Lava launches Iris Pro; boasts 720p display, quad-core CPU and Rs 15,999 price tag

Lava has finally launched the Iris Pro in India after a **long delay since mid-2013** . The Iris Pro was slated for a launch last year, but was launched today at New Delhi. While the buzz before the phone launched was considerable, we can’t help but feel a bit disappointed with the specs and the price of the Iris Pro. For one, it’s been priced at Rs 15,999, which puts it up against the **Micromax Canvas Turbo** and the upcoming **Moto G** . In comparison to the Turbo, the Iris Pro comes up quite short.   The Iris Pro features a 4.7-inch display with 720p resolution. The IPS display has been made by Sharp using the one glass solution (OGS) method. The panel gets Gorilla Glass protection to keep away minor scratches and the likes. The touch panel is fully laminated, which allowed Lava to keep the phone’s thickness down. Lava teased the phone as ‘Art meets Smart’, and as such is touting its design and build quality as USPs. Lava claims to have designed, developed and manufactured the phone and that it’s not just a rebranded or re-badged China-made phone. The Iris Pro is 7.5 mm thick and thin bezels. It’s also said to be the lightest phone in the 4.7-inch and over category with a weight of 114 g, which does sound incredibly light.   In terms of processing power, the Iris Pro gets a 1.2GHz Mediatek MT6589 quad-core CPU and 1GB RAM, along with a PowerVR SGX544 GPU. The device comes with 4GB onboard storage that can be expanded further up to 32GB via microSD card slot.   Considering the price of the phone, it’s a disappointing to see an 8-megapixel camera with a BSI sensor on the back. We would have expected a 13MP camera at the very least, keeping in mind the competition’s phones. The presence of dual LED flash should help in low-light situations. There’s a decent-sounding 3-megapixel camera on the front, which should help deliver clear video calls or **selfies** .   Details about the connectivity options in the press release were scarce, but it does mention USB OTG support. The Android 4.2 Jelly Bean build comes with OTA support for future software updates, but the company has not said which future versions will make it to the phone.   What could be most disappointing about the phone is the battery though. Lava says the 2000 mAh pack along with the Content Adaptive Backlight Control (CABC) feature should deliver long usage times. No rated battery life was provided, but the presence of a 720p display and a quad-core processor will definitely take a toll on the smallish battery.