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Review: PlayGo T44 TWS Earbuds

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True wireless earbuds at an affordable price
Rs. 2,999, theworldofplay.com

The market is flooded with true wireless earphones where almost every smartphone manufacturer or an accessory maker has their version. Vying for consumer attention is Play’s latest offering – PlayGo T44 with its affordable price tag.

The PlayGo T44 goes for the AirPods-like half in-ear design, and while there’s little any company can do to differentiate such a design, the T44 has a curvier stem with a glossy white hue to distinguish itself from the competition. The pocketable case, on the other hand, features a white matte finish with USB Type-C port at the back. The case cover feels less sturdy and reveals earbuds’ magnetic docking area with an LED status indicator and a small button. Compared to the case, the build of the earbuds is better and is pretty light at 3.5g each, making the T44, lightest buds in the category. Ergonomics-wise, the lightweight nature works in favour of the earbuds for a comfortable fit. We tried the device while walking, and some jogging and the T44 stayed comfortably in its position. Moreover, the buds are IPX4 rated that ensures the earbuds will work just fine even when there’s some water or sweat. 


Pairing the earbuds work like any other TWS headset, which will pair with a compatible device as soon as you open the case. The T44 uses Bluetooth 5.0 and while the connected range didn’t come close to the claimed range, we did experience better connectivity. The T44 also reconnects instantly to the last connected device. 


The PlayGo T44 is equipped with 10mm “EBEL” drivers that focuses on bass and treble. The bass is not overpowering but the emphasis on treble tends to drown the mid-frequency while listening to some songs. However, for the most part, the T44 performs well and delivers convincing audio at the price. The earbuds feature passive noise cancellation and given the design, doesn’t ensure a proper seal but does the job well to keep the ambient noise out. Call quality is decent, thanks to the mics at the bottom with echo cancellation and noise reduction. 

Having said that, the buds do miss out on some features. For instance, touch controls, while nice to have are hit-or-miss. There’s no sensor to automatically pause music when the buds are removed from the ear or a low-latency mode that comes in handy for FPS multiplayer games.

The PlayGo T44 is not perfect, but it does deliver on the promise of bringing decent audio quality with up to 20 hours of battery.

RATING 3.5/5
WE’RE IMPRESSED Battery life, performance
WE’D IMPROVE Touch controls
THE LAST WORD For Rs. 2,999, the PlayGo T44 delivers decent audio for the price with good battery life.

Review: Ghost of Tsushima

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Playing a samurai never felt this good
Rs. 3,999; PS4

All is fair in love and war says the adage but in Tsushima, it’s all about the latter than the former. Set in the year 1274 and inspired by a real-world event of the Mongol empire invading the Tsushima island, Ghost of Tsushima brings a fictional story of a samurai who goes all the way to save his homeland. However, there’s a problem. Not only the Mongols are brutal as revealed by the first few minutes into the game but are cunning too, who know the samurai ways and led by their capable commander, Khotun Khan.

Enter Jin Sakai. The protagonist and the samurai who almost gets killed in the battle and realises the only way Mongols can be defeated is by fighting less honourably or in other words, killing them silently like a “ghost”. This constant inner struggle of fighting honourably is evident in the first few hours of the game but as the story progresses, Jin gets comfortable in ghost’s skin as he is as a samurai. That said, the game never forces you to adopt one playstyle and players are free to adopt either or both ways while dealing with the enemies.

Combat has to be the highlight of the game considering at the heart of it, Ghost of Tsushima is still a samurai game, which brings us to the next question – how is the sword fighting? Oh, it’s good. It’s bloody good! Sucker Punch has nailed the sword fighting experience in the Ghost of Tsushima. The sword fighting sequences are well orchestrated with great audio effects to complement it. It’s easy to pick the controls that include a light attack, heavy attack, parry and dodge but button mashing doesn’t work here. Pressing the right button at the right time is equally rewarding. For instance, dodging away from an unblockable attack will retain your health or parrying at the right moment makes the enemy vulnerable for extra damage. Sword fighting also has some depth with the adoption of stances that get unlocked as you kill enemy leaders or observe them and learn their technique. A stance like Stone is effective against swordsmen whereas Water, Wind and Moon stances are effective against enemies with shields, spearmen and brutes. There’s a fifth stance too, that is revealed later in the game. Changing to different stances is fluid and can be quickly changed to better suit the enemy, even in mid-fight. However, the two best things about sword fighting in Ghost of Tsushima are Standoffs and duels.

Standoffs can be triggered when you or the enemy spots you, basically announcing yourself for the fight. A successful standoff results in one slash kill or if you fail, resulting in Jin’s health hanging by the thread. This is the honourable way to kill enemies but also results in other enemies baying for your blood after the standoff ends.

Duels are 1v1 fights with important NPCs in the game that help advance the story or achieve a particular objective. The fight is more or less similar to other fights, only tougher. But it’s the cinematic prologue with rustling leaves, panned shot of the opponents and that unsheathing of the sword makes the fight all the more exciting.

Fighting as ghost lets the player kill enemies stealthily but it is not as exciting and satisfying as defeating enemies after a sword fight.

In terms of weapons, Jin’s katana accompany him throughout the journey, there are other weapons he gains over time that enables a balanced approach of samurai and ghost combat during fights. The weapons are upgradable with various materials that can be collected in the game.
Similarly, there are armours to earn and upgrade as well. Complete certain missions or objectives to get the armour with each one giving a different set of advantages over others.

Ghost of Tsushima allows visual customisation too. In exchange of flowers, players can buy dyes to change the armour colour, buy headbands, katana sheath cover and masks.

Then there are skill upgrades that improve Jin’s ability. The skill tree is detailed and can be maxed out with the Technique Points one earns throughout the game.

Ghost of Tsushima is an open-world game and although there’s a story to follow through, the game gives the freedom to approach the main story (known as Jin’s Journey) at your own pace. There’s Tales of Tsushima, which is nothing but side quests. Some of these NPC quests feel run-of-the-mill but some add value who also appear in the main story. Finally, there’s Mythic Tales or special quests spread around the island of Tsushima that talks about the famous legends. Mythic Tales are useful as completing them gets you a better and improved armour or makes Jin learn new moves and abilities. In short, the game has a lot of quests, collectibles and locations to discover, in addition to the 25-30 hours of the main campaign.

Ghost of Tsushima is visually impressive. The world is gorgeous, serene and picturesque that offers breathtaking views. Luckily, the game comes with an equally potent photo mode with lots of customisation options. Complementing the visuals is the music, sound effects and voice acting. I played the game with English audio but for samurai fans out there, the game also allows to choose a samurai cinema experience that includes Japanese audio with English subtitles or the Kurosawa mode that adds a black and white filter, little grain with Japanese audio, taking inspiration by filmmaker Akira Kurosawa movies.

There are a lot of things to love in Ghost of Tsushima but the game comes with its share of drawbacks too. During my playthrough, I experienced minor graphics flaws like armour cutting in Jin’s body during a cutscene or some characters getting stuck to a position a couple of times. As I said, these are minor issues and doesn’t hamper with the playing experience. The frustrating thing, however, is the inability to skip cutscenes. For example, seeing Jin unsheathing his katana with his thumb before the start of the duel is exciting the first few times but gets repetitive. There’s no New Game+ that would entice for a second playthrough, possibly with Kurosawa mode on. Finally, a wishlist item but I feel it’s a missed opportunity for limited multiplayer. Imagine sword duels with your friend to settle an argument!

Nevertheless, Ghost of Tsushima is a strong new game from Sucker Punch and delivers on the promise of a good open-world samurai game. Sure, the stealth combat can be improved but the Ghost of Tsushima offers a good experience with cinematic visuals, music, story and hours of content.

RATING 4/5
WE’RE IMPRESSED Gameplay, Melee combat
WE’D IMPROVE Skippable cutscenes
THE LAST WORD Sony has built this console generation on single-player experiences and Ghost of Tsushima is yet another game that delivers on that front with a good story, visuals and enthralling gameplay.

Review: Sennheiser CX 150BT

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A recent trend with most audio accessory and smartphone makers is to launch an affordable truly wireless earphones and while Sennheiser does have it in its portfolio, the award-winning truly wireless device is not exactly cheap. However, that’s not the case with their recently introduced wireless in-ear earphones. Today, we take a look at the CX 150BT.

The CX 150BT has a minimalistic design and despite the glossy black finish, the earphones look good. However, the wire that connects both ends of the earbuds is underwhelming. Nevertheless, the CX 150BT comes with in-line controls that consist of a power/action button and volume +/- keys. The keys are well-spaced out and are big enough to avoid accidental presses. The same three buttons can also be used to skip or fast forward a song, accept/reject or mute a call and so on. Adjacent to the controls is the USB Type-C port that can be used for charging. While the CX 150BT has a decent build quality, it doesn’t come with an IP rating to know its actual water and dust resistance but it’s safe to assume the CX 150BT can last your sweaty workout! In terms of fit, the buds are small that fit in nicely and offer good sound isolation. Sennheiser also offers XS/S/M/L ear tips for a perfect fit. That said, considering CX 150BT’s travel-friendly design and weight, we dislike the fact that it does not come with a travel pouch. Also, there’s no magnetic clasp at the rear-end of the buds that can automatically turn off the device when not in use, thus saving battery life.

Sennheiser CX 150BT
In-line remote control

Connecting the CX 150BT is a fairly standard affair just like any other Bluetooth device but this Sennheiser offering is equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 that helps with the connected range and multi-connection support for up to two devices. During our use, we found the Bluetooth range to be exceptionally better when connected with a Bluetooth 5.0-enabled Android phone. We also connected an Android phone and iPhone and used simultaneously without any issues. The battery life is also a plus that gives up to 10 hours of playback on a single charge.

As far as audio quality is concerned, CX 150BT delivers good audio playback and while you will notice the bass, it’s not overpowering, which is a good thing. However, we did notice some distortion in some songs at full volume. The soundstage, noise isolation are also pretty good and so is the mic performance during calls. The device supports Sennheiser’s Smart Control but it’s worthless considering you can’t personalise EQ or do anything else when connected with the CX 150BT.

CX 150BT is an interesting addition to an already-wide Sennheiser portfolio. The build quality could have been better but CX 150BT delivers good audio quality at the price.

RATING 4/5
PRICE Rs. 4,990
URL en-in.sennheiser.com
WE’RE IMPRESSED Audio
WE’D IMPROVE Build quality
THE LAST WORD A decent option if you are looking for a good sub-5k wireless in-ear earphones

Review: Hifiman TWS600

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Smartphone companies have started moving towards a 3.5mm headphone jack-free future, that has led to a surge in the sales of wireless earphones and smartphones. One particular sub-category that has grown exponentially, is the true wireless earphone category. Here at T3 India, we have seen our fair share of true wireless earphones at varying price points and the new one to join the fray is Hifiman’s TWS600.

Unlike the AirPods, the Hifiman TWS600 does not have a stem, which means it sits just like you’d have an earbud but it’s a tad larger than a regular earbud. The TWS600 is a blend of silver and translucent body with an action button to control media playback, volume and voice assistant. The idea to integrate a button is good but loses its importance once you realise pressing it actually pushes the TWS600 deep inside the ear canal. The earbuds are also IPX4 rated that gives it some resistance against dust and water. While we are fine with Hifiman’s approach to the earbuds’ design, we didn’t like how they designed the carry case. 

The egg-shaped case matches the listening unit’s silver colour but using as our daily driver, we found the case to get scratched easily, even when kept in a bag. It’s a flip-out style case with a rubberised bottom surface for better grip on the surface and USB Type-C port at the back, adjacent to the hinge. Another thing missing is the battery indicator on the case, which means there’s no way of knowing the remaining battery life until you actually open the case. The ridge to open the case is small that makes it difficult to flip the case open with one hand. It may look like we are nitpicking here but it is something to take a look at considering it competes with the Apple AirPods and the ilk in the same price range. However, things get better once you open the case. The battery LED indicator is placed right in the middle with a docking area for the earbuds that start charging automatically, once they are adjusted to their correct position with the help of the integrated magnet.

Hifiman bundles a number of eartips to give you the perfect fit and after using it for weeks, we can safely say, the TWS600 have an excellent fit. You can use them during a run or a workout without any issues. The fit also helps with noise isolation, making it a good commuting companion. 

As far as audio quality is concerned, the TWS600 does not disappoint. The audio is crisp with great-sounding mids and highs but underwhelming bass. The built-in mic performance is decent but the main highlight is the battery life that gives around 30-32 hours of listening time with a fully charged case. The TWS600 also touts long-range Bluetooth connectivity and while we couldn’t get the promised 150m (that depends on multiple factors), it was certainly better than other devices. 

PRICE Rs. 11,999
RATING 4/5
WE’RE IMPRESSED Audio performance, battery life
WE’D IMPROVE Charging case
THE LAST WORD TWS600 is one of the better sounding true wireless earphones with a good battery life and wireless range

Review: Gears 5

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Gear up for a roller-coaster action-packed ride
Rs. 3,999; Xbox One, PC

T3 GAMING RIG CPU AMD Ryzen 7 2700 RAM Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB DDR4 GPU Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 STORAGE Teamforce T-Force Delta RGB OS Windows 10 MOTHERBOARD Asus ROG Strix X470-F CHASSIS Corsair Obsidian 500D with Asus ROG Thor 850P PSU KEYBOARD Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 MOUSE Asus ROG Gladius II Wireless

Gears of War franchise has come a long way since the first game was released 13 years ago. A total of six games in the series and Gears 5 is the culmination of the experience and expertise The Coalition gathered over the years. 


Gears 5 follows the events from Gears of War 4 and a brief recap video does the job well to bring the player up to speed as to what went down last time. While the initial few chapters have you spend time in busy action-packed scenes, it also makes you appreciate how fluid the gameplay mechanics are with satisfying combat. In Gears 5, you also get a personal robot that acts as your sidekick and help you in sticky situations like stunning the enemy or fetching ammo or gun, in case you run low on supplies or even replenish health. There are RPG-like upgrades as well that lets you enhance the robot’s ability.


It’s only after a couple of hours the story branches out and focuses on Kait Diaz who sets out to uncover her personal story. While the overall campaign is short and kinda ends on a cliffhanger, the 15-odd hours of campaign is enjoyable. The different acts in the story takes you to different locations and even opens up the world in an otherwise, linear game. 


However, as we know, Gears is best played with other players and the game features multiplayer options like Escape where the team has to strategise, survive and escape the swarm as well as  Horde that requires surviving waves of enemies. 

RATING 4.5/5
WE’RE IMPRESSED Story, gameplay
WE’D IMPROVE N/A
THE LAST WORD Gears 5 is a thoroughly enjoyable game that has a short campaign but makes it up with great gameplay mechanics and combat.