By Vivek Singh Chauhan

New Delhi, Jul 16 (IANS): To take on Chinese brands in the affordable segment, homegrown smartphone maker Lava has unveiled a new smartphone called 'Blaze' that comes with a glass back design and boasts a triple rear camera setup.

At Rs 8,699, the smartphone is powered by MediaTek Helio A22 Chipset coupled with 3GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. It houses a 5000mAh battery, along with a 10W type-C fast charger.

The Lava Blaze is a dual-SIM mobile that accepts nano-SIM and nano-SIM. It comes in glass black, glass blue, glass green, and glass red colours.

We reviewed the device for a while, and here's how it performed.

In terms of design, the smartphone boasts a premium-looking smooth glass back panel with sleek edges, and the glass green colour adds a soothing vibe to the device. Moreover, we found the glossy rear panel quite attractive.

The volume and power toggles are placed on the right edge. Meanwhile, a mic along with a 3.5mm headphone jack, a Type-C port, and a speaker grille are placed on the bottom edge. And you will find the SIM tray on the left edge.

On the back panel, there's a fingerprint sensor on the top center, along with the camera module on the left side.

The smartphone offers a 6.5-inch HD display with an aspect ratio of 20:9 and a hole-punch design.

Even in the bright light condition, we found that the content on the screen was visible as sunlight or bright light did not hinder our viewing experience and the colour reproduction remained intact even when we viewed the screen from different angles.

Talking about the camera department, the smartphone sports a 13MP AI triple rear camera setup, along with an LED flash. It has an 8MP selfie camera for selfies or online meetings.

To enhance the experience, the camera app comes preloaded with camera modes and filters, including HDR, panorama, portrait, beauty, and time-lapse photography, among others.

In terms of performance, the processor proved decent for general use. The smartphone also has the latest security features, such as fingerprint unlock and face unlock options.

The good thing about this smartphone is that it packs a massive 5,000mAh battery, which is definitely going to woo users. It is said to deliver up to 40 hours of playback time and a standby time of 25 days within a single charge.

On our usage, we found that it did an excellent job as it lasted around a day on a single charge on normal use that included messaging, calling, mails, clicking a few pictures, etc.

Conclusion: The smartphone is a good initiative by the brand as it offers many exciting features such as a premium look at an affordable price. It will give a tough competition to several Chinese smartphones in its price range.