Lava Iris X1 review – will it compete with Micromax Unite 2?

The Lava Iris X1 is the first handset in the X series that was recently launched by Lava Mobiles. This is also the first handset by Lava, available in the market that runs Android KitKat out of the box. The X1 has got premium look and is available for under Rs. 8,000.

Update: OTG works, seems like I had some issue with the handset. The OTG was working on another handset. Pls find attached screen shot in the image gallery section below.

Inside the box: Handset, free magnetic flip cover, 1800 mAh Li-ion battery, screen guard, user manual, travel charger, data cable and earphone. The handset is available in Black and White colour options.

Design and Display
The Lava X1 follows the same design pattern as used on the Iris Pro 20 and the Pro 30 design though the ports and the button locations are different. Now you can get that premium look for almost half the price. Build quality and finishing is very good and the handset looks like an iPhone.

The Lava Iris X1 weight with battery is 137 grams, it is 8.77mm thick, breadth is pretty narrow at 66.34mm and the length is 134.49mm. The rear is with matte finish. The side is silver colour with metallic finish that blends well with the overall look.

Power button is placed on the right, volume rockers on the left, micro USB port and 3.5mm audio jack are on the top. There are dual mics for noise cancellation. This is a dual SIM handset. SIM 2 supports 3G – it is a normal SIM slot and SIM 1 supports 2G – it’s a micro SIM slot.

The IPS touch screen is 4.5 inches supporting 854 x 480 pixels resolution. Touch is smooth, responsive and viewing angles are good considering the price. There are 3 sensors – light, accelerometer and proximity. There is LED notification, single color (blue).

OS, Memory and Storage
The Lava Iris X1 runs on Android KitKat 4.4.2 out of the box. There is 1GB RAM and 4GB storage. There is micro SD card slot too that can houses 32GB external cards. You can install apps on the external storage, for that you will need to set the preferred install location to external SD card – this will required a reboot.

On the first boot free RAM is 641 MB and of 4GB storage, internal storage is 1.36GB and 1.11GB is space allocated for app (free space is 0.92GB). OTG is supported (Though it did not work in the review unit I got).

Performance and Benchmark
The Iris X1 is using the same hardware that powers the Micromax Canvas Engage. It houses the Broadcom BCM23550 quad core chipset clocked at 1.2GHz with VideoCore IV HW GPU. Performance is smooth and I did not find any issues as such.

Benchmark scores

Camera and Entertainment
There is 8MP rear camera with dual LED flash and 2MP front camera. You can choose 4:3 or full screen mode. 8MP is available in 4:3 mode and in full screen mode the camera will shoot in 6MP resolution. There is dual LED flash that doesn’t help much.

The quality is pretty good considering the price. The rear camera can shoot 720p videos. Do check the sample images and videos at the end. The X1 can play full HD videos in both H/W and S/W modes.

Gaming
You can install apps on the external storage. I installed the MC4 and the Asphalt 8. Modern combat 4 (MC4) played well, but with 2 point touch at times it gets difficult to get the proper response. The Asphalt 8 game did not work in high graphics mode. You can check gaming part in the video review. However Asphalt 8 worked pretty well in medium and low visual quality modes.

Others
No issues found with the speaker / in call sound. Sound is loud and clear. 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth worked well. GPS is pretty good and it works indoors too. Wi-Fi Signal is a little low, I get 2 points out of 4 from usual 3 out of 4, but net access is fast.

This handset also supports dual SIM smart on option using this option you will be able to receive calls from any SIM even when you are on a call.

Flip cover is magnetic, quality is good but could have been better. When you open the flip the handset screen will switch on and when you close the flip the screen will switch off.

Battery
There is a 1800 mAh battery (Li-ion). I ran the benchmark apps and played the games for about 45 minutes,  battery dropped by 17%. I also played 720p video with Wi-Fi on and brightness set to max for about 1 hours 9 minutes, battery dropped by 25%. In general you can expect backup time of 4 to 5 hours. The max temperature was 43 degrees.

Lava Iris X1 review Verdict
As mentioned the handset uses the same Broadcom quad core hardware as seen on the Micromax Canvas Engage. The X1 is better than the Engage as it comes with 1GB RAM and can install apps on external storage.

X1 is priced at under Rs. 8,000 slightly higher than the Unite 2. Between the Micromax Unite 2 A106 and the iris X1, the Unite 2 performance no doubt is better. Look wise the X1 rules. If you are looking for more power the Unite 2 is a better option but if you are satisfied with the X1 performance and really impressed by its look, go ahead get it, it is a good option.

Lava Iris X1 is available for Rs. 7,999.

Iris X1 image gallery

Sample images shot using Iris X1 handset