Lava Agni 3 Review: Not your average mid-ranger

I used the Agni 3 as my primary device for the past week, and here is my detailed analysis of whether this mid-range phone lives up to the hype generated by Lava.

Unboxing and design: 

After opening the orange coloured box of the Lava Agni 3, you are first greeted with a free phone replacement at home pamphelete, the device itself, a SIM ejector tool, a type C to type C cable, a 66W adapter and a plastic protective case. 

Moving on to the device, the Agni 3 looks very premium thanks to a glass sandwich design headlined by a rectangular camera module that also houses the secondary display (more on that to follow soon). Talking about the design, the power button and ‘Action Key’ are on the right and the volume rockers have been shifted to the left. 

I received the 8GB RAM/256GB storage variant of the Agni 3 in the Heather Glass colourway, which looks decent but does leave something to be desired for. There is also a Pristine white colourway for people who prefer a brighter coloured phone but I honestly feel like Lava should have provided more colour options with the Agni 3. 

Although slightly heavier with a weight of around 215g, Agni 3 still gives a very premium in-hand feel and the one thing that I absolutely loved about the design is that the despite having a massive camera module, the phone has been well designed so that it doesn’t wobble when you put the device on a flat surface. 

A major issue that I have with Agni 3’s build is that the buttons feels very cheap and flimsy, taking away from the overall exterior. 

Display and additional features: 

Lava Agni 3 sports a 6.78 inch 1.5K AMOLED display with 1,200 nits of peak brightness and 120Hz refresh rate. Don’t get rattled with the peak brightness number, the Agni 3 can easily hold its own under even bright outdoor conditions. 

Paired with the Dolby Atmos tuned stereo speaker setup and bright and punchy display, the Agni 3 does make up for a very good multimedia experience. While the speakers in itself get loud enough without distorting the sound, I did notice some vibration on the back of Agni 3 while the speakers were in use. 

And, how can we miss the 1.74-inch AMOLED display on the back which can be used to record photos and videos, check notifications, pickup or reject phone calls, record audio, stopwatch and even change music tracks.

While the addition of a secondary display is a welcome step by Lava but at this point the 1.74 inch panel is a gimmick more than anything else. For instance, you can pick up the phone call from mini display but after answering the call you are forced back to the main display. Same goes for notification panel and the recorder widget, you can see the notification from the rear display but in order to take any action you will have to head back to the front pane. 

One real use case for the Mini display is that you can click pictures or record videos using the rear camera but that is if you can manage to click a non shaky picture. Lava can easily fix the shakiness issue in the next iterations of the Agni series shifting the ‘Action key’ to the left, making the easier to grip when taking pictures from the rear display.

Talking about the ‘Action Key’, this small button is one of the saving graces of the Agni 3. Lava allows you to customize the action key to take screenshot, open flashlight, start recording, put the phone on silent or even open any app. However, in my time with the Agni 3, I noticed many software glitches where the Action key just refused to work.

Performance and battery: 

The Agni 3 is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7300x processor, which garners a score of 6,60,082 on Antutu. On Geekbench 6, the phone received a single core score of 1063 and a multi-core score of 3,206. These benchmark numbers are similar to the results of CMF Phone 1 which I reviewed earlier this year and just like the Phone 1, Lava Agni 3 is also fast and snappy for everyday use. 

As for gaming, Agni 3 can run BGMI at HDR graphics and ultra frame rate, while COD Mobile supports high graphics and max frame rate on this device. The device does get a little warm during extensive gaming sessions, but it isn’t something out of the ordinary at this price point. 

The 5,000mAh battery on the Agni 3 should last a full day for most users but power users will definitely have to plug it back in for another charge. It takes about an hour to fully charge the device using the supplied 66W charger. 

Software: 

One area where Agni 3 stands apart from the competition is the presence of close to stock Android software with no bloatware and ads, a rarity at this price. Moreover, Lava has also promised 3 years of OS updates and 4 years of security patches with this device.

However, the positives end there; Lava must significantly improve the software to make the Agni 3 a dependable device. Throughout my review period, I encountered numerous software issues with the Agni 3. As previously mentioned, the Action key sometimes failed to capture screenshots, and there were problems with Bluetooth connectivity and call notifications at various times during my usage.

Another major issue for me was the lack of a dedicated Gallery app or files explorer, meaning there is no option but to use the original Google Photos app and File Manager. To be fair, this isn’t an issue specific to Lava but is present in almost all clean UI’s Nothing OS and Motorola’s Hello UI. Nonetheless, I would really want Lava to refine its UI with the addition of some first-party apps and bug fixes. 

Camera: 

The 50MP primary sensor on the Agni 3 takes decent pictures during day time conditions with close to natural colours and sufficient details. Event the performance from the ultra-wide angle lens was decent during daytime with minimal colour shift and loss of details. However, the 8MP telephoto lens fails to get the colour science right and tends to overexpose the images during well lit environments.

Both the primary and telephoto sensor on the Agni 3 struggle with getting the focus right and there were many times where I even struggled to scan a QR code for making payments. 

The primary sensor also delivers decent results during night time shots, bringing in plenty of light in the pictures and capturing close to natural skin tones. That being said, images taken with night mode on tend to be overexposed and the auto focus issue is even more pertinent with artificial lighting on.

What’s more, the 16MP front-facing shooter does not accurately capture natural skin tones, often leaving a reddish tint that results in images looking overly processed and lacking in detail. As always, you can check the camera performance of the Agni 3 for your self by heading to the over the Google Drive link and checking the raw images.

Verdict: 

Lava Agni 3 is an ambitious device that should be lauded for trying to bring premium features on a budget, such as the Action Key, dual AMOLED displays, a telephoto camera, an IP64 rating, bloatware-free software and 3 years of OS updates. However, the Agni 3’s current software issues and inconsistent camera performance are the two main factors that prevent me from recommending this device at this time.

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Published: 12 Oct 2024, 08:26 PM IST