Review: Hyve Pryme is all about consistency, but misses that spark
Hyve has got most things right with the Pryme, but it doesn't have any outstanding qualities to take on rivals
For an Indian phone maker with only three smartphones to its name, Hyve has made an impressive debut. Unlike other Indian brands which tend to focus only on budget smartphones, Hyve has chosen to take on the mid-range segment with Pryme, a big-screen smartphone priced at Rs17,999, from the beginning itself. At its price, Pryme faces competition from established names such as Xiaomi Mi Max Prime (Rs19,999) and LeEco LeMax 2 (Rs17,999).
Design: Hefty yet manageable
The Pryme is a solidly built smartphone with a unibody metallic finish. The lustreless finish and the flat side panel offers a firm grip over the phone, even though one can’t shrug off its heftiness. At 188g, it weighs more than an average 5.5-inch smartphone, but then it offers a slightly bigger 5.7-inch display which means there’s more room for games and typing. The phone comes in a single champagne gold variant that looks good.
The fingerprint sensor on the back falls comfortably within the range of one’s pointing finger. It looks a bit small but is accurate most of the time. It can also be used to make phone calls.
Pryme is a dual SIM device and can accommodate two micro SIM cards or one micro SIM and a microSD card side by side.
Display: Big and colourful
The 5.7-inch display on the Pryme has a resolution of 1,920x1,080p, like most other smartphones in this price point, except the LeEco Le2 Max which offers a 2,560x1,440p resolution on a 5.7-inch display. Pryme has a good looking display with very good wide viewing angles. Colours in games and movies look good, while the text in apps and webpages look crisp. The phone offers multiple display options to enhance the video quality and picture quality. The Clear Motion feature reduces stutters in videos, while the Miravision feature allows one to optimise the display by switching between vivid mode and standard mode.
Software: Plain Android with few customisations
The smartphone runs a no-frills plain version of Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with hardly any customisation options, except the few we mentioned in the display settings. The app icons look big which makes looking for apps easier. There are hardly any third-party apps. The company has preloaded only one app on the device. It’s called Hyve Care and is an after-sales service app where you can register your phone and connect with Hyve service team in case any issue arises in your phone.
Performance: Works smoothly
One of the talking points of the smartphone is the MT6797 deca-core processor which paired with 4GB of RAM can handle multi-tasking and games without any signs of sluggishness or heating up on the back panel. However, it is still not compatible with high-end games such as F1 2016. The phone offers 32GB of storage and up to 200GB of expandable storage. The storage looks adequate enough, but is far less than what some of its rivals are offering. The Xiaomi Mi Max Prime offers 128GB of internal storage and up to 256GB of expandable storage.
The phone’s 3,500mAh lasts over a day comfortably on modest use, and is at par with most of the big screen phones available at the same price point. The Mi Max Prime offers a 4,850mAh battery and lasts about two days easily.
Camera: A mixed bag
Powered by 13-megapixel camera, the Pryme impresses with its colour reproduction. However, the level of detailing it could muster wasn’t becoming of a mid-range smartphone. While close-up shots looked good, the lack of detailing is clearly evident in landscape and indoor shots. Close-up shots in low-light look good too, but overall low-light capabilities were not really impressive.
Verdict
Hyve Pryme has all the ingredients that one expects from a mid-range smartphone. However, it doesn’t really offer anything exceptional which its rivals can’t match. The Mi Max Prime offers a bigger display, better battery backup and more internal storage, while the LeMax 2 has a sharper display, better hardware and superior audio at the same price.
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