The Lava Blaze Dragon is an affordable smartphone launched by Lava, priced under ₹9,000, making it a rare find in its price segment. A detailed unboxing and first impressions of the device, highlighting its key features like the Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 processor, 120Hz HD+ screen, 50MP AI camera, and more.
Unboxing and Packaging
The Lava Blaze Dragon comes in an interesting and visually appealing box designed with dragon-themed fire aesthetics, consistent with its name “Blaze Dragon.” The unboxing experience is enjoyable, starting with opening the box to reveal the phone wrapped neatly.
Inside the box, you get:
- The Lava Blaze Dragon smartphone itself.
- A clear protective case of good quality.
- USB Type-A to Type-C charging cable for fast and reliable charging.
- An 18W charger included in the box, which is quite decent for the price.
- A SIM ejector tool, documentation, and warranty papers.
- The brand also provides a free home service, emphasizing post-purchase support.
The variant reviewed is the 4GB RAM and 128GB internal storage model, which is the only variant available, and the effective price after a ₹1,000 launch discount is around ₹9,000.
Design and Build Quality
The Lava Blaze Dragon offers a neat, subtle design rather than flashy aesthetics often found in budget smartphones. It comes in two color variants, the reviewed unit being the lighter tone variant called “Light,” and the other being “Midnight Mist,” a darker shade.
The device features a flat-sided design with slight curves on the edges, making it comfortable to hold. The back has a glossy finish which we suspect might be glass, but it’s unconfirmed. The device weighs around 210 grams, which feels a bit on the heavier side but contributes to a solid feel.
Physical elements include:
- The 3.5 mm headphone jack, which is increasingly rare in its price segment, making it a valuable feature for wired headphone users.
- USB Type-C port located at the bottom alongside a speaker grill and a microphone.
- Power button on the right, which also doubles as a fingerprint sensor.
- Volume rocker on the right side.
- Noise-canceling microphone at the top.
- Hybrid SIM card tray on the left side, which supports either dual SIM or one SIM + microSD expansion up to 512GB.
Display
The Blaze Dragon sports a 6.74-inch IPS LCD panel with HD+ resolution. The viewing experience is decent with good brightness levels suitable for indoor usage, though the display uses a water-drop notch design housing the front camera, which may feel dated compared to punch-hole or notch-less modern displays.
One of the standout features in this price segment is the 120Hz refresh rate of the display, which offers smoother scrolling and an overall responsive feel.
The panel size is large, complemented by a somewhat thick chin bezel, making it quite sizeable in hand.
Performance and Hardware
The Lava Blaze Dragon is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 chipset, a capable budget 5G processor. This is notable because it is the first time Lava uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset in this product line, which is a positive from a performance and reliability perspective.
The device comes with UFS 3.1 storage, which is faster than the usual eMMC storage on phones in this price range, ensuring quicker app launches, better read/write speeds, and overall smoother operation. The RAM type is LPDDR 4X with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage available.
In benchmarks, the device scores around 4.5 lakh points (likely AnTuTu), which positions it well within its category.
Gaming performance is capable of handling games like Call of Duty Mobile and BGMI at around 40fps smoothly for casual gaming. Lighter games like Temple Run or other casual titles will run comfortably.
Software and User Interface
The phone runs Android 15 out of the box, with a clean, near-stock Android user interface. It includes only Google apps and Lava’s own first-party applications which are minimal, ensuring a clean experience without heavy bloatware.
The device promises one major Android version upgrade and two years of security updates, which is quite good for a sub-₹10,000 smartphone. This means users will receive Android 16 in the future.
The UI gestures and multitasking functionalities are described as decent and responsive.
Multimedia and Connectivity
The Lava Blaze Dragon is equipped with a mono speaker that delivers loud and clear enough sound for daily multimedia consumption. Its inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack allows users to plug in wired earphones or headphones easily, which enhances the audio experience.
Connectivity features include:
- Dual-band Wi-Fi support for stable internet connections.
- Bluetooth 5.1 for connecting wireless accessories.
- Support for all Indian 5G bands ensuring future-ready network connectivity.
- Hybrid SIM tray to expand storage or have dual SIM functionality.
However, the device lacks some modern features such as NFC (near-field communication), IR blaster, and notification LED.
Sensors and Security
All essential sensors are present, including accelerometer, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, and gyroscope. Importantly, the device includes a software-based gyroscope (not physical), which is rare in this price segment.
The fingerprint sensor is side-mounted on the power button, providing quick and secure unlocking. Face unlock is also available and works efficiently.
Camera System
The camera setup on the Lava Blaze Dragon consists of:
- A 50MP primary rear camera with AI enhancements.
- A 2MP depth sensor for portrait effects.
- An 8MP front camera housed inside the water-drop notch.
Despite the budget class, the camera app offers multiple modes and features, including:
- Pro Mode
- Night Mode
- Video Mode (supports 1080p at 30fps in both front and rear cameras)
- Portrait Mode
- Slow motion
- Panorama
- AR Stickers
- Watermarking
- Time-lapse
- QR Code Scanner
- Document scanning
Daylight photos from the primary camera are described as decent, capturing good skin tones and colors realistically. Low-light performance is not expected to be remarkable but acceptable given the price.
The selfie camera does a fair job in good lighting conditions.
A unique note is that the fingerprint sensor can also be used as a shutter button for selfies, providing convenience.
Battery and Charging
The phone includes a large 5,000mAh battery which should comfortably last a full day of moderate to heavy use.
It supports charging with the included 18W charger, which is reasonable and standard for this segment.
After-Sales Support
Lava offers free home service with this phone, which is exceptional for the budget segment, providing convenience for users requiring technical assistance or repairs.