Indian tech outfit Lava kicked off the proceedings in 2024 with the launch of the Blaze Curve 5G. Priced at Rs 18,000, this smartphone brings a premium build and design to a segment that is dominated by uninspired, shoddy devices. Its clean design is replicated in the software department as the smartphone rocks stock Android OS without any bloatware. Understandably, Lava has also made a few tradeoffs to keep the cost of the device down. Let’s take a closer look at the Lava Blaze Curve 5G in our review of the smartphone.
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In This Article
Lava Curve 5G Review: Design and Display
One thing we like about Lava is that it doesn’t skimp on the accessories provided inside the box. Here’s what you get inside the Blaze Curve’s retail package.
- Smartphone
- Power adapter
- USB Type-C to Type-C cable
- USB Type-C to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter
- Clear plastic case
We really like the approach towards clean design that Lava has taken on the Blaze Curve 5G. The glass back panel curves towards the edges and has a matte finish which keeps the smudges and fingerprints away. This glass panel massively elevates the in-hand feel of the smartphone. The device weighs 189g but the weight is evenly distributed.
The triple camera layout at the back is inspired by the iPhone. This design feels quite contrived and garish on this smartphone. A simpler, more original camera layout would not only have added a unique flair to the device but also done justice to the premium back panel. The plastic rings around the camera cutouts are in stark contrast to the matte textured glass back.
The thin plastic frame on the Blaze Curve houses the volume rocker keys and the side button on its right edge. The SIM tray, primary microphone, and speaker grille are placed on the bottom grille. Up top lie the secondary speaker grille and the secondary microphone.
The 6.67-inch curved AMOLED display is another big highlight of the Lava Blaze Curve. This panel has a refresh rate of 120Hz and supports HDR10+. A peak brightness of 800 nits on the smartphone ensures that the video content displayed on the screen in an indoor setting is bright and lucid. However, the AMOLED panel struggles with legibility under direct sunlight.
We streamed a range of video content on the Lava Blaze Curve during the review period. Its AMOLED display replicated vivid colours and those deep blacks that we love on a smartphone. There is a slight tint along the edges which becomes even more prevalent at certain viewing angles. But this isn’t something that comes with most curved panels. The stereo speaker setup is an added bonus, something that certainly isn’t the norm in this segment. These speakers can produce a loud audio output. This audio output has a balanced range of frequencies and feels quite full.
The touch response and haptic feedback offered by the smartphone are decent, but nothing out of the ordinary. After a few days of use, we dialled down the vibration settings as they felt a little blunt. The smartphone also has an in-display fingerprint scanner which is quite responsive but is placed quite lower on the display.
Lava Blaze Curve 5G Review: Performance and Cameras
Under the hood, the Lava Blaze Curve 5G retains the MediaTek Dimensity 7050 chipset from the Agni 2. You also get 8G LPDDR5 RAM along with an option of 128GB or 256GB UFS 3.1 storage. On the Geekbench 6 app, the smartphone scored 1,097 points on the single-core test and 2,630 points on the multicore test.
The smartphone did well when put through everyday tasks. We did come across the odd glitch, but its overall performance was quite satisfactory. Tasks like emailing, video calling, media streaming, and social media browsing were handled expertly. Running a bunch of different apps at once did not present any performance issues either.
However, the smartphone does fall short when it comes to gaming. We played titles like Call of Duty Mobile and BGMI in high settings and were not super impressed with the smartphone’s performance. The touch response was not up to the mark and the device started heating up after 15 minutes of gaming. The frame drops became frequent after 30-40 minutes of intense gaming. Lowering the graphics resulted in a much better performance. If you’re looking for a dedicated gaming smartphone, there are better options for you in this price bracket.
Moving on, the software experience offered by the Blaze Curve is splendid. There is no trace of bloatware on this device and neither do the native apps push spam masked as notifications. Stock Android enthusiasts will enjoy using this smartphone. However, there is one small catch. The smartphone runs on Android 13 out of the box, which isn’t something you want from your device in 2024. This means that the two assured OS upgrades on this smartphone will be Android 14 and Android 15. By the time the Blaze Curves gets its Android 14 update, we might see devices launching with Android 15 out of the box.
The 5,000 mAh battery pack inside this smartphone can get you through the day with ease. During the review period, our daily tasks on the Lava Blaze Curve included instant messaging, video calling, browsing social media apps, navigation, emailing, and even a bit of gaming. We consistently got 6 hours of screen time on a full charge. With more conservative usage, you can push its battery life to almost 2 days. The smartphone supports 33W fast charging. It took us 90 minutes to fully charge the device.
Photography is not the Blaze Curve’s strongest suit. Its triple camera module at the back consists of a 64MP primary shooter, an 8MP ultrawide lens, and a 2MP macro sensor. In outdoor daylight, the primary camera takes good shots, but the images have a pinking tinge to them. It also has a tendency to overexpose the sky, which ends up throwing off the colour balance in the images. Other than that, the images pack rich colours and showcase a good level of detail.
The shift in colour profile from the primary lens to the ultrawide lens is very significant. Images taken with this camera do not have a pinkish tinge but the colours seem a bit washed. The image sharpness is also not up to the standard and they inadvertently feel a bit soft. Other than that, we were pleased with the field of view offered by this camera.
In limited lighting, the primary camera struggled a lot. The images taken at night were super grainy and full of noise. Turning on the Night Mode helps in smoothening the images but a fair bit of noise still manages to creep in the final results. The Portrait Mode does a good job of focusing on the subject but has the tendency to overexpose the background. On the bright side, the 32MP selfie camera produces good results and does not mess with skin tones.
Working with the camera app can also be a challenge. The images take a few seconds to process, but the real issue here is the jittery app experience. While taking pictures in landscape orientation it was not too uncommon for the shutter icon to turn unresponsive. The same happened with the sensor toggle too. Hopefully, Lava can fix these issues with a swift update.
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Verdict
If you’re the kind of smartphone user who prioritises a clean design and form factor over everything else, the Lava Blaze Curve should be a no-brainer purchase for you. In this price range, you will be hard-pressed to find a smartphone that offers a curved display along with a glass back panel. The clean OS experience is also a big plus, but the device running Android 13 instead of Android 14 out of the box is a bit of a letdown. The camera performance is also a mixed bag as the Blaze Curve captures rather mediocre images in limited lighting. Having said that, if you’re looking for a fun device with a premium build and looks under Rs 20,000, the Lava Blaze Curve is worth giving a shot.
Lava Blaze Curve: Pros
- Excellent design
- Glass back panel
- Curved display
- Stock Android experience with no bloatware
- Affordable
Lava Blaze Curve: Cons
- Runs Android 13 out of the box
- Average cameras
