REVIEWS / MOBILE PHONES / LAVA INTERNATIONAL LTD

LAVA B8 - A Pseudo Business Phone

21 Apr, 2011, 9:53 am IST | by Aaron Almeida | Mobile phones Mobile phones


Stylish business Phone looks
High resolution screen an added advantage
Gun metal finish adds to the phones attractiveness

PRICE IN INDIA

4,000
View Stores

TECH2 RATING

5.5

AVERAGE USER RATING

How we test

CONTACT

LAVA International Ltd

 infor@lavainternational.in

 +91 120 4637 333

 infor@lavainternational.in

Lava, one of the many upcoming mobile phone companies in India has recently launched the Lava B8. The company is known for its mobile phones which are friendly on the pocket, yet suit users from all walks of life. The Lava B8 is no different from this with its QWERTY keypad, push messaging capabilities and a high resolution screen (for price). Read on to find out what we think about the Lava B8.

Stylish business Phone looks

Stylish business Phone looks

 


Design and Build Quality
It was hard not to be impressed when we unboxed the Lava B8; the design of this handset is beautiful, to say the least. This full QWERTY handset looks and feels really amazing with its smooth gun metal exterior, high resolution 2.3-inch screen, 3.2 MP camera and LED flashlight. There are shortcut keys for most features on this mobile by way of their stylishly designed volume keys which are neatly flushed on the right side of the handset; above it has a mini USB slot. On the face of the handset above the QWERTY keyboard is a super sensitive trackpad with a four-way scroll button around it.

 

 

Slim in design and very attractive

 

There are also designated keys for mail, home and one to make calls and end calls. The end call key doubles up as a power on / off button. In addition to this there are also two designated keys on the QWERTY keypad for Wi-Fi and the Rupee symbol. The contents of the box include a USB cable, a headset, phone charger and a user manual. Over all the design and build quality of the Lava B8 is exceptional and feels very sturdy. A noteworthy mention has to be given to the keypad that it superseded our expectations in design and input quality.
 
Features and Performance
Interface
The high resolution 2.3-inch screen was a welcome sight on the Java enabled B8. With Java capabilities various mobile applications can be downloaded on this mobile handset, thereby giving more user specific options. The main screen can be set with five customizable icons and in the main menu comes preloaded with various apps. The trackpad though being super sensitive can sometimes act a little buggy and not hit the desired option you choose. One thing that struck me as odd was the Android icons on the Lava B8; mind you this is in no way an Android handset. Overall, the user interface of this phone is average because it is a little bit slow and the icon labels are not specified. Though it is marketed with a USP as 'having a business phone look'. While it may not be as fucntional as a Nokia E-5 or even a BlackBerry 8520, it's built to look as business-like as a phone can be. The Interface though could have used a little more polish.


The Lava B8 has a dual SIM capability and the performance is average in terms of call quality - there was some noticeable distortion. While on a call, I noticed that the outgoing audio was low and the person on the other end could not hear clearly even though the cellular network reception where it was tested was good. This attribute however, could be only with the handset I received.

High resolution screen an added advantage

High resolution screen an added advantage

 

 

Multimedia
As mentioned earlier, the 2.3 inch high resolution screen is a great feature which the B8 possesses thus giving a good quality video output. I ran 320 x 240 resolutions Mp4, 3GP and flv videos on this phone and the quality was good. The videos played smoothly and did not take long to load. I fast forwarded the files and there was no stuttering and the playback time was quick. However, I noticed that I was unable to make use of the entire screen;Videos kept being centralised and refused to get strtech to fit the entire display, irrespective of what buttons I pressed. The option for stretching to fit didn't seem to be available.


The clarity of the audio playback on the Lava B8 is good and it can play MP3 as well as MP4  files. The audio settings can be altered through an in-built equalizer with presets as well as a customizable option that lets you adjust the bass, treble and other frequencies. There is also an option to shuffle music on this nifty handset. The Lava B8 comes with a standard 3.5 mm audio jack that lets you easily connect headphones or speakers to it.

Tags: LAVA , Lava , LAVA B8 , Lava-B8 , mobile , business phone , QWERTY , Wi-Fi , 3.2 MP Camera , USB , Bluetooth , Nokia C3-01 , GPRS , Snaptu , LED flash , 1400 mAh battery

Would you buy it?




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How We Test

The Tech2 Labs receives many products every single week and each of them is tested with the utmost care and highest level of objectivity. There’s a constant effort to reduce and totally eliminate subjectivity. Each product is tested according to set test processes so the same test scenario is used.

Verdict
The ratings awarded to a product are derived from a number of tests and calculations, keeping certain important factors in mind. These factors consist of features, performance, quality and value for money. In case of software and some other categories, build quality might be replaced with ease of use or ease of installation. Products are compared with other products in a similar price range or product category.

Features
The features component of the score is rated based on the kind of features present on a particular product. Features are a big part of what people look for when they’re buying a new product such as a phone or a camera.

Performance
The performance score is derived from the benchmarks and tests run on the product. In case of the subjective scores, an average of the scores given by the group of reviewers is considered.

Build Quality
The build quality of a product is important so that it doesn’t fall apart after some use. The build quality scores from the way the product is designed and the kind of materials used in the product.

Value
Value for money comes from the fact that a cheap product is able to provide most of the performance of a higher priced product. Once again, value for money is judged by comparing pricing and performance of products in a particular price range or category. 

There are many other aspects of the product that are looked at such as the bundled software and accessories. All of these scores are aggregated together to form the final score.

What do the ratings mean?

Ratings are simple - higher the score, the better the product. A brief listing of the features and what they mean are given below.

1 - 3

The product is bad in almost every aspect. We strongly advise against purchasing this product.

4 - 6

An average product that isn't the best you can buy, but isn't the worst either.

7 - 8

Product with this rating is highly recommended because it's priced sensibly, has a good set of features and performs well.

9 - 10

Exceptionally excellent product with features and performance unlike any we've seen in the past. A must-have for everyone!

What is the Average User Rating?

We at Tech2 take product reviewing very seriously and every product is tested with the utmost care and level of objectivity. The end user who buys a particular product and uses it over an extended period of time has his own take on a product and there might be nuances that he or she can shed light on. The Average User Rating is present to help readers get the complete picture of how good or bad a product is. The Average User Rating is calculated by averaging the ratings by the thousands of readers visiting Tech2.com every single day. To record your own rating of a product, simply click on the user rating bar. If you disagree with our ratings or our community's product rating, please don't hesitate from voicing your opinion in the comments section below the review.

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