T3 India

Wearables

Adidas launches its most technologically advanced flagship store of the country in Delhi

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‘The Home of Possibilities ‘ – that’s what adidas are calling their newest flagship store which was unveiled two days ago in Delhi’s prime location: Connaught Place. The sportswear giant’s new store is a blend of multiple digital touchpoints, sustainability zone, and is a perfect example of what the future retail experience holds for customers.

The 5900 sq-ft. retail store is spread across 4 floors and adidas’ ‘Own The Game’ strategy strives to focus on 3 important aspects which are Experience, Sustainability, and Credibility. The store has 32 digital touchpoints which are powered by green energy, and the store utilises immersive screens, digital plinths, and ceiling screens to give customers a scintillating new shopping experience.

The store’s flooring is also made with upcycled carbon tiles made of carbon collected from environmental pollution. This large sprawling store is also the first LEED-certified store in the country, and it also includes the aforementioned ‘Sustainability Zone’ thereby aligning with adidas’ long-term vision and commitment towards sustainability. It also displays the End Plastic Waste logo.

Commenting on the new flagship store launch, Mr. Sunil Gupta, Senior Director, Brand adidas, India said, “We are thrilled to open our first flagship store in India in the heart of the capital -CP. ‘The Home of Possibilities’ is the very best of our brand in an unrivalled way, that brings a global shopping experience under one roof. Our aim is to reimagine the physical experience through innovation, creativity, and design which further offers our consumers a unique shopping experience. We have also brought in local flavours and elements, through the artwork in-store, the zones featuring our national athletes, and quirky local prints in the customization zone.”

The new flagship store in CP also has a dedicated section for ‘Customisation, Personalisation, & Localisation’ which is being called The Delhi Print Shop which offers the consumers a digital DIY experience, by aiding them to get their tees customised and personalised.

An ‘Outdoor’ collection zone for hiking and trail running sportswear features a skylight ceiling. The new store also houses a dedicated ‘Originals’ section in the ‘Collection’ concept along with Men’s performance and Basketball section. The store also has an entire floor dedicated to the football collection for the football fanatics. It features a digital footwear wall, victory mannequin, lit crest and LED field lines on the ceiling.

The press release further mentions that shoppers ‘will find the very best of the brand across Sport Performance apparel and footwear as well as the latest Originals designs and collaborations including YEEZY, adidas by Stella McCartney, Y-3 and IVY PARK.

Review: Fire-Boltt Talk Smartwatch

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Price: ₹4,999

After smartphones and TWS, it is the turn of smartwatches to go affordable, and the Fire-Boltt Talk exceeds expectations with the ability to take and make calls hands-free using a connected smartphone.

The Fire-Boltt Talk smartwatch has its origins in China, and the pedigree shows in the build quality. From the top, the device looks quite similar to the Huawei Watch GT 2 except for the classic analogue-watch-style single button. Even the straps are made similar to its popular original. However, turn the watch around and you will notice the not-so-perfect cheap plastic cover glass on the sensor and the Fire-Boltt logo screen-printed at the bottom, which, in our device, was misaligned and tilted towards one side. The watch uses an app called Da Fit to pair with both Android and iOS phones. The watch faces are quite basic, with flashy colours, but extensive. Of course, there are a handful that are subtle and ‘decent’.

Coming to the interface, the watch uses a 44mm display. At first, the display was perfectly aligned, but after a few days of use, I noticed a prominent tilt in the display, which even a reset failed to correct. The watch uses a standard 22mm strap, which was comfortable to wear for long periods. We cannot expect a high-resolution display on a budget watch, and the Talk is no exception. Having said that, we should stress the fact that the watch offers the most advanced option available on an advanced smartwatch, including heart rate sensor, accelerometer, step counter, sleep monitor, workout stats and SpO2 measurement. There is also a BP monitor, which we found to be unreliable.

Coming to the main USP of the watch, the device paired readily with both Android phones and an iPhone 12 Pro Max, allowing us to make and attend calls in addition to controlling music. In fact, this is something that most of these similar devices fail to do, especially when paired with an iOS device. The call quality was decent enough for an under-10,000 watch. The one feature I missed in this device was a standby watch face, which I find difficult to live without. However, this conserves a lot of battery. Even with some heavy use like tracking my workouts and sleep, I could get more than 10 days of battery life at medium brightness. The battery charges in approximately two hours. The charger magnetically latches on to the contacts, and the magnet is strong enough to hold it in place.

Overall, we were quite satisfied with the features and functions of this device, especially at a price that is highly competitive. However, the build and overall quality need much improvement, even at this price. The misaligned display is certainly a deal-breaker at the mid-level market, but then, there is certainly a section of potential buyers who are not bothered about aesthetics.

★★★

WE’RE IMPRESSED Bluetooth calling, Packed with features

WE’D IMPROVE Overall finish, Glitchy software

THE LAST WORD The Fire-Boltt Talk smartwatch caters to the lower strata of the smartwatch buyers and the OEM has made too many compromises to pack this device with features exceeding its scope.

Review: Fastrack Reflex Tunes F02 Headphones

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Price: ₹7,995

This around-the-ear headphone isolates noise with tight-fitting earmuffs and provides ANC as an add-on

Fastrack had its beginnings as Titan’s urban youth brand, initially establishing itself in watches and sunglasses. Since then, the brand has expanded into various other accessory segments. Reflex Tunes wireless audio devices include TWS earbuds, neckbands, and over-the-head headphones. The F02 is an over-the-head, around-the-ear headphone that offers an affordable solution to high-quality audio.

The Reflex Tunes F02 retails at a price that is within the reach of most people looking at an over-the-head headphone, and at this price, it is feature-packed, offering Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and quick pairing. The device has a typical design, that looks uninspiring, yet provides a comfortable fit with large and well-cushioned earmuffs that efficiently cuts off most of the background noise even without ANC. The adjustable headband also offers soft and thick cushioning. The plastic used in the band and ear cups does not provide much confidence and appears flimsy. Hence, we would advise you to be cautious while bending it. However, we can vouch for its longevity in normal use. The headphones have a foldable design. The ear cups flex a little, helping you fix it properly over the ears. The device is IPX4 certified and hence splashproof. At 260 g, the F02 is quite lightweight. The headphones are available in black and grey colours.

The F02 has all the controls and ports on the right side including a multifunction button for power, pairing, play/pause, and call answer/hang up, a volume up/next track button, a volume down/previous track button, an ANC button, status LEDs for power/pairing and ANC, USB Type-C charging port and a 3.5mm AUX jack. To use the device in wired mode, you only need to plug in the AUX jack irrespective of whether the headphones are powered on or not. Similarly, ANC works even in offline mode. Just flip the ANC switch and it gets active, cutting off most background noise even when the audio signals are off. The Reflex Tunes F02 uses five microphones for audio pickup and ANC. The device houses a 580 mAh battery, and Fastrack claims up to 15 hours of battery life with ANC and up to 20 hours without it. Though our music listening was erratic on this device, thanks to the number of headphones and speakers on review, our estimate was close to what is claimed. The battery takes three hours to fully charge.

The Fastrack Reflex Tunes F02 uses a 40 mm driver that reproduces audio with good separation. Though the bass is enhanced, the headphone offers competent treble also, unlike the bass-boost devices flooding the market. The mid frequencies are a bit suppressed, and vocals felt somewhat less refined to our liking. However, considering that this is not a premium device at the top end of the market, Fastrack has done a great job with these headphones. ANC is not overwhelming, and you might not feel much difference when you are listening to music because it cuts off only the most disturbing noise such as the hum of air conditioners and ceiling fans. That being said, these are the only disturbances you feel after the tight-fitting earmuffs cut off most outside noises. Call quality was excellent, both in listening and being listened to. The headphone supports voice assistants including Google Assistant and Siri.

★★★★

WE’RE IMPRESSED Value for money, Comfortable fit, Excellent passive noise isolation

WE’D IMPROVE Build quality

THE LAST WORD The Fastrack Reflex Tunes F02 offers excellent value for money with balanced output, active and passive noise cancellation, and superior call quality in a low-to-mid priced headphone. We would certainly recommend the F02 to anyone looking for affordable over-the-head headphones with ANC.

Personal Audio: Sony Witnesses Surge in Demand

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Sony has been at the forefront of personal audio space and the Covid-induced lockdown has certainly pushed this segment forward in over a year. T3 caught up with Gyanendra Singh, Head of Audio Business, Sony India, on the sidelines of World Music Day.

The extended lockdown has largely confined everyone to their homes. Apart from OTT platforms and gaming, music is something that keeps people engaged and helps maintain their sanity. What are the major trends experienced by Sony’s audio division during this lockdown period?

During this lockdown as well, we are witnessing a surge in both Personal Audio products like earphones and headphones and the home entertainment products like the Soundbars. We are experiencing that consumers are moving towards products with features that are helpful for their work from home, learn from home activities and products that enhance their consumption of entertainment at home. The demand upsurge is like what we experienced during the last year unlock.

Could you elaborate on some of the products that drove the maximum business during this time? What are the buying trends that emerged during this lockdown phase?

While there continues to be an overall good traction for both personal audio and home entertainment products, for personal audio products, in terms of form factor, the truly wireless segment and the headphones with Active Noise Cancellation are showing very strong demand. We continue to have very good traction for our flagship 1000X series in headphones and truly wireless earbuds form factor, followed by affordable Bluetooth headphones WI-C200, WI-XB400 & WH-CH510. On the home entertainment front, the consumer is displaying the desire to upgrade his home audio-video environment. Consequently, there is demand for soundbars to enjoy cinematic audio experience at home for flagship products with Dolby Atmos like HT-Z9F and HT-G700, followed by affordable range models like HT-RT3 and HT-RT40.

With service centres and other points of service shut, how did you manage to connect with customers?

Since the beginning of lockdown, Sony has been actively supporting consumers via e-mails and live chat to ensure uninterrupted entertainment. 24×7 assistance is being offered to customers through AI-assisted Chat Bot. Our Call Center (1800 103 7799) was operational and our customer service executives were available for resolving customer queries by offering Remote assistance through DIY videos and video calls. We also offered special Warranty extension for customers whose product warranty lapsed during the lockdown period.

What were the major learnings from the extended lockdown period for Sony in the audio space? How has it changed the way you did business? How do you look forward to the post-Covid and post-lockdown scenario?

There are multiple factors that have evolved due to this extended lockdown phenomenon. Firstly, the usage of audio products has increased whether it is for work from home (WFH), learn from home (LFH) or home entertainment. It has given consumer a greater opportunity to experience the product and enjoy its features. Secondly, for many consumers this has led to a situation of higher disposable income and hence consumer spending on premium audio products has increased and we expect this to continue in the post-lockdown scenario as well. Lastly, it has increased the use of online as a medium of communication for both our consumers and for us as well. Consumer traffic has significantly increased to Sony India’s website and to our products on other e-commerce portals. Consequently, our modes of reaching out to the consumer has also seen a greater shift towards the online medium and we expect this to continue.

Ambrane Launches TWS Earbuds; More Audio Products on Anvil

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Ambrane, one of the leading mobile accessories brands, announced the launch of Dots 38 and NeoBuds 33 TWS earbuds.

The Dots 38 TWS comes with a long playback time of up to 16 hours with a fully charged case. The TWS comes with an in-built mic that gives you crystal clear audio on the go. Available in white, the Dots 38 sports a stylish yet minimal design, which further provides you with portability and a secure fit.

Neobuds 33 is an extension to the very successful Neobuds TWS series. The buds feature a deep bass as well as 10 mm drivers delivering a dynamic audio experience. The bass is punchy with a rich mid-section and treble enriching the music experience of the audiophiles. The Neobuds 33 are Available in Black, white, and Indigo Blue, with a compact charging case. These buds offer a long playback time of 15 hours with the charging case.

Both Dots 28 and Neobuds 33 feature Bluetooth V5.0 with a wireless range of 10 m, enabling a quick and reliable wireless connection, as well as an easy touch operation allowing you to activate the voice assistant and manage your calls through the touch sensors. Both the devices feature IPX4 ingress protection rating, offering sweat and splash resistant features with 365 days warranty. The Dots 28 and Neobuds 33 are priced at Rs.2,499 and Rs.1,799 respectively and are available on Amazon and Flipkart.

In the next three months, Ambrane aims to launch more products in the Audio range including Headphones, Neckbands and True wireless.