Lava Agni 2 5G Review: Homegrown smartphone crafted to almost perfection

Lava Agni 2 5G Review Summary:

Editor’s rating: 3.8/5

Lava is the only homegrown smartphone brand that has the ability to compete with the other foreign brands in the market. Recently, the Indian smartphone maker launched the successor to Lava Agni in the form of Lava Agni 2 5G. The smartphone comes with a large curved display, and a premium design and also debuts MediaTek Dimensity 7050 chipset in India. Not only in terms of specs but also for service post-purchase, Lava has introduced the Lava Mitra service under which the brand gives free replacement during the warranty period, that too on your doorstep. While all this seems enticing, is Lava Agni 2 5G worth spending your money on? Let’s find out.

Jump To..

• Unboxing
• Price and availability
• Design
• Display
• Performance
• Camera
• Battery
• Should you buy Lava Agni 2?

Lava Agni 2 5G: Price & Availability In India

The Lava Agni 2 5G is available in a lone 8GB RAM and 256GB storage configuration for Rs. 21,999. It is currently out of stock but will soon be available via Amazon and Lava online/offline stores. There is a single Vridian color option available.

Lava Agni 2 5G Specs

Specs	Lava Agni 2 5G
Software	Android 13
Display	6.78-inch Curved AMOLED 120Hz refresh rate, 950 nits brightness
SoC	MediaTek Dimensity 7050
RAM	8GB
Storage	256GB
Rear cameras	50MP+8MP+2MP+2MP
Front Camera	16MP
Battery	4700mAh
Charging	66W
Thickness	8.7mm
Weight	210 grams
Connectivity	5G, Bluetooth, dual-band WiFi, USB type-C, dual SIM

Lava Agni 2 5G: Unboxing

The Lava Agni 2 came in a cardboard box with a magnetic flap. Moreover, this box was enclosed inside a bigger middle parting round cardboard box with a compartment to fit the cuboid cardboard box. The promotional round box had ‘Smartprix’ written on it. The box contains-

• Lava Agni 2 5G handset
• Protective case
• Adapter
• USB Cable
• Quick Guide  

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Lava Agni 2 Review: Design

Lava claims that the design and the build of the Lava Agni 2 5G smartphone is one of its USPs and when I held the smartphone in my hand for the first time, I realized why they are saying this. At first look, the Lava Agni 2 resembled OnePlus 11 in terms of color and the Vivo X90 Pro in terms of the camera module. It has an emerald green shade for the back panel along with a big round camera module housing quad-camera lenses and an LED flash. The brand is calling the colorway ‘Vridian’ which is similar to Emerald Green. The smartphone looks gorgeous when held in hand. There is also Lava branding in silver at the bottom of the back panel. The back panel is made of glass and has a smooth finish with a slight curvature for a better fit in hand.

The Agni 2 weighs 210 grams on paper, but when held in hand it doesn’t feel bulky at all. The device feels sleek (8.7mm)and light but slippery due to the curved display at the front. This can be solved by using the protective case given in the box.

The right edge houses the power button as well as the volume rockers while the left edge is vacant. The bottom edge has a SIM tray, USB-C port, a primary microphone, and the speaker grille while the top just has a secondary microphone. There is no 3.5mm headphone jack which means one cannot use wired headphones with this one. At the front is a curved large 6.78-inch display with almost non-existent bezels. There is a selfie camera at the top that looks like a small dot.

Before we move to the display section, let us talk about the design of the camera module at the back. The module is large and slightly protruded with 5 lens cutouts visible. 4 out of these have camera sensors while one has LED flash. The smartphone doesn’t wobble even with the protruded camera module so you can easily place it anywhere and work on it.

All in all, the Lava Agni 2 5G will definitely be liked by you if you are someone who wants to own a stylish smartphone.

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Lava Agni 2 Review: Display

The Lava Agni 2 sports one of the largest displays in the segment as it comes with a 6.78-inch FHD+ AMOLED panel. Moreover, the display is curved around the sides which gives it a flamboyant look and takes the experience a notch higher. It has a 120Hz refresh rate which means scrolling is ultra smooth on this one and unlike other phones in the segment, Lava Agni 2 hardly has any bezels on the chin.

Talking about the quality of the display, the AMOLED panel comes with HDR, HDR10, HDR 10+, and Widevine L1 capability along with having a color depth of 1.07 billion colors. All this has been made possible with the MediaTek MiraVision HDR, which is the world’s 1^st native hardware-based HDR display engine for smartphones. Content consumption on Agni 2 is an immersive experience as the visuals produced are gorgeous and accurate.

The display comes with 500 nits of standard maximum brightness and 950 nits in boosted mode which makes it perfect for indoor as well as outdoor usage. Even under the harshest of sunlight, the screen was clearly visible. The display is protected by German-engineered Schott Xensation glass screen protection for safeguarding the device against accidental drops and scratches. However, I would still advise you to use a screen guard on top as ultimately it is glass and glass can get cracks or scratches. There is an in-display fingerprint sensor that is quick and responsive so no complaints here as well.

All in all, Lava gives one of the best display experiences in the segment with Lava Agni 2, and the best part is that all this comes for a price of just 22k.

Lava Agni 2 Review: Camera

The Lava Agni 2 5G sports a quad camera setup at the back. It includes a 50MP primary camera, 8MP ultrawide camera, a 2MP depth camera, and a 2MP macro lens. There is a 16MP selfie camera at the front.

Since we have already talked about the design of the camera module, let us now talk about the main thing-the performance. The camera UI is simple with various interesting features like Gifs, film filters, dedicated beauty mode, and more. To switch between lenses, you have to slide from 1x to 0.6x, buttons would have been more handy here.

Talking about the main camera, it takes decent photos in good lighting conditions. The images are sharp, accurate, and filled with details. The colors look rich and vibrant, sometimes a little boosted as well. There is no OIS but EIS did the job satisfactorily.  In low light, the drop in image quality is noticeable. The images soften a bit and noise become more imminent. Even the dedicated Night Mode doesn’t make much of a difference but just makes sure that image is clear and the object/subject in the frame is visible.

I had a good time playing with all the filters available in the ‘Film’ Mode. These include legendry, film stock, classic film, mono film, and daylight film. Here are some shots to show how these filters worked.

The ultrawide camera covers a good FOV and takes ok shots as the color consistency goes for a toss when this lens is used. However, the images are still very much usable. There was a drop in detailing too, which was visible when images are zoomed in after clicking. The edges also showed some amount of noise.

The macro and depth sensors give just about usable close-up shots. There is no autofocus and detailing is also on the lower side. The images have loads of noise and the edges are distorted as well. Mainly, these two are meant for increasing the number of lenses only.

The device can record videos up to 4K 30 fps and it is here that the absence of Optical Image Stabilization is felt when the subject in the frame is showing any fast movement.

Coming to the 16MP selfie camera has serious dynamic range issues as the lens is not able to manage the background lighting properly. The selfies look whiter and some colors seem to look boosted. Whiter images don’t allow the skin tone to come out naturally so that was a real bummer for a person like me, who needs selfies to look real and not made up of filters.

All in all, Lava Agni 2’s camera setup is not the best in the segment, but it can get better if optimization is added to it.

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Lava Agni 2 Review: Performance

Lava Agni 2 5G is powered by the Media Tek Dimensity 7050 chipset, which is basically the new name of the previously existing MediaTek Dimensity 1080 SoC. The chipset sails through multitasking seamlessly. Most of the time the refresh rate was 120Hz and that was felt in the smoothness while experiencing most games and apps. The chipset has made its debut in India with Lava Agni 2 and I must say it manages to give a decent performance. The smartphone is fast and efficient and hardly sees any lags or stutters even while performing heavy-duty tasks like video editing and gaming.

The device has 8GB RAM in-built and an option to make it 16GB by adding 8GB Virtual RAM. There is 256GB storage onboard so there will be no dearth of space to store whatever you want to. As for the gaming experience, it is mostly smooth even when heavy games like PUBG Mobile are played. The smartphone is equipped with a 3^rd generation 2900mm² vapor chamber for thermal performance but it does get a little warm after long hours of usage.

In terms of software, the Lava Agni 2 runs Android 13 OS and the best part about the software experience is that it is a clean Android experience. Unlike all the other brands in the market, Lava Agni 2 doesn’t come with bloatware pre-installed. Although it is not pure stock UI still there are only a handful of useful apps and utilities and users can download whatever they need themselves. Minor glitches like the camera shutter not accepting touches or flashlight control were there, but let’s hope these resolves with time.

 The brand has promised 2 years of OS upgrades and 3 years of security patches so let’s hope Android 14 and 15 make the experience even better.

The Lava Agni 2 5G as the name suggests also comes with the latest 5G technology. It supports 13 5G bands, so if your city has a 5G network, then you will be able to enjoy 5G on Lava Agni 2. In my case, the calling experience was smooth as the person at the other end was audible and vice versa.

However, one department where Agni 2 lags behind is the audio. It comes with a mono speaker setup that might be loud but doesn’t have depth or character. A stereo speaker would have been preferable for a better content consumption experience. Also, a 3.5mm headphone jack is missing which might be a bummer for many who still prefer wired headphones.

Lava Agni 2 Review: Battery

The Lava Agni 2 packs a 4700mAh battery under the hood. The battery can last for an entire day if you have light to moderate usage. However, if you are a heavy user who is fond of long gaming sessions, video editing, watching content for hours, and browsing social media all day, then the battery will have to be charged twice a day.

The brand has included a 66W fast charging adapter inside the box. The fast charging capability makes sure that you get 50% of the juice in just about 18 minutes, which is really fast. It takes about 35 minutes to charge from 0 to 100%. So if you have to leave for somewhere or attend a meeting via your phone, then Agni 2 can get you ready in under 30 minutes.

Lava Agni 2 5G Review Verdict: Should you buy it?

The Lava Agni 2 5G is a smartphone Made in India and Made for India and Made by India. This homemade smartphone is a value-for-money device that comes with top-of-the-line specs at an affordable price. It offers Dimensity 7050 chipset, a 6.78-inch curved AMOLED display, a large battery, and fast charging, which too in the under 25k price segment. Add to this, an almost clean UI experience as well as a quad camera setup at the back.

For a price of Rs. 21,999, the Lava Agni 2 5G can be a good option for those looking for a smartphone that can take care of daily tasks as well as some amount of gaming and look stylish too at the same time.