Lava Blaze Dragon: Unboxing and First Impressions of the New Budget King
Lava is introducing a rare commodity in the smartphone market: a powerful device for under ₹10,000. Following the launch of the Storm Play last month, the company has now released the Lava Blaze Dragon. Here is a detailed unboxing and first look at this new device, which gets its intriguing name from the powerful processor inside.
Unboxing Experience
The phone arrives in an interesting box that makes the unboxing process enjoyable. Inside, the first thing you’ll find is a good quality, clear protective case. Along with the phone itself, the box contains documentation, a USB Type-A to Type-C charging cable, a SIM card tool, and an 18W charger.
Design and Build
The Lava Blaze Dragon sports a subtle and decent design, avoiding the flashy look often found in budget series phones. It has flat sides and a slight 2.5D curve on the display. The phone feels slightly heavy in hand, weighing 210.7 grams, which might suggest the use of a glass back. Besides the light color variant, there is also a darker option called Midnight Mist.
A drop test was performed, and the phone sustained absolutely no damage. The device features a #ProudlyIndian tag, highlighting its origin.
Ports, Buttons, and Slots
The bottom of the phone is equipped with a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microphone, a USB Type-C port, and a speaker grill. The right-hand side houses the power button, which also functions as a fingerprint sensor, and the volume rocker. On the left, you’ll find the hybrid SIM card slot, which allows you to use either one SIM card and one SD card or two SIM cards simultaneously. The top of the device does not have a noise-canceling microphone.
Display
The device features a large 6.74-inch HD+ IPS LCD display with a waterdrop notch. A standout feature in this price range is the 120Hz fast refresh rate, which ensures smooth scrolling. The viewing angles are good enough, and the screen is very bright for indoor use. However, the chin at the bottom of the display is quite big.
Performance and Specifications
The “Dragon” in the name is likely a nod to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 5G processor that powers the phone. This is a tried-and-tested chipset and one of the better processors you can find in a phone under ₹10,000, achieving an AnTuTu score of around 4.5 lakhs. The phone also comes with LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 3.1 storage, ensuring fast read and write speeds for a smooth user experience.
Battery and Storage
The Lava Blaze Dragon is powered by a 5000 mAh battery and comes with an 18W charger in the box. It is available in a single variant with 4GB of RAM and a base storage of 128GB. If you need more space, the storage can be expanded up to 512GB using an SD card.
Software and After-Sales Service
The phone offers a clean user interface, providing a near-stock Android experience. It comes pre-loaded with only Google’s apps and Lava’s own first-party applications, with no bloatware. In terms of software updates, the device comes with Android 15 out of the box and is promised one year of major updates (to Android 16) and two years of security updates. A notable service feature is the “Free Home Service,” which is even advertised on the box.
Multimedia and Connectivity
For multimedia, the phone has a single mono speaker that is loud and offers decent quality. The inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack is a significant plus, allowing users to connect wired earphones for a better quality audio experience. In terms of connectivity, the device supports dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.1, and all 5G bands currently used in India.
Gaming and Sensors
The phone handles casual games like Temple Run well. For more demanding titles like BGMI, users can expect to get 40fps gameplay. It is equipped with all necessary sensors, including a software-based gyroscope, which is often missing in this price segment. The side-mounted fingerprint sensor and face unlock feature work well and are responsive.
Special Features
The Lava Blaze Dragon comes with several useful features. It supports AI Call Recording; by setting Lava’s dialer as the default, you can enable auto-call recording. The phone also includes an FM radio, which works thanks to the 3.5mm jack. Other features like NFC and an IR blaster are not present.
Camera System and Performance
The rear camera setup consists of a 50-megapixel primary sensor and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. For selfies, there is an 8-megapixel sensor housed in the waterdrop notch.
In good daylight conditions, the camera captures good photos with decent skin tones and colors. A surprising aspect is the inclusion of 15 different camera modes, including a Pro mode, Night mode, Portrait mode, 50MP native mode, Slow Motion, Panorama, AR stickers, and even a document scanner.
For videography, both the front and back cameras can shoot 1080p video at 30fps. A clever feature allows the fingerprint sensor to be used as a shutter button for taking selfies, which is fast and convenient.
Final Verdict and Pricing
The main highlight of the Lava Blaze Dragon is undoubtedly the Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, complemented by fast UFS 3.1 storage and the welcome return of the 3.5mm jack. While the phone is priced under ₹10,000, there is a special launch offer. On the first day of sale, customers can get a ₹1,000 discount, bringing the effective price down to ₹9,000.
