If you thought that mobile phones from domestic brands competed with offerings from multinationals on price points alone, then it is time to reboot your thinking. Devices from homegrown companies have evolved significantly in recent times; they give almost all the features found in a high-end mobile phone, and come with extremely decent price tags. Take for instance, Lava Iris X8, the new flagship in its ‘Iris X’ series. It is a sleek and stylish smartphone with a full roster of high-end features. It is available in white and black colour for R8,999.
Lava is a fast-growing mobile brand in the country and over the last one year, it has been strengthening its smartphone portfolio under Iris sub-brand and has launched some great devices under the X series. Continuing with this tradition, the Iris X8 comes across as a great looking phone and has a very good build quality. As such, the phone is difficult to maneuver with one hand unless you have a particularly wide grip.
However, you can fit it nicely in your jean pockets. Company folks say that the Iris X8 has been carefully designed after understanding requirements of consumers who are looking for a good looking powerful smartphone which allows them with the ability to multitask.
The Iris X8 has a 12 cm (5 inch) HD IPS display with Asahi Glass protection. It has a screen resolution of 720 x 1280 and an oil coating on the screen has been provided for a smooth touch experience for the user. On the right edge are the power key and volume buttons. If you want to insert an external memory card, then gently open the slot cover, with the metal contacts facing down and put the SD card into the slot. Menu key, Back key and Home key are at the very bottom. To charge the battery, you will need to plug in the charger connector at the top of the phone (USB interface) and then plug the other end into an AC power socket.
Probing the innards, the Iris X8 is powered by Octa Core processor and 2 GB RAM. It is precisely this eight core and 2 GB RAM in the smartphone that offer ease of use to consumers who are looking for a device which helps them to juggle between their personal, social and professional life while on the go. The Iris X8 includes a 16 GB memory, 13 GB out of which is available to the user. It operates on Android v4.4 KitKat and is upgradable to Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system. The phone houses a smart swap technology that allows the user to switch SIMs on the go, without the need to restart the handset.
The Iris X8 is powered by a 2500 mAh battery. To further help save on the battery life, the device comes with an Intelligent Flip cover that allows users to access applications like music, calling, camera, messaging and few other functions directly without the need of switching to the main screen. Additionally for consumers’ ease of use, the phone has a gesture recognition functionality with Smart Wake-up and Gesture controls which allows consumers to directly jump to applications from the locked screen. Also, expect your usual package of useful Google apps like Drive, Gmail, Plus, Hangouts, Search, Maps, Photos, and YouTube.
The Iris X8 has primary camera of 8 megapixel with Dual LED flash, Auto focus and BSI-III sensor and sports a 3 megapixel front camera. It also supports full HD video recording and digital zoom with built in auto-focus, panorama, HDR mode, face detection, smile shot and voice capture which ensures you capture crystal clear photos of your favourite moments. On connectivity front, the dual SIM equipped Iris X8 is equipped with 3G connectivity apart from Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v4.0. It also offers OTG support that enables file transfer through USB drive on the move.
Switched on, the X8 will impress you with its performance. This Lava device not only delivers on style but also has powerful performance enabled by the GPU-600 MHz dedicated Mali-450MP4 processor with a 1.4 GHz Octa Core processor, Android KitKat 4.4 and a detachable battery of 2500 mAh capacity. The phone will carry out your basic needs like making calls and browsing the Web without much issue. During my usage, I didn’t
encounter any issue with its touch response. You can even run Flash heavy websites on this phone with ease. Photo quality for the 8-megapixel camera is decent and the pictures were easy to make out and looked clear.
All in all, the Iris X8 feels sturdy in the hand, is competitively priced and is a decent performer.
SPECIFICATIONS
* Display: 12 cm (5 inch) HP IPS display
* Processor: 1.4 GHz Octa Core processor
* Operating system: Android KitKat 4.4
* Memory & storage: 1 GB RAM, 8 GB memory, expandable upto 32 BG
* Camera: 8 MP primary, 3 MP secondary camera
* SIM type: Dual SIM
* Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, BT v4.0, OTG support, high-speed USB 2.0
* Battery: 2500 mAh Li-Po battery
** Estimated street price: Rs 8,999
