Lava Z1 Review, Pros and Cons – Where all other brands are conquering the mobile market, providing some extraordinary phones on a low budget with 5g technology, but Lava phones have been left behind. Lava hasn’t released any 5g smartphone yet, but we’re hoping they’ll launch it by the end of the year.
Known as a purely Indian brand, the company has gained some trust in the Indian market over the years by providing low-budget phones. In January, the company launched another budget smartphone called the Lava Z1 smartphone. In terms of performance, Lava does not disappoint, as it is perfect as per the price point.
Whether the brand attracts your attention or not, the Lave smartphone has many fans in India. The Lava Z1 smartphone claims to be one of the competitive phones with other brands like BLU M7L phone in the same price range. Though the features are limited within that budget. Let’s dig deep into the detailed review of the Lava Z1 smartphone.
Table of Contents
Lava Z1 Review
Highlights
- Lava Z1 phone features a TFT display that offers decent image quality. The plus point is that the screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. On the other side, the Z1 comes with 480 x 854 pixels resolution.
- Built with the Android 10 Go edition, this phone doesn’t disappoint you with its feature.
- The 1.8 GHz quad-core processor supported by the MediaTek Helio A20 chipset guarantees better performance than expected.
- Interestingly, the phone has 5 MP cameras on both sides with an aperture of 2.2 and a 720p video recording.
- The Lava Z1 is powered by a non-removable Li-Ion 3100 mAh battery, which is enough 1-day battery backup if you are not addicted to long hours of games or watching videos.
Design and Display
Although the screen is much smaller than phones from other current brands the TFT display will catch your eye. The Lava Z1 phone’s 5 inches screen looks like an ordinary design phone with a top and bottom notch. Therefore, there should be no expectation in its appearance.
It is a wonderful-looking phone with a plastic designed and a thick bezel. On the other side, the phone is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The phone is only available in two color variants, which are simple black and blue. Unfortunately, the resolution of 480 x 854 pixels is quite disappointing because it does not offer HD quality. But, on the other hand, the TFT display covers your disappointment, as it offers better image quality. The weight of the phone is not yet clear, but we expect it to be around 160g.
Memory and Internal
In that budget, the Android 10 (Go edition) operating system is not less than a blessing. The 1.8 GHz quad-core processor offers satisfactory performance on normal daily tasks. One of the most attractive features that definitely captures the public’s attraction is its chipset. The phone is built with a MediaTek MT6761 Helio A20 chipset that takes performance to a different level.
The graphics unit built with PowerVR GE8320, which is an integrated graphics card, offers standard performance in lite gaming. The Lava Z1 smartphone is available on the market in a single 16 GB storage and 2 GB of RAM variant. In terms of storage, it is not very satisfying as 40% of storage is occupied by systems and applications.
The phone may freeze at any time due to excessive downloads and another disappointment is that there is no card slot. If you want to expand your storage, there is a possibility to do so by adding another micro SD card.
Camera
If you are looking for smooth details photography and top clarity in the image then the Lava Z1 phone is not for you because a 5 MP rear camera does not provide professional-looking images. But you can click on some decent images with the Z1 phone in the proper daylight. It is interesting that the rear and selfie cameras are built with 5MP lenses so you will not see any difference in image and video quality.
The Lava Z1 phone is much better for the user who has a limited budget. Both cameras are capable of capturing 720p videos and the rear camera provides a flashlight for night shots. There is no wide or ultrawide camera, but the 2.2 aperture on both sides also takes pictures in low-light situations. It is unrealistic to expect higher quality photos or videos with the 5MP rear camera.
Battery and Others
The non-removable Li-Ion 3100 mAh battery does not offer long battery life if you are playing games or watching videos. But nowadays, background applications are also using more battery So, you have to keep an eye on that too. You can optimize your battery or choose which applications to run in the background in the app setting option.
On the other hand, to charge, you will receive a normal charger, which can take more than 2 hours to fully charge the battery. As there are no such specifications that can use more battery power, therefore, on a single charge, the battery can last for the full day. The price of the Lava Z1 starts at $ 71 (Rs. 5000).
Lava Z1 Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Lava Z1 smartphone.
| Specifications | Lava Z1 |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G |
| Announced | January 2021 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 5.71 x 2.89 x 0.41 inches |
| Weight | 160g |
| Size | Dual SIM |
| Display | TFT 16:9 ratio ~196 ppi density |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Resolution | 480 x 854 pixels |
| OS | Android 10 (Go edition) |
| Chipset | 12nm – Mediatek MT6761 Helio A20 |
| CPU | Quad-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53 |
| GPU | PowerVR GE8320 |
| Card slot | No |
| RAM | 2GB |
| Internal | 16GB eMMC 5.1 |
| Camera | 5 MP LED flash 720p@30fps |
| Selfie | 5 MP 720p |
| Loudspeaker | Yes |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, LE |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS |
| NFC | No |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | Yes |
| USB | microUSB |
| Sensors | Accelerometer |
| Battery | Li-Ion 3100 mAh |
| Colors | Blue, Red |
| Expected Price | $ 71 (Rs. 5000) |
Lava Z1 Pros and Cons
Down below you can see the list of pros and cons (advantages and disadvantages) of the Lava Z1 smartphone.
Pros
- Gorilla Glass 3 protection.
- Android 10 (Go edition) support.
- Helio A20 chipset and PowerVR GE8320 graphics available on the low-budget phone.
- Can play lite games.
- Under normal conditions, the battery can last all day.
Cons
- Without support for micro SD card.
- Single 16GB storage.
- Heating problems and performance delays may be seen.
- No fingerprint scanner.
- 480p resolution only.
- Speaker on the back
Conclusion
As you can see, the most attractive feature is the chipset that offers a much better performance along with the Android 10 OS. If you are looking for a low-budget Android phone, you can definitely go for the Lava Z1 phone.
As we mention before there are many limitations, you have to choose a phone compared to others. In this budget as an alternative, we suggest the Samsung Galaxy M01 Core which offers several features in the camera, internal, and display section definitely take a look.
