The Lava Agni 5G: A Fiery Comeback or Just a Flash in the Pan?
Lava Mobiles has returned to the Indian smartphone market with a bang, launching its first 5G phone, the Lava Agni 5G, in the crowded sub-Rs. 20,000 segment. Packed with a powerful MediaTek Dimensity 810 SoC, a quad-camera system, a 5,000mAh battery, and 30W fast charging, the Agni 5G has the potential to light up the market. But is it hot enough to stand out from the competition? We put this ambitious device to the test to see if it can truly deliver on its promises.
Lava Agni 5G Price in India
The Lava Agni 5G is available for Rs. 19,999 in India for its sole 8GB RAM and 128GB storage configuration. It’s offered in a single, bold color: Fiery Blue.
Lava Agni 5G Design
The Lava Agni 5G boasts a spacious 6.78-inch display, with a noticeable hole-punch for the selfie camera that might be distracting for some users. The bezels surrounding the display are sleek, with only the chin being slightly thicker. The phone’s plastic body has a glossy blue finish that gleams when light reflects off it. Lava has curved the sides of the frame, offering a comfortable grip, while the top and bottom remain flat.
The power and volume buttons are conveniently placed in the middle of the frame on either side. The power button on the right side integrates a capacitive fingerprint scanner for unlocking the device. The hybrid dual-SIM tray is located above the volume buttons on the left side. The Lava Agni 5G features a 3.5mm headphone jack, USB Type-C port, and loudspeaker at the bottom, while the top houses only the secondary microphone.
The rear sports a slightly protruding quad-camera module with a two-step design. The dual-LED flash and a single camera sensor occupy the first step, while the remaining three camera sensors are raised further. The glossy back panel, though attractive, is prone to smudges. The box includes a protective case and a 30W fast charger. At 204g, the phone’s weight is noticeable during extended use.
Lava Agni 5G Specifications and Software
The Lava Agni 5G boasts a 6.78-inch IPS LCD display with a full-HD+ resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It’s powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 810 SoC, a chipset also found in the Realme 8s 5G and the recently launched Redmi Note 11T 5G. This processor is paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. You can expand storage using a microSD card but remember this comes at the cost of the second Nano-SIM due to the hybrid slot.
The Lava Agni 5G packs a 5,000mAh battery and comes with a 30W charger in the box for fast charging. It offers connectivity features such as Bluetooth 5.1, dual-band Wi-Fi, dual 5G, and 4G VoLTE.
The Agni 5G runs stock Android 11, and during testing, it featured the October Android security patch. Though the pre-installed apps are minimal, they include Google apps and Facebook. The UI feels straightforward and easy to navigate. You can choose between the traditional three-button navigation or swipe gestures. Lava has introduced a feature called Duraspeed, claimed to boost app performance by restricting resource consumption from background apps. All features are conveniently grouped under the "Intelligent assistance" section in the Settings app. This section also includes a High-speed Refresh toggle for the 90Hz refresh rate, which would have been more user-friendly if it was located in the Display section.
Lava Agni 5G Performance
The Lava Agni 5G provides a snappy experience, handling multitasking with ease. The display exhibits good viewing angles, and the single bottom-firing speaker is sufficiently loud for enjoyable video content consumption. Enabling the high refresh rate enhances the smoothness of scrolling. While the side-mounted fingerprint scanner required some initial setup adjustments, it reliably unlocked the Agni 5G. The face recognition feature, dubbed "Face ID", was also quick in unlocking the phone.
Having recently tested the Redmi Note 11T 5G, we had a good understanding of the MediaTek Dimensity 810’s performance. We ran benchmarks to compare it to the Lava Agni 5G. In the AnTuTu benchmark, the Lava Agni 5G achieved 380,697 points. It also scored 570 and 1,648 points in Geekbench’s single-core and multi-core tests, respectively. These scores are higher than the Redmi Note 11T 5G. In the GFXBench graphics benchmark, the Lava Agni 5G achieved 51fps and 13fps in the T-Rex and Car Chase tests, respectively.
We played Battlegrounds Mobile India on the Lava Agni 5G. The game defaulted to HD graphics and High frame rate settings, running smoothly without stutter. After 20 minutes of gameplay, the battery level dipped by only four percent, with the phone becoming slightly warm to the touch after gaming. If you’re looking for a smartphone in this price segment to game on, the Lava Agni 5G has the hardware to run popular titles effectively.
In terms of battery life, the Lava Agni 5G comfortably lasted more than a day and a half, based on our typical usage. In our HD video loop test with the display refresh rate set to 90Hz, the phone lasted for 14 hours and 48 minutes. Charging time is acceptable with the provided 30W charger. It took 30 minutes to reach 46 percent and an hour to reach 86 percent.
Lava Agni 5G Cameras
The Lava Agni 5G boasts a quad-camera setup consisting of a 64-megapixel primary camera, a 5-megapixel ultra-wide angle camera, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. It also features a 16-megapixel front shooter for selfies. The camera app is user-friendly, with well-organized shooting modes and quick toggles for AI scene detection, HDR, and filters. It’s important to note that the phone watermarks photos by default, so disable this setting if you prefer unwatermarked images.
The Lava Agni 5G quickly detected the subject and automatically enabled HDR when required. Interestingly, it defaults to shooting photos at the full 64-megapixel resolution, resulting in 25MB files for each shot. Daylight photos were good, but upon magnification, they exhibited a watercolour-like effect. Shots taken in bright conditions displayed aggressive HDR. Switching to the 16-megapixel resolution showed some improvement in the output. The ultra-wide angle camera’s performance was merely average – the color tone deviated slightly from the primary camera, and it lacked the same level of detail.
Close-up shots fared better, capturing good detail. The Agni 5G never required a second focus attempt and added a soft background blur. Curiously, the phone also takes portrait shots at the full 64-megapixel resolution by default, requiring manual switching to a lower resolution. Portrait shots had decent edge detection, but the background blur was too aggressive. Fortunately, you can adjust the intensity before taking a shot.
Macro shots captured adequate detail using the dedicated camera, but it’s limited to a 2-megapixel resolution.
Low-light shots showed decent detail, but shadows appeared grainy. Photos shot in Night mode were brighter, and grain was under control, though it took around 3-4 seconds to capture a photo in this mode.
Selfies from the 16-megapixel camera turned out well. In daylight, the phone captured details effectively but smoothed out the image. Low-light selfies with a nearby light source yielded decent results.
Video recording reaches a maximum of 2K and 1080p resolution for the primary and selfie cameras, respectively. Footage captured with the primary camera, both in daylight and night, was unstabilized and shaky, but the overall quality was acceptable.
Verdict
Lava has been making intermittent forays into the smartphone market for the past few years, and the Agni 5G is its latest attempt. The Agni 5G is well-equipped, with hardware that positions it competitively within its price segment. The 90Hz display is smooth, and the single speaker is loud enough for enjoyable video viewing. We found its performance adequate for its price tag. Battery life, while not the best at this price point, still allows the phone to easily last over a day.
However, the Agni 5G falls short in the camera department. The output is average, and videos lack stabilization. It also defaults to shooting at 64-megapixels, which rapidly fills up internal storage if left unchecked.
If camera performance doesn’t top your priority list, then the Lava Agni 5G is an option worth considering. However, before making a decision, I’d recommend exploring other contenders in the segment, such as the Realme 8s 5G and the new Redmi Note 11T 5G.
