Hyve Mobility is a home-grown start-up that made a debut in the Indian smartphone market in June last year with Buzz and Storm smartphones. The phones were priced at Rs 13,999 and 8,4999 respectively. Now, the company has come up with its new flagship device - Hyve Pryme - at Rs 17,999. It offers a big 5.7-inch display and near-stock Android experience. Hyve Pryme Hyve Pryme is an addition to the highly saturated mid-budget smartphone segment in India. The smartphone boasts of a Helio X20 processor, 4GB RAM, a large 5.7-inch display and near-stock Android experience. It is one of the better looking smartphones in this price range and comes with USB Type-C port and fingerprint sensor on the rear panel. The smartphone will compete with the likes of LeEco Le Max2, Lenovo Z2 Plus, Moto M, etc. We used Hyve Pryme for almost two weeks and here’s what we think of the device: Watch all our videos from Express Technology Specs: 5.7-inch full HD display | deca-core 2.3 Ghz MediaTek Helio X20 processor | 4GB RAM | 32GB storage space | 13MP rear camera + 8MP front camera | 3,500 mAh battery with USB-C | Android 6.0 Marshmallow Price: Rs 17,999 What’s good? The first thing that I noticed about the smartphone is its impressive design. Our review unit came in a champagne gold colour, which is subtle. There’s a 2.5D curved glass design on top, and thin bezels on the sides making for a wider display. The camera lens and fingerprint sensor are placed at the center of the rear panel, one below another. Hyve branding is at the bottom of the back cover. Overall the phone looks quite stylish in terms of design, though it is a bit too heavy for me. Since Hyve is going with on screen navigation buttons on this one, the thick bezel at the bottom of the screen could have been avoided. The 5.7-inch full HD display is a delight to look at, especially during binge-watching video sessions and playing games on it. It has good viewing angles, even in bright sunlight and colour reproduction is quite decent. However, it took a bit of a time for me to adjust to this unusually large display. I liked the placement of fingerprint scanner on the phone as it is easily accessible. The sensor is fast as it unlocks the device almost instantaneously. I didn’t face any problems with the sensor during my review period. The battery on Hyve Pryme easily lasts over a day on regular usage, which includes browsing through social media, messaging, listening to music and watching a few videos. However, be prepared to carry a USB Type-C cable to charge the device on-the-go. It takes almost 2 hours for it to fully charge. Lack of fast charging this price point is a miss. Multi-tasking is not an issue on the device. The smartphone can easily handle most basic tasks such as opening multiple tabs, messaging apps or watching a video simultaneously, but it’s not all perfect. Hyve Pryme wasn’t the best device to use when it came to gaming, but it didn’t do a bad job either. Playing the most basic games such as Hill Climb Racing or Superhero Run isn’t a problem on the device. However, this isn’t the best option for users who tend to play graphics-heavy games such as Asphalt-8 on their smartphones. What’s not good? The rear camera on Hyve Pyme is pretty decent, one that reproduces good colours. However, I wasn’t happy with picture quality in terms of sharpness and clarity. Results are grainy, especially in low light conditions. The front camera comes with a flash and clicks decent pictures, but I didn’t find the camera at par with a lot of its competitors in the same price range. Despite a protection coat, the screen is prone to scratches and marks. Verdict Hyve Pryme has a slightly larger display, stylish form factor, and a good battery life. But it feels a bit too expensive for its performance. Hyve Pryme would have been a great option if it was priced under Rs 14,000, but at this price range the competition is just way better. Lenovo Zuk Z2 Plus and Moto G4 Plus are two particularly strong options in this price range.
