Xiaomi Piston 2 In-Ear Earphones
It's not often that you’d find anything in particular to say about the way a little pair of earphones is packaged, but that’s not true of the Mi (Xiaomi’s nickname for itself) Piston 2 in-ear earphones. They arrive in a little brown box with instructions all over the fold-out parts. Inside the box there’s a bit of casing into which the earphones are nestled. The cable part is wound-in around and around in grooves made for it and the two ear-buds, and remote also have little spaces of their own.
Just one look and you can see these earphones are made of top notch quality material. They’re gold plated, to begin with, and the rubber bits that go into your ears are soft and yet sturdy — with sets of extras in different sizes also included in the box. I’ve definitely never seen earphones in this price range — Rs 999 — look so beautifully built or packaged. But how do they sound?
Pretty good, actually. The sound is loud with mid and high frequencies being bright and clear. The base is not really deep, but just good enough. The Mi earphones are meant for Android phones and all controls won’t work with Apple devices, so beware if you’re thinking of using these with an iPhone. With Android phones, you can take calls and control volume etc. Are they better than Sennheiser or Beats? Well, not really, but they are great for the price. For a set you want to use casually on an everyday basis, these Mi earphones are worthwhile. If you’re very particular about your music and willing to pay several times the price, explore other options.
LG Tone Infinim
This pair of sleek headphones — or neckphones — is really quite a design. The Tone Infinim looks all New Age and high-tech. It’s beautifully finished, with smooth curves that travel along its length. It’s in pale silver and gold and looks classy.
The Infinim fits around your neck, sitting so light you can forget it’s there. Out of each end, you pull out the wires with an earbud on each side. When you’re done listening, just press a little button on each side to snap them back in. All the controls are on the two sides. Volume, on and off, switching to a call, pairing via Bluetooth to a device and of course, controlling the earbuds. There’s also an app and you get additional features such as reading out SMS, and speed dialing.
Although the Tone Infinim has an unusual and attractive design, previous versions were made with flexible material which made them easy to scrunch up and put in a pocket without fear of damage. The current version is rigid.
The sound on this pair of headphones, however, falls a little short of the design, even though it is basically Harmon Kardon. It’s loud but not rounded out with base and feels as if it lacks depth and fullness. At certain times, I even found it unpleasant at louder volumes.
Given that the design is brilliant but the sound is not as satisfying, the asking price is far too much for this beautiful pair of headphones.
Harmon Kardon Nova 2.0 If someone gifted this piece of audio gadgetry and you didn't know what to expect from inside the big box, you'd be very surprised. The Harman Kardon Nova set of speakers are meant to go with your desktop, but they're certainly in a design you never would have dreamt up. When you take them out of their black cloth covers, you'll find you're holding two fish bowls. Or something very similar anyway. The glass is actually a form of hard plastic. You'll probably turn them around wondering what goes where, but it becomes self-evident as you pick out the cables. The speakers connect to power, and then to each other with a single fat wire. There's an optional cable to connect manually to the playback source, but basically these are Bluetooth speakers and connect via route and NFC. Switch the music on, and boom. Loud sound. You can turn it down with a unique control — just brush your fingertip along the row of little white lights on the curve of the right speaker. The control is very sensitive and just the lightest touch is needed. In fact, it's easy enough to overshoot or undershoot the level you need. Power and pairing controls on the other hand need pressing in just the right way to respond.
The Nova is space age stylish, but the sound is disappointing. Treble is suppressed and the sound leans towards heavy base which causes a persistent jarring vibration. On lower volumes, you can barely hear a thing because higher frequencies are not particularly in evidence.
So, while the Harman Kardon Nova is hugely stylish and creative and has interesting controls, the lack of balance in the sound makes it difficult to recommend.
(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 12-01-2015)
BW Reporters
Mala Bhargava has been writing on technology well before the advent of internet in Indians and before CDs made their way into computers. Mala writes on technology, social media, startups and fitness. A trained psychologist, she claims that her understanding of psychology helps her understand the human side of technology.