T3 India

PLAY

Play innovates Playgo Dura

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Play has added new innovative, Made-in-India, TWS to the PLAYGO series – PLAYGO DURA. It promises 30 hours of PLAYtime with about 10 hours on a single charge of the buds. The PLAY proprietary Enhanced Bass Extra Loud (EBEL) drivers and a microphone deliver HD sound quality, and the Environmental Noise Cancellation (ENC) technology ensures trouble-free audio. 

Hamish Patel said, “At PLAY, we have always focused on designing and delivering premium products at suitable budgetary price targets of our discerning consumers. We pride in understanding the ever-evolving needs of our consumers and accordingly design products to make their lives more convenient and hassle-free with a mix of fashion and latest technology. The latest product, PLAYGO DURA is also crafted in line with this philosophy. We are extremely motivated to bring PLAYGO DURA to our consumers and feel that the product will surely strike chord with the consumer on account of its fashionable and handy design aided with the best-in-class device audio experience. We hope to receive an equally compelling user delight as has been experienced for our other portfolio. We will continue to launch more fashionably innovative products and strive to establish a tech leadership in the AioT category.”

The TWS is priced at INR 1499. Users can buy it from the brand’s official website and leading e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart.  

Play unveils Playfit Slim2c

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Play has launched a unisex smartwatch, Playfit Slim2c. PlayFit Slim2c is a Bluetooth-based calling smartwatch. It has a 500-nit brightness display with an IPS panel that provides all-view-angle display visibility.

Playfit Slim2c gives notifications about heart rate, blood oxygenation, blood pressure, sedentary alert, and sleep patterns. It also works as a digital display for users to get SNS notifications via vibration. The smartwatch also has a calorie monitor that gives them immediate monitoring of the calories burned during their fitness regime. The smartwatch includes cloud-hosted watch faces that can be changed using the in-house developed PLAYFIT companion app. The Playfit Slim2c will be available in two colors: champagne and black. The Playfit Slim2c also has an IP67 rating, which protects against dust, sweat, and water.

Playfit Slim2c will be available at a price of INR 3999 from 22nd November’2022. The smartwatch will be available on play’s official website and all e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart along with the 50,000 offline retail stores across the country.

Spokesperson—play, Mr. Hamish Patel, said, “It’s always exciting to design premium-styled, yet affordable products for Indian consumers who are well aware about the global technology evolution, completely mindful of their individual lifestyle and hence are clear about their product and experience requirements. We are extremely motivated and happy to announce the arrival of Playfit Slim2c for our consumers, which sets yet another benchmark in the smart wristwear technology. At P, we are always on the quest to provide fashionable yet technologically superior product innovations to our customers which cater to their personalized requirements and expectations. Playfit Slim2c is a worthy proof of a harmonious blend of advanced technology with an equally fashionable design. It competes for its place with the international peers in the industry, has best in class design and features, yet is launched at a very India-centric customer price. We look forward to our customers’ feedback for the product and hope that Playfit Slim2c will receive positive consumer adulation like its many predecessors.”

T3 interviews Sandeep Banga, co-founder, World of PLAY

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PLAY is an Indian consumer technology brand with a range of stylish and state-of-the-art wireless audio devices and wearables. Their products include TWS earbuds, wireless neckbands and headphones, 2 fitness trackers and a chic waterproof smartwatch.

The groundwork of the company was laid down when the founding-trio Vikas Jain, Sandeep Banga and Hamish Patel realised the growth potential of innovative wearable technology given the exponentially increasing number of smartphone users and growing internet penetration. T3 India got the chance to interview Sandeep Banga and here are few excerpts from the interview.

T3: Could you elaborate a little on the products you plan to roll out in the remainder of 2021 and the first half of 2022?

Sandeep Banga, Co-Founder, World of PLAY

SB: We will continue to announce fresh line of wireless audio & fitness products throughout the rest of the year 2021. Our most recent launches include PLAYGO BH22, a sleek and foldable wireless headset design with dual equalizer and also PLAYGO BH47, Active Noise Cancellation Headphones. Both come with excellent battery life >30+ hrs of
continuous PLAYtime with balanced sound output across high, low & mid frequencies, its low latency technology makes them suitable for watching movies and provides for depth in sound when listening to music also.

T3: What makes PLAY’s wearables stand out from the plethora of other wearables in the market? When it comes to health and wellness, how much emphasis do you also put into streamlining and making the PLAYFIT app immersive and to some degree, rewarding?

SB: PLAY wearables have evolved from being fitness trackers to being a lifestyle product which is technology rich. We have adapted the advances in sensor and Bluetooth technology and provide rich & accurate data to consumers who want to be self-aware not only about their health & fitness, but are also style conscious. We are confident that our
consumers will love our next-gen smartwatches.
All this is supported by our companion App, PLAYFIT for Android and Apple users and developed in-house by our engineering team. We store all user data on secured servers in India, this way if anyone decides to upgrade to a newer PLAYFIT model smartwatch, their previous fitness data & achievements updates to the new PLAYFIT smartwatch seamlessly. You never lose your historic data when using PLAYFIT devices.

T3: What do you think the future of the wireless audio market is and how is PLAY equipping itself to take that into account?

SB: We live in an era where the most exciting advances to future technology has changed our world and will continue to amaze us. Whether it’s improving health, security, Artificial Intelligence or just making entertainment better. We, at PLAY, have embarked on a journey to continuously look for ways to transform these technologies and make it
accessible to common people. We collate all consumer inputs received from our outreach be it, customer care, social platforms, advertising platforms as well our retail store fraternity and indigenously improvise our product and hence the experience accordingly. We have already started seeing fruits from our R&D & Innovation Centre and the industry has never been more exciting in the types of technologies that we can work with to bring forth a never-before consumer experience.

T3: Do you plan to expand your portfolio in the smartwatch/fitness band segment? If so, what new features do you wish to integrate in them and what do you consider their USPs to be?

SB: There is only one USP in all our products, that is “User Experience”. Our goal is to simply wow our customers. Our leadership, engineering & marketing team works diligently to up that Wow-factor. Our expansion goal is not simply to churn out models, but to carefully understand the market gaps and consumer preferences and plug the gaps. As we gradually plug those gaps, we expect to grow our portfolio accordingly.

T3: How does PLAY’s customer service stand out from the rest? Or rather, what are your views on the existing strategy and would you like to see any improvements?

SB: After-Sales service is the backbone of any brand. It is the most underrated and yet most effective tool to earn consumers loyalty. By providing good after-sales service you are not only thanking the consumer for already putting his/her trust in the product & brand, but also using it as gateway to learn what consumers think of your product which feeds directly into our quality control, continuously improving the future products. With the launch of PaHS (PLAY at Home Service), we commit to our consumer that we value their precious time. In an unfortunate case, if a PLAY device malfunctions, we pick up the faulty device right from the home of the consumer, repair or replace it back to the
consumer (within an agreed SLA) and right back to his home. We don’t ask the consumer to necessarily visit our after sales center to enjoy free service repairs or replacement during the warranty period.

T3: Where do you see PLAY placed in the market in the next 5 years, given how the pandemic has not been kind to most businesses in the world? What would you like to expand into? Would you like to share a part of your anticipated journey and/or growth strategy?

SB: It is argued that without communication and modern digital electronics, many people would not be able to work during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Likewise, modern consumer technology is extremely dependent upon connectivity, processing, and memory/storage. Generally, the economic impact resulted in lower overall consumer technology sales in 2020, but people are more dependent than ever before on their personal devices to connect with others and continue to work from home. The reliance on web-based meetings, online education, and cloud-based services, in general, will increase as time goes on. After the pandemic ends, people are more likely to participate
in a virtual event and to look for virtual experiences to replace some physical experiences. This should drive increasing demand for consumer electronics and cloud- services industry. As PLAY, we surely should be second to none and also enjoying more and more customer adulation at that point.

For more information on PLAY, please visit their website.

Play launches two foldable headphones: PLAYGO BH22 and BH47

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PLAY has integrated their proprietary features into their latest wireless headphones which come in a foldable design and at affordable prices. With added flexibility in the devices connectivity, these headphones stay true to the standards maintained by Play over the years in bringing state-of-the-art consumer tech products to the market.

Play has launched two headphones, The PLAYGO BH22 and the PLAYGO BH47.

PLAYGO BH47

The PLAYGO BH47 is powered by a Qualcomm chipset and also features active noise cancellation for complete isolation. The BH47 comes with a speaker size of 40mm and comfortable ear cups which enable the users to wear them for longer durations. Striving to provide a refreshing audio experience, the BH47 has a battery life of 30 hours while needing 3 hours to charge completely. Connectivity-wise the BH47 supports Bluetooth v5.0 and consists of an AUX cable for wired outputs as well. BH47 also offers multi-point connection which allows users to pair up to two devices simultaneously.

The BH47 is compatible with voice assistants of Google, Siri, and Alexa ‘that allow users to change track or accept & reject calls’. The BH47, designed for young professionals who are on-the-go, is priced at Rs. 6,999.

PLAYGO BH22

The PLAYGO BH22, on the other hand, is also equipped with 40mm speakers and dual equalizers in order to provide enriched audio. Like the BH47, the BH22 supports Bluetooth v5.0 and an AUX cable as well. It, too, allows users to pair with up to 2 devices simultaneously. The BH22 offers 35 hours of playback time and requires 4 hours to charge completely. It supports Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa to allow users to change tracks and manage calls. The BH22 is available in the Champagne and Lush Lava colour and costs Rs. 2,999.

To know more about the availability and specifications of the BH47 and BH22, please visit this page.

Play launches the lightweight TWS and ANC PlayGo T44 and PlayGo N82

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Play has launched its first-ever True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earphones with the PlayGO T44, an extremely lightweight featuring ‘half-in-ear’ design similar to the first iteration of Apple’s AirPods. Along with the T44, Play has also announced the launch of their premium noise cancelling PlayGo N82 that will be available in the second week of August.

PlayGo T44 is equipped with a 500mAh battery and along with the charging case, the earbuds provide a total battery life of over 20 hours. Apart from promising to deliver HD sound quality, each T44 earbud weighs only 3.5g and boast of a 10mm ‘Extra Base Extra Loud’ (EBEL) drivers.

The charging case is also portable and sleekly-designed, enabling users to slip into their pockets. On opening the charging case, the T44 connects to the paired device automatically. The T44 also provides touch control, where users can touch to accept or reject calls and control the music as well.

Play’s TWS T44s also have in-built microphones at the base of the earbud, enabling better quality calls. With a Bluetooth v5.0 connectivity, the T44 can be paired with latest devices.

While the T44 is commercially available, the PlayGo N82 is set to release in mid-August in the price range upwards of Rs. 10,000. However, Play did reveal a few details and the highlight is the Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) technology and possess 13mm ‘EBEL’ drivers on the neckband earphones. The N82 also provides over 18 hours of battery-life even with the ANC mode turned on.

The IPX4-rated sweatproof T44s are available for a price of Rs. 2,999 on Play’s e-store, Amazon and other offline stores from July 14, 2020. They’re available in White abd Black colour variants. To know more about these products, please visit this page.