Lava Z25 Hands On Review [With Video]

Intensifying the competition in mid-ranged smartphone segment, Lava has recently introduced its ‘Z series’ of premium smartphones with the launch of Lava Z25. It is touted to feature ‘best-in-class camera’ and ‘finest design quality.’ The Z25 does look like a solid phone, but will it be able to live up to our expectations? Let’s find out. Read on to find out Lava Z25 hands on review (with video) with details on design, build quality, display, camera, performance, battery and more.

Design, Build Quality & Display

The Z25 flaunts its series 5 metal back cover with chrome edges which makes it look premium. The phone feels sturdy and solid. It is curved towards the edges on the rear and fits perfectly in hand.

The smartphone features a 5.5-inch HD IPS 2.5D curved display with a resolution of 1280×720 pixels. The display is sharp and bright with good viewing angles. The sunlight legibility of the screen is also good. Above the screen, at the front, there is front facing camera along with earpiece, spotlight flash and sensors.

On the left, you get volume rockers.

Power button and hybrid SIM card tray are placed on the right edge.

Micro USB port, speaker grill and primary microphone are located on the bottom.

On the top edge, there is a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

On the rear, you get the primary camera along with dual LED flash, fingerprint scanner and Lava branding. The company claims the fingerprint scanner to unlock the phone in just 0.16 seconds. During our time with the phone as well, the fingerprint sensor worked like a charm. It unlocked the phone quickly and accurately. All in all, the design of the phone is solid yet premium.

Camera

For shutterbugs, the Z25 sports a 13 mega pixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, dual LED flash, Sony Exmor RS IMX258 sensor and PDAF.

It comes with plenty of modes like Extreme Beauty, Panorama, Night Pro, GIF, HDR, QR Code scanning and Intelligent mode, among others. It also comes with ‘Bokeh’ effect that focuses on the subject in the image and makes the background blurry.

The rear camera takes great images with plenty of detailing and clarity in both outdoors and indoors.

There is also an 8 mega pixel front facing camera with Spotlight flash that gives smooth illumination for selfies. There is an Extreme Beauty mode that offers advanced functions such as Big Eye, Thin Face, Whitening and Smoothing. The front camera also captures beautiful selfies even in poor lighting conditions. Overall camera quality of the phone is very impressive.

Hardware & Software

Under the hood, it packs a 1.5GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6750 processor paired with Mali-T860 GPU. The Z25 houses 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage and supports expandable storage up to 128GB via microSD card. The device runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Star OS 3.3 UI. It supports double tap to wake up feature and also lets you put fingerprint lock on different apps. The phone also comes with multilingual keyboard with support for 11 Indian languages.

Battery & Connectivity

Fueled by a 3020mAh battery, it supports Power Saver mode and Super Power Saver mode that extend the battery backup by 5 hours 20 mins and 18 hours respectively. The phone easily survives for a day on moderate usage on a single charge. Connectivity options include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and USB OTG.

Price & Availability

The Lava Z25 carries MRP (maximum retail price) of Rs. 18,000. Customers will however, get the smartphone at lower price tag as retailers offer suitable discounts on MRP. Lava is also offering one-time mobile screen replacement till one year of the purchase and a 30 Day Replacement Policy with the smartphone.

Lava Z25: Specifications & Features

Processor: 1.5GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6750
GPU: Mali-T860
Operating System: Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Star OS 3.3
Display: 5.5-inch HD IPS 2.5D curved glass
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 32GB (expandable up to 128GB via microSD card)
Rear Camera: 13 mega pixel with f/2.0 aperture, dual LED flash, Sony Exmor RS IMX258 sensor and PDAF
Front Camera: 8 mega pixel with Spotlight flash
Battery: 3020mAh
Connectivity: 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and USB OTG
Dimensions: 151.5×76.4×8.5 mm
Weight: 163 grams
Color Option: Champagne Gold and Grey
Hybrid Dual SIM
Fingerprint sensor

Verdict

The Lava Z25 looks like a solid competitor in its price segment. It is a premium looking phone that offers good display, great camera combination, fast performance and more.