Specifications: Bluetooth 4.1, digital noise cancelling with ambient sound mode, 6mm dome type drivers, NFC (in charging case), IPX4 rated, app for iOS + Android, 3hr battery life (with continuous music playback – extends to 9 hours with full charged case)
Pros: Effective active noise cancellation (with on/off + ambient sound modes), IPX4 certification, great audio, secure fit, app-based control, NFC, stable wireless connection, supports Google Assistant
Cons: Fiddly battery case design, sound is off sync while watching smartphone video, tiny buttons, no volume controls, connects to only one device at a time
Bluetooth wireless earphones are increasing in popularity. For one, no one likes messy cables and second, headphone jacks in phones are becoming a rarity. The more premium kind of wireless earphones give you two individual earphones (without a wire connecting them to each other). This obviously increases the complexity because each one has to have its own battery and wireless. This is where Sony comes in, with others like Apple, Bose, Samsung and Jabra as competition.
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Like all the other similar options, Sony’s SP700N comes with a battery charging case. This case has NFC too, so if your phone supports it, you can just tap the case to pair. However, Sony has gone one step further by including Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) without bumping up the price. ANC uses microphones on the earphones to listen for outside sound and then produces a sound that is ‘opposite’ to it — effectively cancelling out unwanted sounds.
Apart from being useful in noisy locations and airplanes, ANC typically improves the audio experience of headphones/earphones because outside sounds are not muddled in with your audio. The SP700N sounds great for all types of music & calls. Sony’s ‘Extra Bass’ kicks in to make you feel the punch.
In the box, you get a micro USB cable, two sets of silicone wing tips and four sizes of silicone tips. Once you find a good fit, you’ll see that there are three modes available for ANC: on, ambient sound and off. On and off are self explanatory — for when you want to block noise or not.
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The ambient sound mode lets you listen to music without totally isolating you from your surroundings. This is good for safety when used outdoors for instance. They also fit very securely and won’t fall off if you go for a run or some vigorous exercise. We thought the ANC itself worked well and is one of the main highlights of the SP700N, especially considering the price. We do think it needs better design through.
For instance, you won’t know how to place the earphones inside the charging case just by looking at it. You’ll get it after a few tries. The case itself has a swivel open design which makes it feel flimsy — doesn’t inspire too much confidence in a device that is supposed to withstand the rigour of daily use/travel.
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Finally, we come to something that might be a deal breaker for a lot of people (and the reason for the 3.5 star score). Audio in these headphones does not sync with video. We tried it with iOS and Android (it’s more pronounced in Android) but the issue remains. Audio is out of sync whether you’re watching a video stored locally or streamed (from Netflix or YouTube etc).
In fact, the user manual in the box mentions the following: “Due to the characteristic of wireless technology, the sound played on this unit is delayed from the sound and music played on the sending device. Therefore, the image and sound may be misaligned when viewing a movie or playing a game”.
We have not experienced out of sync audio on Apple’s AirPods and on Jabra’s Elite 65t — both of which have two individual wireless earbuds. Which brings us to the obvious conclusion that the SP700N is great if you want active noise cancellation and will only be taking calls and listening to music. If you plan on watching any kind of video (whether stored or streamed), you should get a set of AirPods (Rs 11,000) or Jabra Elite 65t (Rs 12,000).
While we see many new launches at trade shows like CES and IFA, it’s the crowdfunding platforms and tech breakthroughs that actually keep innovation alive through the year.
Here's a round up some of the unique products we’re betting on.
(Text: Karan Bajaj)
While we see many new launches at trade shows like CES and IFA, it’s the crowdfunding platforms and tech breakthroughs that actually keep innovation alive through the year.
Here's a round up some of..
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NEX is Vivo’s latest all-screen smartphone design.
They’ve announced two in the range already: NEX A and NEX S. NEX A has a Snapdragon 710 processor with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage while the NEX S has a Snapdragon 845, 8GB RAM and 128/256GB storage.
The other big difference is the fingerprint scanner: NEX A has a conventional one on the rear while NEX S has one under the display.
Both have a 6.59-inch super amoled displays with a screen to body ratio of 91.2% and 4,000mAh battery.
Since the front is dominated by the screen, Vivo has placed the 8MP front camera in a unique (motorised) pop-up mechanism.
On the back is a 12MP + 5MP dual camera setup with 4-axis optical image stabilisation.
(Image: www.vivo.com)
NEX is Vivo’s latest all-screen smartphone design.
They’ve announced two in the range already: NEX A and NEX S. NEX A has a Snapdragon 710 processor with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage while the NEX S ha..
Read More
This amazing design from Oppo has an allscreen design — it has a 6.4-inch curved OLED screen with a screen-to-body ratio of 92.2%. Look around the phone and you won’t see a camera module or any sensors anywhere.
So where are the cameras? Everything is hidden in a motorised pop-up system that comes up when you’re unlocking the phone (face unlock) or when you launch the camera app.
Up front is a 25MP camera with iPhone X-style 3D facial scanning systems (dot projector, flood illuminator etc) while the rear has a dual 16 + 20MP camera setup.
Specifications include a Snapdragon 845 processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage and a 3,770mAh battery.
(Image: www.oppo.com)
This amazing design from Oppo has an allscreen design — it has a 6.4-inch curved OLED screen with a screen-to-body ratio of 92.2%. Look around the phone and you won’t see a camera module or any senso..
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This is the world’s first, professional-grade, 360-degree, 3D, 8K, VR camera. It records true 3D video and captures still photos at 12k resolution. It’s also capable of automatically stitching images together for a 360 degree photo.
In terms of features, you get six-axis image stabilisation, HDR image/video capture, RAW format support, dual SD card slots for storage, HDMI output, Ethernet and WiFi.
The built-in artificial intelligence (AI) chip does object detection to ensure that your subject is always in focus. It also supports 3D VR live streaming on Facebook and YouTube.
The 4,800mAh battery inside gives you up to 60 minutes of continuous shooting. A companion app lets you preview and control the camera.
(Image: www.en.detu.com)
This is the world’s first, professional-grade, 360-degree, 3D, 8K, VR camera. It records true 3D video and captures still photos at 12k resolution. It’s also capable of automatically stitching images..
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TicPods Free are a new generation of wireless earbuds. To start, TicPods feature automatic in-ear detection — music pauses when you remove them and it resumes when you put them back. Next, it has intuitive touch controls for various actions.
With the TicPods, you don’t need to take out your smartphone — you can hear who’s calling and accept/reject the call, control music playback as well as activate your voice assistant. There is active noise cancellation plus noise isolation too. They’re IPX5 water resistant and come blue, orange or white.
Like most wireless earbuds, it comes with a charging carry case and total battery life is about 18 hours. These are also the only wireless earbuds that give you the option to buy a single earbud if you lose one of them.
(Image: www.indiegogo.com)
TicPods Free are a new generation of wireless earbuds. To start, TicPods feature automatic in-ear detection — music pauses when you remove them and it resumes when you put them back. Next, it has int..
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GoSho is an ultra-compact (just 3.5-inches square), cube-shaped DLP projector capable of a showing a 200-inch wide-screen display. It offers a brightness of 180 ANSI lumens, an 8,000:1 contrast ratio and can display up to 2k resolution.
For wired connectivity, it has HDMI input and a USB port. It also has built-in WiFi for streaming and support for Apple Airplay.
The 11,000mAh battery inside can deliver up to 4 hours of continuous play. What’s more, you can even pair it with Google Assistant or Alexa and control it via voice.
(Image: www.gosho-1byone.com)
GoSho is an ultra-compact (just 3.5-inches square), cube-shaped DLP projector capable of a showing a 200-inch wide-screen display. It offers a brightness of 180 ANSI lumens, an 8,000:1 contrast ratio..
