Review: PLAYGO BH70 AI wireless headphones are a bit out of tune

In terms of comfort, the leather padding on the headband and around the ear cups is nice and locks the headphones in place.

On paper, the PLAYGO BH70 is capable of going toe-to-toe with the best-in-class. But even though it tries really hard to pack everything useful in a pair of headphones — and I appreciate the sincere effort — it falls short on some things that an able pair of ears just can’t miss. In the following paragraphs, allow me to explain why you should or shouldn’t buy these headphones, and what you should consider buying instead. This will be especially useful to people who don’t wish to spend more than Rs 15,000 on a pair of all-purpose headphones, ever.

The construction

At a time when most gadgets have embraced the beauty of vibrant colours, the PLAYGO BH70 comes in two dull, unimaginative SKUs: Graphite Grey and Medallion Brown. At least a bright silver option would have been nice. For a brand called Play, it’s no fun at all.

In terms of comfort, the leather padding on the headband and around the ear cups is nice and locks the headphones in place. But the pair has been constructed around a gradient plastic skeleton, which does not feel solid or justify the 300 grams weight.

Although most people would use a good pair of headphones for music, if you happen to wear these on a brisk walk while listening to an audio book like I did, you might hear a slight creaking noise coming from the moving parts of the headphones. The Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) takes care of it but, like most other pairs, these headphones aren’t light or secure enough for running.

The tech

And now for the sales pitch. The PLAYGO BH70 has a host of useful tech. But the ones you really should care about are ANC, Bluetooth 5.0 and a very capable Qualcomm aptX LL (Low latency) audio codec. In top features, there’s a proximity sensor that detects when you take the headphones off (pause) and put them back on (play), while another mutes the sound and lets you get a quick word in as long as the left ear cup is covered. These are some very useful attributes for a pair of headphones but nothing that we haven’t seen before.

Spotify tops estimates with 100 million paid subscribers worldwide

Spotify Technology SA took on 4 million customers in the quarter, compared with the 3.3 million forecast by analysts.

Business Standard : Spotify has reached 100 million paid subscribers, a first for any online music service, adding more customers in the latest quarter than analysts expected and boosting confidence the company has lots of room to grow.

Spotify Technology SA took on 4 million customers in the quarter, compared with the 3.3 million forecast by analysts. But its first-quarter loss was 79 cents a share, wider than the 41-cent loss analysts expected. After a brief rise, the stock fell as much as 2 percent to $135.50 in New York trading.

Competition from Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and YouTube has done little to slow Spotify’s growth around the world, and the company has relied on its independence from some of the world’s largest companies to its advantage. It has boosted its customer base through promotional deals with Hulu, Samsung and even Alphabet Inc.’s Google (YouTube’s parent company).

“The music industry market is way bigger than most people realized,” Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek said on a call with analysts.

The company forecast it would add a further 7 million to 10 million subscribers in the current quarter. While Spotify has amassed its current user base thanks to music, the company has acquired three podcasting companies in the past few months to drive subscriber growth through other mediums.

Spotify spent about $400 million to buy Gimlet Media Inc., Anchor and Parcast, hoping that podcasting will turn the company into the world’s top audio platform and reduce its reliance on music. Record labels collect the majority of its annual sales.

Label Payments

Payments to labels are a big reason the Swedish company is still losing a lot of money. Spotify attributed the first-quarter loss largely to higher costs for stock options and restricted stock units, thanks to its share-price gains. Gross margin was 24.7 percent, above the high end of the company’s guidance range.

Spotify is in the midst of negotiations with the world’s three largest music companies -- Universal, Sony and Warner. Executives have cautioned investors not to expect those deals to reduce its costs, but still sounded enthusiastic about concluding talks. “We’re feeling good about the progress we’re making,” Chief Financial Officer Barry McCarthy said in an interview.

Though Spotify’s premium subscribers topped expectations, monthly active users fell just short at 217 million. Spotify was projected to report about 218.3 million total users and 99.3 million premium subscribers, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg News.

Sony 5.1 home theatre review: This is simply the best way to 'feel' music

Go for it if you feel the environment even as you listen to music, or watch movies, TV shows and matches; the Sony 5.1 home theatre ticks all the right boxes for a music fanatic.

The two new 5.1 channel Soundbar home theatre systems released by Japanese electronics giant Sony recently – the Sony HT-S700RF and HT-S500RF – went to sale India from August 10. Priced respectively at Rs 37,990 and Rs 29,990, these home theatres come with a mind-blowing 1,000-watt audio output. This makes them capable of delivering incredible audio output.

The home theatres, strong enough to surround your full house with music, also come with tweeters to let you indulge in every minute note and sound of the softest musical instrument. Both devices come with a premium design, featuring metal grills on all front and rear speakers.

Business Standard reviewed the HT-S700RF version. Here are our observations on how the set fares on various key parameters:

The Sony HT-S700RF home theatre system delivers a whopping audio output, thanks to its high volume boxes equipped with tweeters. The Japanese electronics giant claims to produce 'stunning surround sound'. Well, real 5.1 speakers, coupled with two front and rear tweeters, ensure that the sound produced is massive. 

For connectivity, they are equipped with Bluetooth 4.2, HDMI, optical-in ports, analogue audio input, and a USB port. The Bluetooth version is quite impressive, too. The 2.1v that many other companies provide disconnects the moment you get out of range. Overall, the system is a clean set-up that will enhance your room's feel.

What’s more? The premium set also features a 20cm subwoofer, and it comes with ‘tall boy’ speakers. No wonder the music and audio output are simply transcendental. We experimented with some heavy bass music – mainly songs with a prominent bass guitar. 

The sound produced by the soundbar and the tweeters was nothing less than a studio environment. The bass was extremely powerful, coming from the two tall boy speakers.

The remote has a sleek design with enough keys from which to operate songs. The remote, for colossal-like theatre, is quite powerful. But for a party speaker, the accompanying remote controller is not up to the mark. It works only when pointed toward the speaker’s top side, where the IR blaster is mounted. The keys do not have a background light, which makes it difficult to operate them in the dark.

Article Source BS