One of the most cheap 5G smartphones available is the Lava Blaze Pro
India has more than 100 million distinct 5G customers and has done it in less than a year. And in the upcoming days, this user base is predicted to increase significantly. While the majority of 5G handsets available today are pricey, companies like Lava are attracting more customers with their inexpensive 5G phones, like the Blaze Pro 5G.
In contrast to high-end flagship devices that actually offer gigabit-class download speeds, my major goal when evaluating the Lava Blaze Pro 5G was to see how well inexpensive 5G phones performed. To learn more about the Lava Blaze Pro 5G’s practical 5G capabilities, check out our in-depth review.
The Lava Blaze Pro 5G sports a microSD card slot and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Design for Lava Blaze Pro 5G
At least on the Starry Night version that I tested, the Lava Blaze Pro 5G doesn’t accomplish anything particularly noteworthy in terms of design. Despite this, it features a unique design with a matte-finish plastic frame and back case. The phone feels wonderful in the hand and has a frame that is just slightly curved (similar to the newest iPhone 15 series). This is one of the phones that can be flaunted with a case on without worrying about accidental damage. It weighs 203 grams, which puts it on the heavier side.
The Lava Blaze Pro 5G is comparable to other low-cost smartphones in that it offers a great selection of I/O ports. The phone boasts every feature imaginable, including a USB-C port, a 3.5mm headphone socket, a dedicated microSD slot, and two nano SIM card slots. Additionally, the power button serves as both a fingerprint reader and a scanner.
If I had to pick one flaw, it would be the lock screen’s in-display fingerprint sensor symbol, which still occasionally confuses me and forces me to click on it. This UI element is a little misleading, but it could potentially be corrected with a software fix if the business so chooses.
The device sports a side-mounted fingerprint sensor rather than an in-display fingerprint sensor.
Display Lava Blaze Pro 5G
The 6.78-inch IPS screen of the Lava Blaze Pro 5G has FHD+ resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and somewhat larger bezels. It’s not the finest display I’ve seen on a phone in this class, but it’s also not the worst either. The color tone is by default set to vivid, which makes the colors red and green stand out, while standard mode makes the screen appear rather drab but still natural.
Binge content streamers can rejoice because the phone has Widevine L1 certification and support for HD streaming on significant OTT platforms. However, unlike the majority of phones in this class, there is no HDR playback. Because of its increased refresh rate, the phone’s display, which has a notch cutout on top, is suitable for social media use, multimedia streaming, and light gaming.
cameras from Lava Blaze Pro 5G
The Blaze Pro 5G boasts two sizable camera cutouts on the back, one for a 50 MP sensor and the other for an AI sensor. The front of the device has an 8 MP selfie camera that can capture videos in 1080p resolution. The most distinctive feature of these cameras is that they allow for up to 2K quality video recording, which is extremely unusual given that most smartphones only enable 1080p or up to 4K video recording.
In well-lit conditions, the Lava Blaze Pro 5G’s main 50 MP camera and selfie camera do a good job at capturing details. What I saw is that, especially when photographing flowers and plants, the phone has a tendency to take photographs with slightly more contrasted tones. The performance of the selfie camera is likewise excellent, and it supports face unlock.
Lava Blaze Pro 5G’s capabilities
A decent entry-level 5G system-on-a-chip is the Mediatek Dimensity 6020, and when it is combined with up to 8 GB of RAM and a UFS 2.2 storage module, the phone performs admirably in typical day-to-day use. I set up my entire set of social media apps—Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), Telegram, and Snapchat—and I saw no lag or slowdown at all.
But even in terms of gameplay, I enjoyed playing COD: Mobile and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) at medium graphics settings. When the graphics are turned up to high or ultra, the phone will get a little unstable. The phone has enough power for the majority of casual users. Last but not least, unlike every Lava phone released in the previous year, this one comes with a clean version of Android 13 and offers a user experience that is superior to that of the majority of low-cost 5G Android phones.
Lava Blaze Pro 5G evaluations
The Mediatek Dimensity 6020 is a 7nm chip with a built-in 5G modem that supports download speeds of up to 2.77 Gbps. The Lava Blaze Pro 5G is compatible with both standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) 5G networks, and it supports all of the key 5G bands that Airtel and Jio have acquired, including n1/n3/n5/n8/n28/n41/n77/n78. Additionally, the gadget allows Jio network calls with extremely low latency using next-generation 5G-backed VoRN.
I performed a number of tests on the Lava Blaze Pro 5G that were specifically related to 5G, and the results showed that the phone could provide an average 5G download speed of 74 Mbps indoors and a maximum 5G download speed of 630 Mbps outdoors with an average latency of about 16 ms. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (review), which costs 10 times as much as the Lava Blaze Pro 5G, comes close to matching these figures.
Similar to this, it took me just 35 seconds to download the 2.3 GB (FHD resolution) version of the movie “Jailer” from Amazon Prime Video. The phone downloaded 2.41 GB of COD: Mobile from the Google Play Store in just under two minutes, and it can download easy apps like Subway Surfers in under ten.
The network latency (lower the better) is another observation I found during my testing that is peculiar to 5G. On the 5G network, the network latency was around 32 ms, and when I switched to the 4G network, the latency would increase to 60 ms. Overall, the phone aced all of my 5G tests, and I was genuinely amazed by how closely a budget phone could equal the 5G networking performance of a flagship handset.
Despite all of these tests, the Blaze Pro 5G didn’t even feel warm to the touch, despite the fact that the 5G network is notorious for heating up devices and is renowned as a battery guzzler. I also saw that it may easily last all day because of its 5,000 mAh battery. Additionally, the business offers a 33W fast charger, which can fully charge the phone in under 1.5 hours.
Conclusion: A 5G phone that offers exceptional value
With the Blaze Pro 5G, Lava has created a rather sturdy package with no significant flaws that could detract from the overall experience. At Rs 12,999, the Lava Blaze Pro 5G is an obvious choice if you’re looking for a cheap phone that supports a 5G network.
