Lava has recently launched the Lava Storm 5G for ₹14,999 as a prolific budget 5G smartphone with all the modern features you could ever ask for. While it will be available for ₹13,499 on Amazon India soon, with bank offers, that comes down to only ₹11,999, making this one of the most attractive choices, especially if you are thinking of buying one this new year.
Now, does this phone resemble its name? Is this a real storm in the budget smartphone category? Let’s find out more in this quick review:
Lava Storm 5G Specifications
- Processor: MediaTek Dimensity 6080
- RAM: 8GB (expandable up to 16GB)
- Storage: 128GB
- Display: 6.78-inch FHD+ IPS display with a 120Hz refresh rate and Widevine L1 support
- Camera: 50MP primary camera, 8MP Ultra Wide Dual Rear Camera, and a 16MP front camera
- Battery: 5000mAh with 33W Fast Charging
- Operating System: Stock Android 13, with guaranteed Android 14 upgrades and two years of security updates
- Additional Features: Side-mounted ultra-fast fingerprint sensor and face unlock
- Design: Premium glass back
- Colors: Gale Green and Thunder Black
- Performance: AnTuTu benchmark score exceeding 4,20,000
- Bloatware: None
In the Box
- Lava Storm 5G,
- 33W Power Adapter,
- SIM Tray Ejector,
- Phone Case,
- USB Cable
Design and Build Quality
The Lava Storm 5G has a plastic build, which makes it lighter and easier to hold, but it also has this glass-back design, which looks both upmarket and unheard of in this price bracket. I loved this Gale Green color which has this unique premium feel to it while still having a very minimal design.
Confidently, when you hold it in your hands, it feels nice and elegant. Being light enough, I do not have many complaints about the build quality, especially in this price bracket.
Display
The Lava Storm 5G boasts a 6.78-inch FHD+ IPS LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate, and for the price, I have never seen a display so good in terms of quality, response, and color reproduction. I genuinely loved using the display of this device, and I never missed my OLED display phone because, for most users, the quality of this panel will be more than enough.
From watching movies to scrolling through reels, the Lava Storm 5G’s display will get the job done easily without any hiccups. Also, thanks to Widevine L1 support, you can enjoy FHD content on your favourite OTT apps. Thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate, from gaming to scrolling, you will just fall in love with this smartphone’s display.
Performance
You might think that performance might be an issue with this phone, but not at all. This Lava Storm 5G houses a strong SoC like MediaTek Dimensity 6080, which is also paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Well, truly, I was surprised to see the smooth performance this phone was giving me, and never did I feel any lag or stutter, even coming from a flagship phone like the OnePlus 11.
Here are some benchmark numbers for your reference:
In AnTuTu, Lava already claims to give 420,000+ points; in Geekbench 6, you get 692 single-core and 2137 multi-core points. This seems to be a pretty average score, and for a phone in this price range, you cannot ask for more. What really surprised me was seeing this SoC, not even throttle less than 90%; the performance was very sustained in the longer run, showing the thermals are in place and the phone is quite good to use in the long run.
The Dimensity 6080 does surprisingly well at keeping up with all your daily tasks or casual gaming as well. Also, the 120 Hz refresh rate makes the performance feel smooth. Thanks to a clean Android 13 OS, you will enjoy the overall daily-usage experience, so if you are thinking about using this as your primary or even secondary phone, this Lava Storm 5G will not upset you and is a strong performer for its price.
Camera
Lava does sometimes cheap out on the camera front, as we saw on the Blaze 2 5G, but this Storm 5G supports a 50MP primary camera, an 8MP Ultra Wide Dual Rear Camera, and a 16MP front camera. On paper, this looks quite good, but how does it perform in real life? Have a look yourself:
From selfies to portraits in broad daylight, the Lava Storm 5G performs really well, capturing shots with both precision and accuracy, which for this price range is quite good. The shutter speed is surprisingly very fast, but sometimes the viewfinder might show inaccurately. Post-processing of the image is okay, but sometimes you will notice grains.
Edge detection in portraits is also nice, not the best, but quite good, I would say. The colours captured by the phone are also quite good, a bit whitish, but for most people, adequate. The filters on this camera app worked quite well; as you can see, some images look actually nice, but zoom does not always work well. Overall, in daylight, whether it’s a selfie or a normal photo, the Lava Storm 5G captures photos that are social network-worthy.
During the night, the Lava Storm 5G’s primary camera also performs adequately well with the Night Mode turned on; on the other hand, the Ultra-Wide camera is decent as well. I was quite impressed with the overall camera performance, even during the night. For a phone in this Rs. 12k price segment, the Lava Storm 5G’s camera gets the job done pretty easily.
Connectivity and I/O
In terms of connectivity, the Lava Storm 5G features both power rockers on the right-hand side and a power button as well, where the fingerprint sensor comes baked in. The SIM tray is on the left-hand side, alongside a single speaker at the bottom, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a USB Type-C port. Both the WiFi and Bluetooth worked pretty well, and I didn’t have any issues connecting to multiple devices or using WiFi to work or stream anything.
Audio
In terms of audio, the Lava Storm 5G will also suffice you for most tasks, sporting a single speaker at the bottom, much like any other budget phone, but the quality of the speaker is quite good; it’s loud, accurate, and crisp. From listening to music to watching casual YouTube videos, for most things, the audio will feel nice even without any Dolby tuning or such.
Software
Software is something that I have always appreciated on a Lava phone, and this Lava Storm 5G is no different, sporting a clean stock Android 13 OS with no bloatware. The experience is really smooth and simple, with pure Android and no nonsense. Though I would have loved it if Lava used Android 14 out-of-the-box, you still get 2 years of security updates and an Android 14 update as well.
Battery Life
Lastly, to top it off, this Lava Storm 5G sports a big 5000mAh battery while still keeping the overall weight distribution on the lighter side. I really appreciate Lava for also providing 33W fast charging in this price range, and that really helps to charge this big battery faster, and you can comfortably get through the day with this phone without any hiccups.
Verdict
Now, should you buy this Lava Storm 5G at ₹11,999 for this upcoming sale on the 28th? Well, as you see in our review, the phone is pretty well-balanced, premium-looking, and performs quite well in every department, though it is not the best at anything but doesn’t upset you in any important department.
From reliable performance to a smooth software experience, Lava is setting a new benchmark in the budget category and giving the 5G experience to everyone at affordable pricing. With free home service, the Lava Storm 5G is no doubt one of the best budget phones out there and is definitely recommended for daily usage.
Buy from Amazon India: https://amzn.to/3NEXlul
