Rating: 9/10
Saregama Carvaan
What it is: It’s a Bluetooth speaker and a USB-based MP3 player, plus it comes pre-loaded with 5,000 classic Hindi songs, but nothing about the Saregama Carvaan lets on about its digital capabilities, instead fooling you into thinking it is a classic portable radio (it plays FM too!). Decidedly retro, the Carvaan is a great gift for Hindi music aficionados and it works especially well for the elderly.
Pros: Remember Geetmala on the radio with Ameen Sayani’s commentary? The Carvaan includes episodes of this big part of radio history all the way from 1952 to 1979, along with songs categorised by Artiste and Mood. Once you get the hang of which control does what — the tuning dial changes between Artistes/Moods and the back/forward button skips tracks — it’s exceedingly easy to use and evokes a strong sense of nostalgia. Audio quality is decent, and the Carvaan is loud enough to be taken outdoors. While there are cheaper Bluetooth speakers available, the song catalogue, built-in LCD and FM capabilities make it worth the asking price.
Cons: No auxiliary-in connection, so Bluetooth is the only way to connect to your phone. The five-hour battery life could have been better, though.
Rating: 7/10
Panasonic Lumix GH5
What it is: A successor to the legendary Panasonic’s Lumix GH4, the GH5 ups the ante for what one can expect from a prosumer mirrorless camera.
Pros: The GH5 records 4K video at up to 60 frames per second (fps). To put it in perspective, the TV and films we watch are typically shot at 24fps to 30fps. This rather unique capability allows it to capture slow-motion video twice as slow without a drop in quality. Even with regular video, the 4K video footage from the GH5 is absolutely gorgeous, particularly if the lighting is good, and you get rich detail, accurate colours and smoother panning without the usual judder. Pro videographers will love that the GH5 can shoot 4K in broadcast-standard 4:2:2 10-bit format and support high-end XLR microphones. Regular folks will love the 4K and 6K photo modes — record fast-moving scenes in these modes at 60fps or 30fps, and you can extract 8MP or 18MP still images from that footage later. Great weather-proof build quality too!
Cons: Still images with the 20.3MP sensor are rich in detail, but low-light images take a bit of a hit — you can work with the five-axis in-body image stabilisation and good high-ISO performance to get better low-light performance though. Autofocus is occasionally fiddly.
Rating: 8/10
B&O BeoSound 1
What it is: You don’t expect Bang & Olufsen, the famed high-end Danish consumer electronics company, to make ordinary-looking products, and so you have the BeoSound 1, a Bluetooth speaker that looks like a cross between high-end kitchen equipment and a Dalek from the Doctor Who series. If you’re considering this Rs 1,99,990 investment for the living room in your sprawling mansion, the futuristic-looking BeoSound 1 will fit right in.
Pros: Besides serving as a treat for the eyes, the BeoSound 1 will reward you with 360-degree sound that is clean and detailed at all volumes — best of all, there literally is no sweet spot, and you’ll get the same sound quality wherever you are in the room. The circular touchpad on the top is sheer genius — it senses where you’re standing and interprets the control gesture accordingly. Battery life is a respectable 16 hours, and it supports Bluetooth, DLNA, Google Cast and Apple AirPlay, plus the ability to link multiple BeoSound units for multi-room audio, if you have that kind of cash lying around!
Cons: It’s pricey, which is stating the obvious for any product with B&O branding. Audio purists will blame the 360-degree dispersion for the slightly diffused, hazy quality to the sound.
Rating: 8/10
Apple iPad Pro 10.5
What it is: Apple’s shaken up its iPad Pro line-up, bumping up not just the size of the display on its smaller model (from 9.7in to 10.5in) but also packing in an insane variable refresh rate “ProMotion” display. With a bump up in specs and performance, this is a no-compromise tablet for those who are prepared to pay for it, and the upcoming iOS 11 will only take it closer to being a capable laptop replacement for most.
Pros: The new display, which varies the refresh rate between 120Hz and 24Hz, means slick, fluid viewing and interaction when you need it (games, sketching/ writing with the Apple Pencil) and power-saving when you won’t notice it (reading text, watching television episodes). The new A10X Fusion chip is a scorcher, and already many new pro-level graphically intensive photo editing apps (like Affinity Photo) are taking advantage of the added power… without compromising on the nine-hour battery life I’ve come to expect from the iPad. The iPad Pro also inherits the iPhone 7’s 12MP camera with optical image stabilisation, and the four-speaker setup is as crisp and loud as ever.
Cons: Despite the slimmed bezels, the design is still largely the same, only slightly taller, and that means your old iPad cases probably won’t fit. The price of admission is higher this time around, and accessories like the Smart Keyboard and the Apple Pencil make it even more expensive.
Rating: 7/10
Google Daydream View
What it is: Daydream is Google’s virtual reality (VR) platform, and the Daydream View is the VR headset meant to work with Daydream-ready phones such as the Google Pixel, Moto Z and in the near future, the Samsung S8/S8+. It’s a big step up from cardboard-style VR viewers and offers a good peek into what Google is doing with smartphone VR.
Pros: The all-fabric headset body is comfortable to wear for extended periods, like when you’re watching a video on the Daydream-ready YouTube or Play Movies apps. The included wireless controller helps you navigate and select stuff in VR games and interfaces, and the whole combination works very well. Google’s Daydream-ready apps, Street View on Maps in particular, along with some of the casual games I tried were well-executed and serve to show off the rich, immersive nature of the platform.
Cons: The number of Daydream-ready phones are few and far between, which limits the compatibility of this device. On the Pixel, the phone heated up to alarming levels with the Daydream app running. Those with spectacles may want to try one for size since there is no way to adjust focus.
Tushar Kanwar is a tech columnist and commentator.
Follow him on Twitter @2shar. Mail your tech queries to t2onsunday@abp.in
