LAVA B8 Review

Vinod Yalburgi

The B8 is the flagship dual SIM, QWERTY business phone from LAVA. It follows a long list of Blackberry clones, including the Byond Q99 and iBUZZ iQ-3, all catering to the ever-increasing demand for dual SIM and QWERTY cellphones in the mobile market.

Look and feel

The LAVA B8 is the successor to LAVA B5, having identical feature set and body design, with the sole addition of camera features. The B8's display is slightly bigger in size, while the screen resolution is the same as the B5. The call function buttons and the white colour coded keys take identical locations on both B5 and B8. The B5 is available in two variations: one with QWERTY keypad and the other with alphanumeric keypad (known as the LAVA B5 Alpha), while the B8 is available only in the QWERTY version.

The B8 is built well with a glossy finish on the metallic battery cover and contours of the front panel. However, the keypad build quality is mediocre and results in poor tactile feedback. Thereby, it even fails to take advantage of the bevelled keypad design. Also, the closely arranged keys coupled with jerky sideways tilt spoil typing accuracy and speed. The B8 is quite bulky and feels uncomfortable holding in small-sized palms.

Features

The two most fascinating features on the B8 that deserve a mention are the pedometer and the G-sensor. The pedometer accurately measures the steps taken by a person by detecting the motion of the person's hips while walking and thus estimates the distance walked by the person in kilometres with the corresponding energy spent in kilocalories.

For our testing purpose, we took a 90-step walk around the office and back, which gave the readings: 0.0720 KM and the energy spent 4.48 Kcal. The pedometer is quite an efficient tool, to accurately measure the energy burnt during workouts and training sessions, especially if you are trying to stay or get fit. Meanwhile, the G-sensor or the gravity sensor can be activated by shaking the cellphone sideways to switch wallpapers, toggle songs, toggle full-screen mode and flip silent mode.

The LAVA B8 also offers USB to webcam functionality, doubling up as your desktop's webcam via USB.

Read on to know the performance, our take, specifications, ratings and test results on the next page...

• SIM (GSM+GSM)
• Display: 2.3-inch LCD, Resolution: 320 x 240, Maximum screen colours: 262K
• Memory: microSD slot expandable up to 16GB, 2GB included
• Battery: 1400mAh, Talk-time: up to 3 hours, Standby-time: up to 720 hours