India’s highly competitive sub-20K smartphone market is about to get even more heated with the arrival of the Lava Blaze Curve 5G. This latest addition to Lava’s Blaze series aims to pack a punch with its impressive specs and sleek design, all at a starting price point of ₹17,999. However, it will be interesting to see how the phone fares against the major players in the same price segment.
Design
The Lava Blaze Curve 5G boasts a sleek and minimalist design with a matte finish available in two shades – Iron Glass and Viridian Glass. Our review unit came in the Iron Glass colour, which looks quite stylish. Instead of a traditional camera island, the rear cameras are neatly arranged individually, lending a clean and modern look to the back panel.
Lava Blaze Curve 5G | Photo Credit: Haider Ali Khan
One of the standout design features of the Blaze Curve is the curved display on the front, which not only looks premium but also comes with glass protection. The rear panel features double-reinforced protection with Gorilla Glass 3 on AG, ensuring durability. However, the frame is made of plastic.
The phone features a SIM tray, speaker grille, and USB Type-C port at the bottom, while the volume and power buttons are located on the right side. One notable addition is the in-display fingerprint reader, which is a welcome feature at this price point. Also, in the box, you get a USB-C to 3.5mm headphone jack which we feel is a nice addition.
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Display
The Lava Blaze Curve 5G features a 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 20:9 aspect ratio and 3D curvature. This curved display is a standout feature, adding to the phone’s premium appeal and enhancing the overall viewing experience. The display also features a 240Hz touch sampling rate. The screen’s bezels are almost non-existent. The panel offers a peak brightness of 800 nits, ensuring good visibility even in outdoor conditions. However, we did face some difficulty while using the phone under direct sunlight. Additionally, the Widevine L1 certification allows you to enjoy your favourite OTT content in high resolution, which is a great bonus for multimedia enthusiasts.
OS
The new Blaze Curve 5G is running on a clean version of Android 13 out of the box, without any bloatware, ads, or unwanted apps. It misses out on the latest version of the operating system. However, Lava has promised two Android OS updates and three years of regular security updates, which should provide some peace of mind to buyers.
Performance
The Lava Blaze Curve 5G comes with a 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 7050 SoC, paired with 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. Additionally, the phone allows users to utilise up to 8GB of unused storage as virtual RAM, further enhancing multitasking capabilities.
This combination of a competent mid-range chipset and fast RAM and storage ensures fluid multitasking and smooth performance overall. During our testing, we found that the Blaze Curve 5G could handle games without any issues.
In terms of benchmarks, the Blaze Curve 5G managed to score 1099 points in the single-core test and 2632 points in the multi-core test on Geekbench 6. These scores are impressive for a phone in this price range and highlight the capable performance on offer.
Camera
The Lava Blaze Curve packs a triple camera setup on the rear, featuring a 64MP primary camera along with an 8MP ultrawide lens and a 2MP macro sensor. The rear camera is capable of capturing impressive details and natural-looking colours in well-lit environments. The sensor’s large pixel size and advanced image processing algorithms work in tandem to produce sharp and vibrant images.
Lava Blaze Curve 5G sample image | Photo Credit: Haider Ali Khan
For those who prefer to capture a wider field of view, the Blaze Curve’s 8MP ultrawide camera comes in handy. This lens offers a broader perspective, making it ideal for capturing landscapes, architectural shots, or group photos where you want to fit more subjects into the frame. However, users may notice some distortion and softening towards the edges of the frame, which is a common trait in ultra-wide lenses.
Lava Blaze Curve 5G sample image | Photo Credit: Haider Ali Khan
Furthermore, the dedicated macro shooter allows users to get as close as a few centimetres to their subjects, revealing details that would otherwise be missed by the primary camera.
For selfie enthusiasts, the Lava Blaze Curve features a 32MP front-facing camera, capable of capturing detailed portraits. This high-resolution sensor ensures that users can capture every detail, from facial features to intricate backgrounds.
Battery
The Lava Blaze Curve 5G packs a respectable 5,000mAh battery that easily lasts over a day on a single charge. The phone can comfortably handle a full day of moderate to heavy usage without needing to be recharged.
When it comes to charging, the Blaze Curve 5G supports 33W power delivery through a compatible adapter. The phone takes around 80-90 minutes to get fully charged.
Verdict
The Lava Blaze Curve 5G makes a strong case for itself in the highly competitive sub-20K smartphone market in India. With its sleek design, curved AMOLED display, capable performance, versatile camera setup, and respectable battery life, it ticks many boxes that customers in this price segment would be looking for. The bloat-free clean experience remains Lava’s highlight. However, the Blaze Curve 5G competes against players like Redmi, Realme, and Samsung, which have a stronghold in this segment.
