module design
The primary digicam on the again does job in terms of capturing daylight photographs. Whereas the dynamic vary is poor, the sensor manages to seize good particulars. It does have a tendency to spice up colors although. One other 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 digicam will get first rate photographs, supplied there’s some ambient gentle. Nevertheless, the shortage of any type of stabilisation ends in shaky photos with some lack of particulars.
I preferred the entrance digicam 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 digicam samples (faucet to see full dimension)
Evening mode digicam pattern shot on Lava Blaze 5G
Portrait mode digicam pattern shot on the Lava Blaze 5G
The Lava Blaze 5G can file as much as 2K movies utilizing the rear digicam, whereas the entrance digicam can seize 1080p movies. General, the movies shot on the Lava Blaze 5G provide a little bit of boosted colors with first rate 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 in terms of a finances 5G smartphone. Whereas the digicam efficiency is its weakest hyperlink, it scores factors for its design and efficiency. Battery life, whereas first rate with precise utilization, underperformed in our video drain check. The gadget additionally offers as many as eight 5G bands in India. The show expertise can be above common for a smartphone on this worth phase.
Lava’s goal buyer for the Blaze 5G is somebody who needs to attempt 5G with out having to spend an excessive amount of. There are a couple of shortcomings however once you take a look at the worth tag, it is arduous to complain an excessive amount of.
