The Lava Pixel V2’s specifications sheet is typical for its price. Powering the V2 is the quad-core MediaTek MT6735 SoC clocked at 1GHz, along with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage ( expandable by up to 32GB with a microSD card) . The phone is dual-SIM capable, with separate slots for the two SIM cards and for storage expansion, which is good to see. Both SIM slots take micro-SIMs, and the primary slot supports 4G connectivity on India’s key 4G bands.
The V2 has a 2500mAh non-user-removable lithium polymer battery, and comes with a 5W charger. We usually criticise phones for having low-powered chargers, but the low capacity of the battery makes this one adequate. Battery life itself is a different grouse, which we’ll get to later.
The Pixel V2 runs Android 5.1 out of the box, with Lava’s Star OS 2.0 layered on top. It’s a dual-layered interface with an app drawer, and has plenty of customisation options for visual effects. Apart from wallpapers, there are three themes that change the general look and feel of the UI, from icons to other effects. You can also change the screen switching effects for apps and the home screens, which a lot of people enjoy doing.
However, that’s where the UI’s pros come to an end. There are a lot of shortcomings in the interface which will severely limit the efficiency of the device, as well as your ability to set it up according to your preferences. The phone uses the old, deprecated Menu button instead of a task switcher - you have to long-press the Home button for that. It also isn’t very easy to discover how to add or remove homescreens, and you can’t configure the quick settings panel. There are some useful quick launch gestures that work well, but on the whole, we found the software to be too basic.
Camera
The Lava Pixel V2 is marketed as a value-oriented camera phone, and has a 13-megapixel primary camera with dual-LED flash to back that claim up. There’s also an 8-megapixel secondary camera in front with its own flash, so it’s geared for good selfies as well. Video recording capabilities are somewhat limited though, with a maximum resolution of 720p for the rear camera and 480p for the front camera.
The camera app is decent enough, with all key functionality within easy reach. Recording videos is a two-step process, but apart from that it’s fairly easy to use the camera. The camera switcher and flash toggle are within easy reach, as are filters and other modes. The settings menu gives you access to a handful of useful tweaks and controls, including manual settings and resolution controls. Shooting modes include not only standard options such as panorama and HDR, but also a handful of interesting software-based tweaks that work well.
Worth using phone satisfied with the results ??