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Review

Review: Sony LinkBuds WF-L900

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Price: ₹ 19,990

The buds with the hole, to let the world through—would be an apt catchline for the LinkBuds if we could borrow it from Nestle’s popular mint brand. The WF-L900 is unlike any true wireless earbuds we have seen, with a ring-shaped driver and a hollow at the centre.

The WF-L900 comes in a small case made of recycled plastic. The case has a mechanical closure and can be opened by pressing a button. The earbuds are also quite small compared to the usual TWS. Even the buds are held in place with plastic pegs inside the case. Wearing the device is quite a task initially. The ring stays in your ear canal, while the rubber supporter has to be fitted inside the upper cavity and twisted a bit till it is secured firmly. Sony provides five pairs of supporting rings in the box, and it is very important to select the appropriate one. After the initial fiddling around, it is quite comfortable to wear and use. The buds weigh approximately four grams. The light construction and non-protruding design ensure that the device does not slip out even during your runs. The buds hold an IPX4 rating for protection against splashes and sweat.

The open-ring design facilitates full-time audio transparency. Though loyal ANC-lovers could have a hard time liking this, the open design makes it extremely comfortable, without any pressure difference felt in the ears. The Headphones Connect app allows you to update firmware and activate, set up, and customise Speak to Chat, Equaliser, 360 Reality and other features. With adaptive volume control, the device ensures that the background sounds do not overpower the audio. Sony has designed the LinkBuds to facilitate all-day wearing without discomfort, and features like Speak to Chat combined with transparency makes this possible. Speech detection sensitivity and pause duration can be adjusted from the app. If this is not done properly, you will find the music pausing even without speaking a word.

With a 12mm ring driver, the L900 delivers competent audio similar to other Sony TWS devices, though with a more natural feel closer to open-back headphones than the restrictive sound you get from usual headphones. In fact, you don’t feel that you are wearing a pair of headphones. Call quality is excellent with clear pick-up and providing a great listening experience with a clear voice. You can control the device by tapping on the buds or the front portion of your ears. The buds are not too loud, and even at the maximum volume, you don’t feel any discomfort. It features DSEE (Digital Sound Enhancement Engine) to enhance audio using Sony’s integrated processor V1 that powers their flagship. The headphones support Google and Alexa voice assistants. Fast and Swift Pair offer quick Bluetooth pairing.

Sony claims a playback time of up to 5.5 hours on a single charge and up to 17.5 hours with the charging case, but a realistic figure would be somewhere around three hours and 10 hours respectively, at least with our experience with initial charging cycles and with 50 per cent volume. It also offers 90 minutes of playback with 10 minutes of quick charging. On the negative side, though the charging indicator lights up while charging, it doesn’t indicate once the device has been fully charged.

Rating

WE’RE IMPRESSED Lightweight and compact design, balanced sound profile, extremely comfortable for continuous listening, speak-to-chat function


WE’D IMPROVE No ‘charge full’ indicator


THE LAST WORD The Sony LinkBuds is a refreshingly new device that is made for all-day listening and provides an audio experience that is close to the natural.

Review: Sony WH-XB910N

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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.

Review: Ambrane FitShot Zest

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Price: ₹2,999

Smart wearables are flooding the market, especially entry-level models at the lower end of the price band. Ambrane’s FitShot Zest smartwatch joins the melee with a few advanced features.

The FitShot Zest is available in black, blue and pink colours and has a rectangular design similar to Apple watch. The watch has a predictable Chinese origin but is well made, unlike many products in this price band. A metal frame and a neat-looking sensor unit underside instil confidence. The device uses a 22 mm silicon strap, which also feels of good quality. The FitShot Zest carries an IP67 ingress protection rating and hence it is water and dust resistant. The watch uses a 1.7-inch display, which appeared sharp and bright with legible font and design elements. The watch can be paired with an Android phone using the FitShot Wear companion app. You get some neat watch faces to choose from. The control wheel has the single function of switching between the installed watch faces. On the flip side, the slightest brush of your hands can change your chosen watch face.

The watch includes advanced features Bluetooth calling, health monitoring and voice assistant compatible with Google Assistant and Siri. Apart from the regular health tracking features like SpO2, blood pressure, stress, sleep and heart rate, it also includes menstrual cycle tracking. It also tracks sports such as Running, Walking, Climbing, Treadmill, Cycling, Spinning, Yoga, Basketball, Football, and Basketball. Activity tracking records include steps, kilometres and calories burnt. Many of these may not be accurate but are close enough for all practical purposes. There are of course the regular features like stopwatch, alarm and others. You can also play and pause music or operate the camera on the smartphone with the watch. The watch provides up to seven days of battery life.

RATING

WE’RE IMPRESSED Good value for money, neat design, good features for the price

WE’D IMPROVE Accuracy of sensor

THE LAST WORD An entry-level smartwatch that exceeds expectations

Easyfone Shield Review: Phone for Seniors and Juniors

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How many times have you felt helpless because you could not provide a phone to your children because you are worried about them accessing inappropriate information on the web? Or for that matter, your aged parents who are unable to use today’s smartphones and need a simple phone just for calling and occasional SMS? There are a few phones in the market that offer just the right solution for this. The Easyfone Shield is one such basic bar phone that comes IP 68 certified and is dust, and shockproof.

The Easyfone Shield has a lightweight and sturdy plastic body with rubber linings to absorb shock. The phone accepts a dual SIM and a MicroSD memory card of up to 32GB capacity. The company does not share any detailed specifications including the internal memory. However, we found it to be insignificantly small, allowing only phone contacts to be stored. The phone accepts a full-size SIM and hence if you have a nano or micro SIM without the original full-sized casing that comes with new SIM cards, you need to buy an adapter to use it in this phone. To install the removable battery, SIM or Memory card, you need to remove the back panel, held together by four screws. This means that if the end-user is a senior citizen who doesn’t have the fine motor skills to use a small screwdriver, do not expect them to set this up by themselves. The package includes a small screwdriver along with the battery, charger and OTG micro USB male to USB-A female cable.

Once set up, the phone is quite easy to use. You can configure Whitelist and Blacklist so that the user is not bothered by unnecessary calls. Call quality is quite good. The keypad has a nice tactile feel. There is a dedicated SOS button and you can store up to four SOS numbers. Once the SOS button is pressed and held, the registered phone will receive an SMS and a link to the coordinates, Google Map location etc, in addition to a call. Unfortunately, the Google Map never loaded on the Easyfone website link during our review.

The OTG cable allows you to use the phone as a power bank. Battery life is predictably good with the 2500 mAh battery since the phone has only basic features and uses a basic 2.8-inch IPS screen. The device is sealed against water ingress at all entry points by means of flaps, while the battery chamber is protected by a rubber gasket. However, we found the gasket slipping out of place while installing the panel. We checked the water ingress by immersing the device in a bucket of water for about 10 minutes and found the interiors to be dry. Overall, we would consider this device a good choice if you are looking for a basic feature phone for calling, SMS and emergency use.

RATING

★★★★

WE’RE IMPRESSED Sturdy build quality, good call quality, SOS button, Whitelist and Blacklist

WE’D IMPROVE Nano SIM instead of full-size module, better fitting gasket for back panel, working location map in SOS link

THE LAST WORD A good phone for children and elderly parents who need a basic device for calling and SMS.

Review: Boat Xtend

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Price: ₹2,999

After TWS, smartwatches seem to be the latest hot products that every brand is trying to get into their portfolio, thanks to the newfound awareness about health and fitness afforded by the lockdown. Boat is a popular brand in the value-for-money wearables segment, and Xtend smartwatches are the latest in their portfolio.

The Boat Xtend watch is styled similar to the third-gen Apple watch, though the build quality is obviously different. However, for a sub-₹4000 watch, the brand has done a great job. The watch is made in China but offers surprisingly good build quality and features for the price. We received the black version, which has a flashy golden metal frame around the rectangular bezel. That apart, the watch has a neat appearance with a clean interface. The silicon strap is interchangeable. The Boat Wave app includes an extensive collection of watch faces and is intuitive. The 1.6-inch square display proved quite nimble and responsive to touch.

The smartwatch offers all basic functions including SpO2, Heart rate, sleep tracking and workout monitoring along with notifications and music control. It even has built-in Alexa voice assistant, which is absent even in some of the more expensive watches. Packing a 300mAh battery, the device retains power for more than a week on a single charge. The watch is water-resistant up to 5atm pressure or up to 50 metres for 30 minutes.      

The Boat Xtend is available in Olive Green, Sandy Cream, Pitch Black and Deep Blue colours. It cannot be compared to premium watches in the market but will appeal to you if you are looking for an inexpensive alternative with good features and decent looks.

RATING

★★★★

WE’RE IMPRESSED Decent build quality, good display, great battery life, feature-rich

WE’D IMPROVE Colour options

THE LAST WORD A budget smartwatch that doesn’t look or feel too cheap