Lava Iris X8 With Octa-Core SoC and 2GB of RAM Launched at Rs. 8,999

The new smartphone from Lava will be available across physical retail stores in India. The Lava Iris X8 will be also available exclusively on Flipkart starting Monday at 12pm IST.

The Indian handset brand has even tied up with Airtel to offer up to 500MB of free 3G data for first two months in 3G circles with the handset, while those in 2G network circles will receive the same amount of 2G data. The company is also giving a bundled flip cover with the handset.

The Lava Iris X8 is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) smartphone which runs Android 4.4 KitKat out-of-the-box. The company claims that the handset is upgradable to Android 5.0 Lollipop, but has not provided a timeline for the update's release. It features a 5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) IPS display with Asahi Dragontrail glass protection. The smartphone is powered by a 1.4GHz octa-core (unspecified chipset) processor coupled with 2GB of RAM and Mali 450 MP GPU. The Lava Iris X8 comes with 16GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB). It sports an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and BSI 3 sensor, while there is a secondary 3-megapixel front-facing camera also onboard. The rear camera supports full-HD video recording and comes with Panorama, HDR mode, face detection, smile shot and voice capture options.

On the connectivity front, the Lava Iris X8 offers 3G, GPRS/ EDGE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Micro-USB, and Bluetooth options. The smartphone packs a 2500mAh battery with no word on talk time and standby time.

It measures 143.4x70.9x8.6mm, weighs 160 grams, and is listed in Black and White colour. It packs sensors such as accelerometer, ambient light sensor, magnetometer, and proximity sensor.

Commenting on the launch, Navin Chawla, Vice President and Head Product, Lava International, said, "The Iris X8 has been carefully designed after understanding requirements of consumers who are looking for a good looking powerful smartphone which allows them with the ability to multi-task. The octa-core processor and 2GB of RAM in the smartphone offers that ease of use to consumers who are looking for a device which helps them to juggle between their personal, social and professional life while on the go. With such offerings we will continue to provide enhanced features to our consumers and offer them the power to do more and be more."

The Lava Iris X8 seems an attempt by the company to take on some recently launched popular smartphones such as Micromax's Yu Yureka and Xiaomi Redmi Note, which are also priced at Rs. 8,999.