5G smartphones are becoming more accessible. In fact, there are a handful of 5G-capable devices, which cost less than Rs 10,000 now, and the Lava Blaze 2 5G is one such option. Typically, most smartphones in this price range look different, however, when it comes to functionality, they are almost identical to one another, and this is where Lava’s budget 5G phone stands out with its rear ring light.
Here is my full review of the Lava Blaze 2 5G after using it for over three weeks as my daily driver.
The black variant of the Blaze 2 5G looks stunning (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)Design: Beautifully crafted budget phone
I don’t say this very often, but the Lava Blaze 2 5G is the most elegant-looking budget 5G phone that I have tested so far. In fact, I will go so far as to say that it looks more premium than the Blaze Pro 5G, which was also recently launched in the country.
Unlike most budget and mid-range phones, the Blaze 2 has a glass back panel and the Glass Black colour variant that I have been testing is sheer beauty. The rear side and its circular camera island does add additional charm to this great-looking device.
The ring light is the unique selling point of this budget 5G phone. At first, I just thought it was a marketing gimmick, however, as I continued to use it, it felt like a very handy thing to have on a phone, and it also reminded me of the physical LED notification light from early Android phones like the Redmi Note 3.
Thanks to the ring light, I preferred keeping this phone upside down, where the notification was more than enough to tell me about incoming messages, and calls. It even informed me when the phone was fully charged. The one caveat that I have about this is the fact that it’s a mono (blue) coloured right, and I would love to see a multi-colour support, so that users could assign a specific colour light to a specific app or notification. And I would definitely love to see this ring light on upcoming Lava phones.
The Blaze 5 5G has covered all the basics that one expects from a phone of this class, which includes a fingerprint sensor embedded into the power button, a microSD card slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a USB-C port with support for 18W fast charging
Blaze 2 5G with its 6.53-inch HD+, 90Hz display (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/Display: Definitely a compromise
Achieving a price point of well under Rs 10,000 for a 5G smartphone isn’t easy, and the company has made a few compromises on the Blaze 2 5G. This is evident with the display. While it is a fast and responsive 90Hz display, it is an HD+ or a 720p panel, which does look a bit pixelated, especially since I was switching from the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which has a 2K resolution display.
Considering the Lava Blaze 2 5G is targeted at first-time 5G smartphone buyers, those who are switching from a 1080p resolution screen will definitely notice a difference. However, thanks to the low-resolution display, the processor doesn’t have to drive as many pixels as on a phone with a 1080p screen, which makes the Lava Blaze 2 5G feel fast and snappy.
Blaze 2 5G has a 50MP primary camera (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)Camera: Good for basic usage
The Lava Blaze 2 5G has a dual-camera setup at the back with a 50MP primary shooter and a 0.08MP secondary sensor, which in reality translates to a single camera along with an 8 MP selfie camera. The camera performance of this phone in daylight conditions is average and it takes good photos when there is plenty of light. This phone is not meant for taking snaps in low light, as they mostly turn out soft, noisy and lack any detail. The same applies to selfie cameras as well.
As long as you are using this phone’s camera to take pictures for social media, you will be fine. The phone can record up to 1080p resolution videos, especially if you have steady hands.
Here are some camera samples from the Lava Blaze 2 5G (resized for web):
Performance and software experience: Excellent
The Mediatek Dimensity 6020, powering the Lava Blaze 2 5G almost posts an AnTuTu score of around 400000. The smartphone offers up to 6 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage with support for up to 1 TB microSD. This hardware, combined with bloatware-free Android 13 OS, makes the phone feel snappy and fast.
In fact, I didn’t notice any glitches or frame drops in most scenarios. Again, some heavy apps and games do take a few extra seconds to load. However, apps like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp run without any glitches. In fact, the phone even has Widevine L1, and the phone can stream content on platforms like Netflix and Prime Video in HD resolution.
While I didn’t resort to heavy gaming on this phone, I did kill a couple of hours by playing my favourite go-to games like Subway Surfers and Candy Crush Saga, which worked as expected. I also tried my hands on Subway Surfers Blast, which combines the best parts of Subway Surfers and Candy Crush into one, and this title also worked well.
Overall, thanks to clean software and capable hardware, the Lava Blaze 2 5G is equipped with everything that’s required for handling day-to-day tasks.
Android 13 with no bloatware (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)Connectivity and battery life
I tested Lava Blaze 2 5G with Jio 5G network and I didn’t face any issues as such. From 5G speed to call quality, everything was as good as other 5G phones that I have tested so far. The Lava 5G is compatible with all the major 5G bands and it even supports VoNR.
The 5,000 mAh battery can also last longer, whereas, the phone has even lasted me for over two days, delivering eight-plus hours of screen-on-time. The 18W fast charging also comes in handy, and the company is even including the fast charger in the box, and it takes close to two hours to fully charge the battery.