T3 India

Audio

Review: Beyerdynamic Phonum

by

Price: ₹24,999

Handsfree calling devices are often a great blessing especially when you need to discuss something and access another device at the same time in addition to facilitating group calls. Beyerdynamic is a German audio brand with almost a 100-year history behind it, and the Phonum is a Bluetooth speakerphone for conference calls.

The Phonum is beautifully designed, with a cylindrical cross-section, flat base and a mesh speaker dome on top. The flat base is metal with soft anti-slip padding, while the main unit has a polycarbonate exterior. The speaker dome is surrounded by a ring-shaped touch-responsive control panel that gives access to Bluetooth connection, Volume control, Microphone mute/unmute and Microphone mode control, which are permanently marked, in addition to Accept Call and Reject Call buttons that light up when you receive a call on your connected device. There are also eight LEDs indicating the microphone pick-up direction. The power button and USB-C port are at the side. Contrary to the most likely perception, the upward-facing speaker dome houses a 360-degree downward-firing speaker, which allows all participants to hear clearly. The speaker is designed for clear vocals and offers distortion-free output with optimal volume. The speakers feature echo cancellation for speech legibility. The Phonum can be connected with a smartphone or laptop via Bluetooth or with a non-Bluetooth device via USB.

Apart from the regular features of a speakerphone, what makes the Beyerdynamic Phonum special is the Gecko 360-degree technology and the intelligent microphone system. This system lets you customise the microphone pick-up pattern to suit the conferencing setup. The Microphone Mode Control button cycles between three modes of voice tracking. The Gecko Fix mode switches the microphone to single direction pick-up, which is ideal when there is only one speaker participating in the call. This filters out disturbances from other directions. In Gecko Follow mode, the microphone follows the speaker even if the person moves around, making it perfect for situations where one person has the floor. In Gecko 360-degree mode, the microphone assumes omnidirectional pick-up so that all people gathered around a table can freely participate in the conversation and is clearly audible. In each of these modes, the LEDs around the touch panel illuminate, indicating the microphone’s active pick-up direction. The strongest pick-up direction is indicated by the brightest LED, while the peripheral LEDs are dimmed, and those in the direction of least pick-up remain off. In omnidirectional mode, all LEDs remain switched off.

We found the Beyerdynamic Phonum to be extremely portable and quite responsive to touch input. Connection proved quick and seamless, facilitating quick set-up. In Follow mode, the microphone quickly changes direction according to the speaker’s position, making it a versatile conference device. If you plan to use this as a music player, you will be disappointed simply because the device is not designed for that purpose, and the volume is quite low for music playback. The device offers 12 hours of operating time on a single charge and features quick charging via the USB-C port. The Phonum is sold in India via headphonezone.in .

RATING

WE’RE IMPRESSED Light, portable and sturdy design, responsive touch panel, Gecko 360-degree system, good battery life, sturdy case

WE’D IMPROVE Speaker volume

THE LAST WORD Beyerdynamic Phonum is an extremely versatile speakerphone for any type of conferencing situation with a highly functional intelligent microphone system

Review: Sony WH-XB910N

by

Price: ₹14,990

Recently, we reviewed Sony’s latest TWS earbuds, and here we are, with the latest of their over-the-ear headphones. If the WF-1000XM4 features a balanced sound profile, the WH-XB910N is specially made for bass lovers as Sony brands the XB series as Extra Bass.

The headphones are available in black and blue colours, and we received the blue version. The device has a nice matte finish on the exterior with a rougher pattern on the headband. The top of the band has a faux leather wrapping on the exterior along with a soft cushioning pad at the inner surface. The earpieces rotate about 120 degrees, flex about 30 degrees to adjust to the contours of your head and can be folded inward for storage. The headphones come in a sleek oval-shaped hard fabric case, which also includes a USB-C to USB-A cable and an aux cable. The overall finish feels premium, and the top of the pivot area has a glossy finish that enhances this feel. The Sony branding on both ends of the headband completes the styling. The left earpiece houses the physical controls and ports, which include the power button, noise cancellation/ambience button, 3.5mm aux jack and USB-C charging port. The right earpiece looks plain, but the broad flat surface hides a touch panel that can be used to pause or play music, control volume and switch the tracks. You can also make use of the Quick Attention mode by placing your hand over the right earcup, which pauses noise cancelling mode momentarily, allowing you to listen to ambient sound. At 252 g, the headphones are quite light. The soft earpads are comfortable and do not cause any discomfort or pain even with extended use.

The WH-X910N uses a 40 mm driver unit and features dual noise-cancelling with feedforward and feedback mics on each side. The noise cancellation is effective but not quite the best we have experienced in premium headphones. The device supports 360 Reality Audio for an immersive experience with a suitable audio input. The headphones offer 48 ohms impedance in wired connection with the unit turned on, and 16 ohms while it is turned off. This makes it compatible with most smartphones and other low-power devices, irrespective of the type of connection. The headphones are compatible with LDAC codec for high-res audio playback in Bluetooth mode. As mentioned earlier, this device is made for thumping bass, and it remains true to this assigned role. In fact, the device is a bass lover’s haven, bringing out those fine reverberations in percussion. The Headphones companion app offers adaptive sound control, switching the sound profile according to your location and status. It offers a number of equaliser presets such as Bright, Excited, Mellow, Relaxed, Vocal, Treble Boost, Bass Boost, and Speech, along with Manual and two Custom modes so that the sound is always within your control when you are on a call or listening to music. Though you can tweak the sound via custom modes to bring up the mids and highs for some balance, it still remains faithful to bass. If you are using an iPhone, you can tweak the sound even better from the EQ mode.

The XB910N can be paired with two devices over Bluetooth, and the headphone intelligently switches between the two inputs. However, when paired to a laptop and a smartphone, the 910N would pause music played on the laptop when there is an audio notification on the phone and would not resume playback automatically. The headphones are stated to provide up to 30 hours of battery life, and we found this to be quite close. Of course, this depends on the volume of playback and ANC. You can top up the battery quickly for 10 minutes for up to 4.5 hours of extra playback with an optional AC adapter.

The device offers voice control with Google Assistant and Alexa.

RATING

WE’RE IMPRESSED Multi-device connection, high-res audio support, comfortable fit, good battery life, companion app

WE’D IMPROVE Some sound leakage observed, playback doesn’t restart after phone notification

THE LAST WORD These headphones offer good comfort and convenience. True bass enthusiasts will appreciate its sound profile.

Asus Launches ROG Fusion II Series Gaming Headsets

by

Asus Republic of Gamers (ROG) has announced the Fusion II 500 and Fusion II 300, a pair of fully loaded gaming headsets that feature advanced virtual 7.1 surround sound, high-resolution ESS 9280 Quad DAC technology and ASUS AI Beamforming Microphones with AI Noise Cancelation.

ROG Fusion II 500

The ROG Fusion II series headsets use 50 mm Asus Essence drivers and are one of the few gaming headsets in the market to feature the ESS 9280 Quad DAC to provide gamers with lossless audio processing. Each DAC allocates its processing power to a subset of the audible frequency range — from lows, mids, highs and ultra-highs — resulting in crisp, clear sound for true-to-life audio.

ROG Fusion II 300

The Asus AI Beamforming Microphones with AI Noise Cancelation ensure a clear and natural representation of human voices with minimal distortion. The microphones create a 40° acoustic zone in front of the gamer’s mouth and filter out distracting background noise from other directions for clear voice pick-up. In addition, AI Noise Cancelation identifies and reduces over 500 million types of background noise such as chatter, keyboard clatter and mouse clicks by up to 95 per cent. The Game Chat volume control on the ROG Fusion II 500 allows gamers to adjust the volume of in-game audio and voice chat via the slider on the earcups to suit their preferences.

Both headsets include customisable Aura RGB lighting to provide gamers with over 16.8 million colour combinations and six preset lighting effects via Armoury Crate. This software provides gamers with extensive controls and an intuitive interface to adjust audio profiles and lighting.

The ROG Fusion II 500 features a 3.5 mm audio jack, USB-C and USB Type-A connectivity, making it compatible with a myriad of devices including laptops, PCs, mobile devices and gaming consoles. The Fusion II 300 is similar to the higher-end Fusion II 500, but does not support 3.5 mm audio connection. The ASUS ROG Fusion II series gaming headsets will be available in India from March. Prices are yet to be announced.

Titan Eye+ launches the Titan EyeX: Smart Eyewear with Audio, Touch, and Eye-care

by

The Titan EyeX is loaded with features like:

  • touch control
  • fitness tracker
  • voice-enabled eye care notifications
  • Audio
  • a comfortable design
  • a companion app compatible with Android and iOS
  • sweat resistance

The Titan EyeX are sunglasses, spectacles, and computer glasses all packed into one and is operated through Bluetooth v5.0. These eye glasses consist of TWS open ear speakers and Clear Voice Capture (CVC) technology to ensure clear voice quality. The dynamic volume control adjusts the volume of audio output depending on the ambience.

The Open-ear wireless audio doesn’t block or cover ears, so one can hear music and still be aware of their surroundings at the same time, making it safer for outdoor use. Titan EyeX is designed to work with voice assistance and has touch controls on both left and right temples for receiving and rejecting calls, controlling music, and clicking a selfie.

“Titan EyeX is an innovative product that combines our experience in eyecare of over a decade with new-age technology. Broadly, two core values – Expertise and Empathy – drive everything that we do including product innovation. And, Titan EyeX is no exception. It is not just a hard-working feature-loaded tech product but also a stylish, comfortable, and light-weight eyewear. With Qualcomm-enabled high quality audio, pedometer, touch control, and compatibility with a wide variety of lenses, it is an absolute must-have! At Rs 9999, it is simply a steal.” shared Mr. Saumen Bhaumik, CEO Eyewear Division, Titan Company Limited.

The Midnight Black Titan EyeX is available at all Titan Eye+ stores and on the official website of Titan Eye+ at the price of INR 9,999. For more information, please visit this page.

Ambrane launches the Dots Muse TWS earbuds

by

Indian mobile accessories brand Ambrane has announced the launch of Dots Muse TWS earbuds, which is the the company’s latest addition to their popular Dots portfolio of such earbuds which includes the Dots Slay, Dots 38, Dots 11, Dots Tune & Neobuds 11 & 33. The new TWS comes with fast charging support, boosted drivers and 23 hours of playtime. Let’s discuss the features of the Dots Muse TWS in detail.

Through 10mm drivers, Dots Muse TWS delivers a powerful deep bass that enhances the mids and highs. Even at full power, the earbuds catch the whole audio spectrum without artificially increased Bass or distortion. The ergonomically-designed Dots Muse come with a total battery-life of 23 hours but provides 8 hours of battery-life on a single charge.

The compact earbuds have quality in-built microphones for clear conversations, providing dependable speech pick up even in the noisiest surroundings. Through Bluetooth v5.1, the Dots Muse TWS provide a steady and lag-less transmission for up to 10 meters.

With intuitive controls for easy access and a quick paring, the earphones also have voice activation feature for Google Assistant and Siri.

Speaking on the new addition, Mr Ashok Rajpal – CEO & Founder, Ambrane India, said, “Our objective has always been to provide the most up-to-date and cutting-edge technologies to our Ambrane Ally. The newest TWS Muse is incredibly small & compact, extremely comfy, and one of the most affordable TWS with power-packed features on the market today.”

Earlier this month Ambrane also signed actress Nidhi Agerwal as its brand influencer for Dots Muse TWS. The Dots Muse is available on Flipkart, Tata Cliq and several leading retail stores in India. It costs Rs. 1,999 and it comes with a 365-day warranty.

For more information, please visit this page.