Lava Icon Quick Specs

Display Size: 5 Inch HD IPS LCD DisplayProcessor: 1.3 GHz Quad Core, Mali 400 MP2 GPURAM: 2 GBSoftware Version: Android 4.4 KitKat based custom Star OSCamera: 13 MP rear camera Sony Exmor sensor, 5P F2.0 lens, 1080p videos, Dual LED flashSecondary Camera: 5 MP with F2.4 LensInternal Storage:  16 GBExternal Storage: 32 GBBattery: 2500 mAhConnectivity:  HSPA+, Wi-Fi 802.11, Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP, GPS, Dual SIM

Lava Icon Video Hands on Review

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Design, Build and Display

Lava Icon is made from good quality plastic. The rear case does not look very scratch prone either. At 7.7 mm it is among the slimmer lot with battery sealed inside. Plastic side edges impersonate metal rather well.

The front side has a 5 Inch 720 HD display with good viewing angles and brightness, with capacitive keys lined below for navigation. The IPS LCD display is laminated to reduce glare. Colors are also decent. Bezels on the sides are little beefy for our taste, but still the phone is very manageable.

Processor and RAM

The processor used is 1.3 GHz quad core CPU assisted by ample 2 GB RAM. Although a capable combination for low to moderate usage, this might not be very appealing to spec junkies aspiring for the latest and greatest tech. In our initial time with the device, we didn’t observe any major lag.

Camera and Internal Storage

The rear camera has a 13 MP Sony Exmor sensor, with a wide aperture lens on top. You can click 1080p full HD videos and some good still shots, if you remain still. It’s still too early to comment on the camera quality, but we had to remain perfectly still for good quality shots. The front 5 MP Selfie camera with a wide aperture lens offers very good quality selfies.

Internal storage is 16 GB out of which 12.3 GB is available at user end. The storage is not partitioned and you can also transfer some apps to external SD card which can accept maximum 32 GB secondary storage. You can also connect USB flash drives directly as USB OTG is supported.

User Interface and Battery

Lava and most domestic manufacturers mostly provide stock Android with a bunch of preloaded apps, but for the first time Lava is trying its own custom skin, named Star OS, which is running on top of Android 4.4 KitKat. Since it is a first attempt UI we did observe some glitches and stutters, but we expect Lava to fix them with an OTA update. You can draw custom symbols on lock screen to directly launch apps.

Battery capacity is 2500 mAh with 13 hours of rated maximum 2G talk time. This doesn’t tell us much about the battery backup but we considering the chipset, you can expect one day usage with low to moderate usage. The battery is not user replaceable.

Conclusion

Lava Icon has a decent front and rear camera’s and 2 GB RAM for durable performance over a period of time. Looks like Lava is betting more on the offline market with Icon, but if is also available on Snapdeal for 11,990 INR. Snapdeal is also offering a free selfies stick for first 500 customers to enhance selfies experience.