Lava enters the Kenyan phone market, unveils a number of smart and feature phones

Indian phone maker Lava international has finally launched in Kenya. The company yesterday unveiled its low-cost feature phones and smartphones at an event held at the Intercontinental Hotel, in Nairobi.

The company said their launch in Kenya is part of its aggressive business expansion in international markets with plans to also expand to Nigeria, Ghana and Sudan. Lava started its operations in Africa with its entry in Egypt in 2017 and was actually the fastest brand to gain more than 15% market share in the sub $100 segment within a year of launch.

The company says along with setting up sales and service infrastructure in Africa, it is also preparing to initiate its manufacturing capabilities in Egypt, and Ethiopia with the aim of capturing 20% market share by 2020.  

Below is a lineup of smartphones and feature phones unveiled by the company in Kenya yesterday.

Lava Z81

The Lava Z81 comes with a 5.70-inch touchscreen display and is powered by 2GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 128GB via a microSD card. As far as the cameras are concerned, the Lava Z81 packs a 13-megapixel primary camera on the rear and a 13-megapixel front camera for selfies.

The Lava Z81 runs Android 8.1 Oreo and is powered by a 3000mAh. It will be available for Ksh 14,000 for the 2/32 GB model, and Ksh 12,000 or the 2/16 GB model.

Lava Z92

The Lava Z92 comes with a 6.22-inch touchscreen display. It is powered by 2GHz octa-core processor and it comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 256GB via a microSD card. As far as the cameras are concerned, the Lava Z92 packs a 13-megapixel primary camera on the rear andan 8-megapixel front shooter for selfies. It runs Android and is powered by a 3260mAh.

The company did not disclose the price for the Lava Z92 as it is yet to hit retail stores.

Lava Iris 42

The Lave Iris 42 is an Android Go device that comes with a 5-inch display. It is powered by 1.3GHz octa-core processor and comes with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage which can be expanded to 64GB via a MicroSD card. As far as the cameras are concerned, the Lava Iris come with a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front shooter for selfies. It is powered a 2000 mAh battery

Lava Iris 51

The Iris 51 is also an Android Go device that comes similar specs like the Lava Iris 42 but with a higher battery capacity of 2500 mAh.

Lava Z50 Pro

The Lava Z50 Pro is an Android Go device with a 5.2-inch display. It is powered by a 1.3GHz Quad-core processor and comes with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage which can be expanded up to 64GB with a MicroSD card. As far as the cameras are concerned, the Lava Z50 Pro comes with a 5-megapixel camera on the rear and a 2-megapixel front camera for selfies.  It is powered by a 2500 mAh battery.

In the feature phone segment, Lava unveiled three devices. They included the Lava Champion A1 that will retail at Ksh 2,000, the Lava Champion C1 at Ksh 1,600 and the Lava Champion N1 at Ksh 1,300.

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