Lava Agni 3 Review: Feature-loaded Indian challenger

The Lava Agni 3 offers a good balance of design and features.

The Indian smartphone manufacturer Lava has unveiled its next smartphone, the Lava Agni 3, in the affordable market segment. The device is equipped with decent features and has undergone notable design tweaks, strongly positioning it in the segment. Some of the standout features include the dual AMOLED display, a glass sandwich design, and an action button. Let’s delve deep into the features of the device and assess its standing in the segment.

Lava Agni 3 Review: Design

The Lava Agni 3 sports a premium yet minimalistic look, featuring a glass sandwich design further adorned with the rectangular camera module. The camera module also houses the secondary display, which is a major talking point. On the right, users will get the power button and the ‘action key’, while the volume rockers are located on the left. The device weighs 215g and offers a premium in-hand feel. Despite the large camera module, it remains stable when placed on a flat surface. The smartphone is available in two colour variants: Heather Glass and Pristine White. The device boasts an IP64 certification for dust and water resistance.

Lava Agni 3 Review: Display

The device features a 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED display, paired with Dolby Atmos-tuned stereo speakers for a seamless multimedia experience. With a peak brightness of 1,200 nits and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, the display is smooth, delivering punchy and bright outputs. However, when the speakers were used at full volume, some vibrations could be felt at the back. Additionally, the 1.74-inch AMOLED display on the back can be used to take photos and videos or comes in handy in checking notifications or answering or rejecting calls. The Action Key is a useful addition, allowing users to customise it for functions like taking a screenshot, starting a recording, or turning on the flashlight. However, the action button sometimes fails to respond to commands instantly.

Lava Agni 3 Review: Performance and software

Powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7300x processor, the Lava Agni 3 performs well on several benchmarks. Performance is further enhanced with up to 8GB of RAM support. While the device manageably handles gaming on high graphics, it tends to get slightly warm, which is understandable at this price point. The device comes with Android 14 out of the box, with a promise of 3 years of software updates and an additional year of security patches. The device offers a clean UI experience, with no bloatware, a rarity in this segment. One notable downside is the absence of a dedicated gallery app or file explorer to save photos, necessitating the use of the native Google Photos app or the file manager.

Lava Agni 3 Review: Camera

The Lava Agni 3 boasts a triple camera setup, including a 50MP primary camera with OIS, an 8MP ultrawide lens, and an 8MP telephoto sensor. For selfies, there’s a 16MP sensor. The primary camera performs well in daylight conditions, delivering near-natural colours and adequate details. The ultrawide lens also offers decent performance, with a slight loss of detail and minimal colour shift. The telephoto sensor tends to overexpose the photos sometimes, especially in well-lit setups. The 16MP takes good selfies but often adds a reddish tint, making photos appear overly processed with inadequate detail.

Lava Agni 3 Review: Battery

The device packs a 5,000mAh battery with 66W charging support. For modest users, the device easily lasts a day, but under intense usage scenarios, users might need to charge it for the second time during the day. It takes approximately 50 minutes to fully charge.

Lava Agni 3 Review: Verdict

The Lava Agni 3 offers a good balance of design and features. It aims to bring premium features to the budget segment with dual AMOLED displays, an Action Key and an IP64 rating, among others. However, there is room for improvement in software performance, and cameras could also be more consistent. Overall, if you are looking for a budget device with some of near-premium features, the Lava Agni 3 is worth considering.