Lava Iris X8 Review: Apart from Camera, Everything is Noteworthy

Lava has been trying to stabalize its position in the India smartphone market for quite some time now, but as we all know that Samsung is not the only competitor out there.

Lava had launched the Iris X8 under the Rs. 10,000 segment which was a very good and deplomatic move by the company. But it isn't enough to take the cherry off the cake.

Xiaomi, Motorola and even Micromax have contributed enough and have made a mark for themselves. So here is the review for Lava's Iris X8 from our end. Do share your thoughts in the comment box below.

PROS

• Good display
• Good performance
• Good battery Life
• Worth the money

CONS

• Average Camera
• Ordinary Quality accessories

Build Quality And Design:

As we all know that Lava phones are iPhone inspired, the X8 has its own appeal. It is beautifully crafted in looks but the smartphone feels heavy when compared to other Iris models. Still, the Lava Iris X8 has an amazing flat rectangular shape and faux-metallic trim built, which is inspired by Apple iPhone 4.

The front and rear panel are both white in colour, and everything else is built in plastic except for the Dragontrail glass in front. The Iris X8 is slightly bigger than its predecessors, because of the 4.7-inch screen which has evolved to a 5-inch one. The resolution stays at 720x1280 pixels.

Taking a closer look, I found a minor variations: the Iris X8 is a bit bigger in every dimension, the Micro-USB port and headset socket have been moved, little things such as the sensors and camera flash are placed in different positions now, and the capacitive buttons are printed in a new style. Lava has printed its tiny logo on the lower rear.

The rear plastic cover can be taken off and it is very much flexible, so it won't snap even though if it's tethered with.

If you remove the cover, the first thing you'll notice is a large sticker covering the non-removable battery just to inform people about the battery. The two Micro-SIM card slots and microSD slot are above it. The power and volume buttons are on the right, and both the Micro-USB port and 3.5mm headset socket are on top. The left and bottom are blank. Thats it for build and quality.

Processor and Performance

After spending sometime with the phone, we didn't face any slowdowns or lags when launching or switching between apps. Meanwhile, the phone handled the multi-tasking arena very beautifully and even FHD videos ran very smoothly.

The phone is powered by an octa-core Mediatek MT6592 SoC running at 1.4GHz with a Mali-450 MP GPU accompanied by 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage space expandable up to 32GB via microSD card. Further, you'll also get the USB-OTG storage support. Users will get Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS and FM radio, but there's no 4G cellular connectivity.

While benchmark tests were conducted, I saw scores that were typical of the MediaTek MT6592 which have been very popular over the past few years. The Iris X8 managed to get 28,552 points in AnTuTu which is good enough for a smartphone at this cost. The Lava Iris X8's speaker is surprisingly loud, but quite awful in terms of quality. Music came out tinny and lifeless, with distorted vocals.

Camera:

The camera was average. Images came out grainy, even though distance between lens and subject, amount of light around was good enough. Even the sky came out poorly in test shots while being clicked on a clear afternoon. Metallic and organic textures were poorly produced after every shot. In addition, the camera had some trouble with exposure detection in photos with high contrast. Videos was also disappointing after the shots which I had taken. The camera is probably the phone's biggest weakness.

Battery:

Further, the Iris X8 is juiced by a monsterous 2,500 mAh battery which is also a plus point for this smartphone at this price range. Even after a FHD video shoot and heavy gaming session it still gave a 7 hours, 43 minutes backup.

It is pretty good battery wise, I would say, the stanby battery life of this device is remarkable. As mentioned above if you remove the back cover then you will notice a sticker which acts like warning for people regarding the non-removable battery.

Software:

The Lava Iris is currently based on Android 4.4.2 Kitkat and promises its users Android Lollipop update. There are hardly a few visual tweaks I could see on the default wallpaper, the app switcher and the notifications shade.

Lava has decided to go back to the pre-KitKat navigation button layout, so there's a redundant Menu button below the screen and you have to long-press the Home button to open the app switcher. Thankfully, the phone has no unnecessary bloatware.

Mobisystems' OfficeSuite 7 comes pre-loaded, which is a good app for users. Saying all that, a few good tricks which Lava has packed in its Iris X8 is the sleep feature. If you double tap on the screen, the device shall go to sleep.

Along with sleep, Lava has also included "Air Shuffle" which allows you to glance through photos, music, and even the app drawer just by waving a hand over the screen. But, it only works in some apps and only if your hand passes slowly over the top of the screen.

There's also a "Float Task" widget, which partially stays visible on the screen and brings up a circular menu with shortcuts to popular tasks. The shape means that shortcuts can be reached with one thumb, and you can choose which side of the screen the menu will appear on.

Verdict:

The Lava Iris X8 is definitly a smart addition to the budget phone line up. It can give a fairly good competition to Xiaomi's Redmi Note 4G, Moto E and Micromax's YU Yureka. However, the camera has been a major disappointment for me, as I would like to take bright and crisp pictures while travelling or when I might take a selfie with my friends.

The Iris X8 is quite stylish and has a good standby battery life. The last point would be that such smartphones which are highly recommended are only available through flash sale and the Iris X8 is available on Flipkart for Rs. 8,999.

Photo Courtesy Upendra Kagalgomb