Lava Blaze Curve First Impressions: Slick and Affordable

As a brand, Lava used to be associated with low-end phones and wasn’t many people’s first choice. After a successful reinvention, however, the company has established its own identity and is leaning heavily on a “Make in India” strategy, promoting its local designs, names, and of course manufacturing capabilities. Having crossed the Rs. 20,000 threshold with its recent Agni series models, Lava is using premium materials and design elements to compete with global companies.

The new Lava Blaze Curve brings some of those aspirational elements to the sub-Rs. 20,000 space, tempting buyers who usually care mostly about specifications. The phone’s namesake feature is of course its curved-edge AMOLED display but there’s more to it than that and you might be surprised if you haven’t used a recent Lava phone. The company is confidently describing the Blaze Curve as the best phone available in its segment. It's priced at Rs. 17,999 in India for the 128GB storage option and Rs. 18,999 for the 256GB variant. Sales begin on March 11 on Amazon and other authorised retailers.

The Lava Blaze Curve has a relatively understated design

So starting with that screen, we have a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel with a 2400x1080-pixel resolution, HDR 10+ support, and 120Hz peak refresh rate. Brightness can go up to 800 nits which is okay. The panel’s sides curve to meet the frame of the phone, but that also means that reflections are impossible to avoid in some kinds of light. There’s a rather pronounced hole at the top-centre for the 32-megapixel selfie camera and more interestingly, an in-display fingerprint sensor.

As for the rear, there’s an unmistakably iPhone-inspired triangular camera arrangement. The primary camera has a 64-megapixel resolution and is capable of 4K 30fps video recording, but other than that you only get an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a 2-megapixel macro camera which won’t do much. 

Lava promises a bloat-free Android experience with no ads and guaranteed updates.

Your two colour options are Iron Glass and Viridian Glass - I have a unit in the former finish, though I think the green looks better in photos. I’m impressed with how the textured rear glass resists smudges and fingerprints. Build quality seems good and there are no rough seams. This phone feels good in the hand. You do get a plastic case in the box.

Lava has gone with the MediaTek Dimensity 7050 SoC which hasn’t been seen in too many sub-Rs. 20,000 phones yet. You get 8GB of RAM, and either 128GB or 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage. The Blaze Curve has a 5000mAh battery and comes with a 33W charger in the box. Stereo speakers are a nice value-added touch. There’s no microSD slot and no 3.5mm audio jack, but you do get a USB Type-C to 3.5mm adapter in the box, which is at least something.

Software is generally a mixed bag. On the downside, this phone ships with Android 13 and there’s no telling when major updates will arrive. However, Lava does promise upgrades till Android 15, plus quarterly security patches for three years. While laval also says the UI is completely free of bloatware and ads, my review unit did have a few extra preinstalled apps - Lava Care, Lava Guide, Game Booster, FM Radio, Sound Recorder, and various things that might be useful but are not stock Android. Another interesting selling point for this phone is a promise of free service at home for any hardware or software issue that might arise during the warranty period.

If all of this sounds good to you, do wait for our full review which is coming up soon. We still have to test this phone's cameras, battery life, and usage in detail, to tell you if it's actually worth buying or not.