The Lava Iris 504q comes powered by the same hardware that runs the Micromax A116 i.e. Mediatek MT6589 quad core @ 1.2GHz. The Iris 504q sports a 5 inch HD screen, 8MP camera, is super slim with 8.4mm thickness and incorporates the gesture motion technology. The handset is priced at approx Rs. 13,500.
Box Pack
The box pack contains the 504q handset, battery and travel charger, earphone, data cable, OTG cable (OTG is supported), screen guard, warranty card / user manual and an intelligent flip cover.
Design, Display and OS
The 504q is slim and sleek phone with a premium look. The grey cover is with a matte finish. The handset is light weight and very comfortable to hold. The 5 inch screen is with OGS technology that reduces the thickness as well makes the handset lighter. The screen supports HD resolution (1280×720 pixels ~ 293.72 ppi) with 16M colors. Dual SIM Iris 504q weight is 147 grams and thickness is 8.86mm. There is accelerometer, light, proximity, magnetic and Gyro sensors.
The touch is quite smooth and responsive. The power button is on the right, volume rockers on the left and 3.5mm audio jack on the top along with micro USB port. The intelligent flip cover is another attraction. When you flip open the cover the handset automatically wakes up (you still need to unlock). The Lava Iris 504q runs on the Android 4.2.1 OS.
Memory and Storage
There is 1GB RAM and 4GB internal storage. Micro SD card of up to 32GB is also supported.
- Of the 1GB RAM 625MB is available.
- Of the 4GB storage 0.98GB (824MB free) is allocated for apps and 1.69GB (1.39 free) as phone storage.
- You can move / install apps on external storage.
Performance
The handset is powered by 1.2GHz MT6589 MediaTek quad core chipset coupled with PowerVR SGX 544MP. We have seen this hardware on many other handsets; however it’s the unique features, smoother performance and the flip cover that makes the 504q a worthy competitor.
Benchmark scores
- Quadrant Benchmark : 3548.
- Antutu Benchmark : 12890.
- Vellamo Benchmark : HTML5 – 1462, Metal – 427.
- Nenamark2 : 45.4fps.
- Multi Touch : 5 point.
Gaming and Entertainment
Modern combat 2 game came pre-installed. It’s an old game but the game play was smooth. I tried the Nova 3 that worked pretty well. This handset can record and play full HD videos with ease.
Camera
There is an 8MP AF camera on the rear with LED flash support and with BSI sensor and a front camera of 2MP resolution. You can use gesture (wave the hand in front of the sensors) to click images. The camera quality is very good, do check the sample images.
Other features
The gesture control makes use of the proximity sensor and works only in one direction. For example if you are viewing image gallery you can wave the hand in front of the proximity sensor to view the next image. It will always show the next image when you wave in any direction (left to right or right to left). You cannot view previous images using gesture control. This is because the proximity sensors can sense only an obstruction and cannot determine the direction.
Also since the proximity sensors are used you need to wave a little close to the handset for it to sense. Even though the gesture control is unidirectional it is very smooth and fun to use but at times may be annoying. You can use gesture control with Music, FM radio, Camera and Image apps. There is also an option in settings to disable the same if need be.
3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth worked well. GPS lock was fast within 20 seconds. OTG is supported as well as OTA (Over the Air) software updates. The sound is loud and clear. The handset doesn’t heat up much.
Battery
The Li-ion battery of 2000 mAh gives a good backup time. The handset should easily last for over a day with moderate usage.
Conclusion
The lava Iris 504q competes with other 1.2GHz MT6589 powered handsets including the Micromax A116. The 504q is slightly cheaper than the MMX A116 and without doubt it score an extra point because of the gesture control, the intelligent flip cover, the thickness and the weight. Between A116 or 504q, go for the Lava Iris 504q (Via Amazon | Via via Flipkart).
Image Gallery
Sample Images taken using the 8MP AF camera
Lava Iris 504q unboxing and review video
Full HD video shot using the Iris 504q
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