Lava Play Ultra review: Balancing performance and aesthetics under ₹15,000

Lava Play Ultra is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 7300 and a 5000mAh battery. It sports a 6.67-inch FHD+ ALOMED display of a 120Hz refresh rate, and is now available for purchase starting at ₹14,999

Lava has been expanding its footprint in the Indian smartphone market and it appears that the launch of a performance-focused budget gaming phone was part of that. The home-grown phone maker recently launched the Lava Play Ultra as a gaming-focused smartphone. According to the company, this smartphone has been designed for young gamers and performance-driven users, as it blends speed, style, and everyday reliability in the budget price segment. But has Lava delivered on the promise? Let’s find out.

Lava Play Ultra: Performance

The Lava Play Ultra, priced Rs 14,999 onwards, is a budget smartphone that might prove its mettle in an aspect or two but it simply be not able to compare with the flagships or a high-end gaming smartphone. Now that we have been reminded of it, Lava Play Ultra in its price segment impressed me for the following reasons. 

 

When it comes to gaming, probably the best game that comes to my mind is BGMI. It is a widely played game, and it focuses on probably all aspects of gaming – frame rate, lags, reflex, graphics, audio, and more. For reference, I did play other games too, like Asphalt 9, COD Mobile, Hill Climb Racing, and more. When I played BGMI on this smartphone, I got a decent level of output. There weren’t many lags or issues that I encountered while playing. However, I did notice that the phone was starting to heat up after playing for 30-40 minutes. The heating issue is not as excessive as I have seen in some other phones (placed in a higher budget segment), but it still exists. 

 

Now, coming to the downsides, ultra high-dynamic range (HDR) is not available, and HDR is weak since the device does not natively support it. Audio is one thing where Lava has offered a decent level in-game output, but it could’ve given that extra punch that select smartphones of the OnePlus pack in the name of volume booster. I did miss that in Lava Play Ultra. But at least it didn’t fail miserably like the POCO F7 5G (review) did.

 

One more thing, once you engage in a hardcore gaming session, then if you attempt to multitask, the smartphone will take a second or two to open other apps smoothly. Overall, it is a smartphone that delivers decent performance and a smooth gaming experience in this price segment though.

Lava Play Ultra: Battery

I tested the smartphone in several conditions, be it in gaming, or having a day-long outing where I would use GPS continuously, or a chill day where I would click a few snaps, listen to songs, and game occasionally.

 

When I engaged in proper gaming sessions for hours, the smartphone lasted for around six to seven hours. When I used it like a normal person would (calling, scrolling social media for sometime, hearing a few songs, messaging occasionally, and more) – light to moderate usage, then the smartphone lasted for about a day.

 

During my day out, when I was roaming the streets of Delhi on my motorcycle, and on foot then my only companions were music and GPS. On that day, the phone’s location services were continuously on with Google Maps navigation running extensively, and songs playing in the background. I started the day at around 10 am with my battery fully charged. However, by around 4:30 to 5 pm, my phone’s battery was down to around 15 per cent. By around 6 to 6:30 pm when I thought of returning, I had to depend on my memory and street signs to guide me back to my place as the phone died. For charging, it would take you around one and a half hour to fully charge it from zero per cent.

 

The Lava Play Ultra packs a 5000mAh battery with 33W charging support.

Lava Play Ultra: Display

The Lava Play Ultra sports a 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED display. For the ones who might not have much understanding of display types, I’ll break it down in simpler terms. So, a normal phone screen (LCD) is like having a torch behind a coloured paper — the light is always on, even when the paper shows black. An AMOLED screen is different. Here, each tiny dot (pixel) makes its own light. If it needs to show black, that dot just switches off. This makes black look truly black, colours look brighter, and it also saves battery.

 

In terms of display, I was impressed. The colour reproduction on screen was close to accurate which is a good thing. While watching final three movies from the Harry Potter franchise, which are essentially filmed in largely dim environments, this smartphone did not disappoint me. It had adequate brightness to keep things visible in that dim environment. At the same time, it did not betray the blacks either as the colour reproduction, even in dark or close to black scenes were better than expected. Especially when the fight between Voldemort and Harry is about to begin in sometime and all hell breaks loose inside Hogwarts, the scenes have been shot in pretty dim lighting. Lava Play Ultra was able to do justice to those scenes which impressed me. Furthermore, the 120Hz refresh rate made everything pretty smooth and fluid. 

 

While there are good sides to the display, there are also a few downside. Firstly, the fingerprint sensor might not recognise your fingerprint in the first attempt so you might have to struggle a bit with that. Secondly, I mentioned about having a day-out and using GPS while riding my motorcycle previously, right? So the brightness of the display was fairly adequate. I was able to see the turns and points where I was supposed to slide left or right. However, when the sun was at its peak, I had a bit of difficulty in looking at the screen while riding. 

 

I felt two issues there, one was that the brightness was largely good but not enough to battle to handle the harsh sunlight conditions. The second issue was that I felt the absence of an anti-glare screen. So when you’re riding on a flyover, there’s nothing blocking the rays of the sun from hitting your screen which makes it hard to get a clear view of the screen. In such scenarios, an anti-glare screen makes the job much easier. If this smartphone would’ve had that then it would have been a game changer for me.

Lava Play Ultra: Design

Gaming-focused smartphones such as the iQoo Neo 9 Pro, iQoo Neo 10R, and Realme GT 7T (review) have a certain appeal. The Lava Play Ultra is different though. Despite being positioned as a gaming smartphone, its (Arctic Frost colour variant) matte yet shiny finish on the back makes it stand out. It feels as if this was designed to be a phone which features a good camera setup and one that deserves to be captured.

 

The square shaped camera module features two sensors and an LED flash. The camera module’s borders have a silver accent, adding to the overall look. The Lava 5G logo rests on the bottom left corner of the back panel. The matte finish makes it resistant to fingerprint marks however, if they’re a bit wet or greasy then they will still leave marks. 

 

The side frames sport a silver colour, complementing the white matte finish. The right frame houses the power button along with the volume buttons, while the left frame remains spotless except for the SIM tray. The top frame houses a speaker grille, and the bottom has a speaker grille, a USB-C type port for charging, and a 3.5mm jack for wired earphones.

Lava Play Ultra: Camera

The Lava Play Ultra comes with a dual camera setup on the back, featuring a 64MP Sony IMX682 sensor with Electronic Image Stabilisation (EIS) technology to stabilise video and photos. It is complemented by a 5MP depth sensor.

 

In daylight, the 64MP rear sensor captures sharp and detailed shots with vibrant colours. Unlike some smartphones that overly process photos, the Lava Play Ultra maintains natural textures without aggressively smoothing edges, which makes objects appear more realistic. However, its performance drops in low-light conditions, where noise creeps in and clarity takes a hit despite the support of EIS.

 

The 13MP front camera follows the same approach, keeping selfies true to life without heavy beautification filters. It handles well-lit environments with ease, delivering bright and balanced results. The addition of screen flash ensures that selfies in dimly lit rooms don’t turn out completely dark, though like the rear camera, results are best when lighting is adequate. In terms of videography, both cameras get the job done. They give a decent output however, despite the presence of EIS, the video still turns out to be shaky. Overall, in terms of optics, the results won’t be very consistent and will depend on the lighting conditions primarily.

Lava Play Ultra: Conclusion

The Lava Play Ultra is not a flawless device, but in the Rs 15,000 category, it strikes a fair balance between gaming performance, design, and everyday usability. It handles popular titles like BGMI and COD Mobile reasonably well, offers a vibrant AMOLED display with smooth 120Hz refresh rate, and comes packed with a reliable battery that can get most users through the day.

 

That said, the phone has its share of drawbacks. Lack of ultra HDR support in BGMI, average low-light camera performance, heating during extended gaming sessions, and struggles with screen visibility in harsh sunlight do remind you that this is still a budget phone.

 

If you’re looking for an affordable device that delivers smooth gameplay, a decent camera in daylight, and a stylish design without spending too much, the Lava Play Ultra is worth considering. Power users or those expecting flagship-grade features, however, may find it limiting.

Lava Play Ultra: Unboxing