HYVE Mobility Debuts In India With a ‘Buzz’ And a ‘Storm’

In this overcrowded Smartphone space, stepping up as a new company and launching new products is a daunting task until and unless you have really,really exciting product (and have loads of money to splurge). Today a new Indian start-up Hyve, attempts to break in and tries its luck with the launch of two new smartphones Buzz and Storm.

In order to differentiate itself and its product, Hyve outlines a very elaborate after-sales support plan, which includes a 2-year extended warranty, 1-year insurance, pick and drop and a call-center to resolve customer queries. Hive has priced Buzz and Strom competitively at Rs. 13,999 and Rs. 8,499 in India.

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On the specification front, the Hyve Buzz is better equipped of the two as is obvious from its higher price tag. The Buzz houses a 5.5-inch full HD display covered with a 2.5D curved protection glass and IPX4 water resistance certification. It embraces a 1.5GHz octa core MediaTek MT6753 along with Mali T720 GPU. There is 3GB RAM of memory and 48GB of internal storage with microSD card support up to 144GB.

The phone uses Sony sensors in both 13megapxiel primary camera and 5 megapixel secondary selfie camera.  It supports NFC, USB Type C, Dual SIM 4G standby, VoLTE as connectivity options. In Hyve Buzz there is a rear mounted Fingerprint, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Proximity and compass sensors. It is backed by 2,500mAh battery.

On the other hand, the Hyve Storm features a 5-inch HD IPS display, a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT 6735 chipset, 2GB of RAM and 16GB internal storage which is expandable up to 64GB. There’s a rear 13MP Samsung ISOCELL sensor with PDAF, LED flash and a 5MP front-facing lens. It supports 4G LTE, Dual SIM and aided by a 2000mAh battery.

Also read: Lenovo Launches Moto G4 Plus Starting 13,499 INR

At present, both Hyve Buzz and Storm runs on Android 5.1Lollipop with Marshmallow OTA update to be rolled out soon. The makers basically lauded their software for better RAM management and power management.

In terms of design, Strom has a generic design, that looks like any other smartphone in its class. However, from a distance, Buzz appear to be unique in many ways. It sports an arched design, has a Hyve light on the rear and a peculiarly placed volume rocker and power key on the back. The use of poor quality material and those ugly, flimsy flaps on all ports (for water-resistance) kind of robs Buzz of its premium appeal.

What’s really stand out about Hyve and its smartphones is the promises it makes for after sale services. Hyve is hoping that the extended warranty,insurance cover, home pick up and drop service, etc. will instill more confidence among prospective buyers, and helo them look past ‘new-brand’ hesitations. We have heard similar promises in the past, and unfortunately, they didn’t materialize to add any value. We hope Hyve lives up to the hype it created and the after sale service it has promised.

Hyve Buzz and Hyve Storm Specifications And Features