Here’s your monthly ‘how to spend it’ guide to all the cool new gizmos.
Immerse yourself
Apple ups its audio game with the new AirPods Max, a new direction for the AirPods line with a stunning design. These over the ear headphones are finished with premium materials. The breathable knit mesh canopy, spanning the headband, is crafted to distribute weight and reduce on-head pressure. The stainless steel headband frame provides strength, flexibility, and comfort for a wide variety of head shapes and sizes. These headphones are kitted with a 40-mm Apple-designed dynamic driver that provides rich, deep bass, accurate mid-ranges and crisp, clean high-frequency extension; you’re unlikely to miss a single note. Powered by Apple’s H1 chip in each ear cup, computational audio powers a breakthrough listening experience that includes Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency mode, and spatial audio. (Rs 59,900).
A TV that flips
We’ve been looking forward to the Samsung Sero reaching Indian shores ever since we first spotted this at CES in Las Vegas. Crafted for the Snapchat generation, the Sero can switch from landscape to Portrait mode with a flick of a switch. This 43-inch 4K TV is perfect to mirror your smartphone screen minus the ‘letterboxing’. So, whether you want to catch up Instagram Reels or Facebook videos, you’re more than covered. Mounted on a non-removable stand it also includes a 4.1-channel, 60-watt speaker system and an AI engine to upscale content to 4K.(Rs 1,24,990).
Gamer alert
Spend less time waiting and more time playing. If you’re a compulsive PC gamer looking at achieving next-gen performance with your current set-up, you might find WD_BLACK AN 1500 NVMe SSD Add-in card mighty handy. This fully bootable plug and play add-in card is powered by two internal SSDs in RAID O and PCIe Gen 3 x8 tech. You can enjoy insane read speeds of 6500 MB/s and write speeds up to 4100 MB/s. Customisable RGB lighting complements your current rig while an integrated heatsink combats thermal throttling to help maintain peak performance (Rs 30,990).
Power ranger
You can kiss your power banks goodbye with the new Moto G9 Power that features a monster 6000 mAh battery under the hood. Motorola claims a whopping 60 hours of battery life on a single charge. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor and 4GB of RAM, this smartphone also features a triple rear cam with a 64MP primary lens. We dig the stock Android experience and other handy touches like an IP52 certification for dust and water resistance (Rs 11,999).
Headphones for the time
With WFH and online meetings here to stay, the Adapt 560 EPOS I Sennheiser, over the ear Bluetooth headphones provide a seamless audio experience. Whether you’re connecting via your mobile network or softphone (it’s also Microsoft Teams certified), you are guaranteed clearer calls thanks to an effective ANC (Active Noise Cancellation). It’s packed in a convenient and compact carry case that includes a USB dongle and a USB-C cable. With 46 hours of battery life, you’re probably covered for a week full of back to back online meetings (Rs 12,990).
Keep on running
The Garmin Forerunner 745, is an advanced GPS smartwatch for runners and triathletes looking for detailed training data, on-device workouts smartwatch features and more. The Forerunner 745 supports essential performance monitoring tools including VO2 max, training load, training status, and aerobic and anaerobic training effects. Runners can also view all six running metrics – including cadence and stride length, right on the watch. You can leave your phone behind and still carry your music with you – the watch stores up to 500 songs; you can also sync playlists from music streaming services like Spotify (Rs 52,990).
Mini me
It might be just 3.3-inches tall but the Apple HomePod Mini, the newest addition to the HomePod family packs a serious punch. The Apple S5 chip in HomePod mini works with advanced software to analyse the unique characteristics of the music and apply complex tuning models. This chip optimises loudness, adjusts the dynamic range, and controls the movement of the driver and passive radiators in real time. You can create a stereo pair by placing two HomePod mini speakers in the same room for a wide soundstage. Thanks to Siri, you get deep iPhone integration to perform a whole host of tasks (Rs 9,900).
Fade to Black
Fujiflim has just added a new colour – Black, to the FUJIFILM X-T200, its popular compact and lightweight mirrorless digital camera. This cam delivers outstanding image quality with Fujifilm’s proprietary colour reproduction technology. The X-T200 comes with the same central viewfinder style adopted by popular X-Series such as the FUJIFILM X-T3. This cam is fitted in a compact body with excellent grip and weighs just 370 gm. It boasts of an APS-C sensor packing 24.24 million pixels and a high-performance image processing engine. Its 3.5 inch LCD monitor also comes with touch operation and upgraded still features with faster and more precise auto-focus (Rs 49,999).