AKG K350 first impressions

A lot of us look for the best-of-the-best in audio –  some in the form of speakers, headphones or in this case, earphones such as the AKG K350.
At first glance, it doesn’t look appealing compared to its competition. The color choices are quite bleak and won’t appeal to everyone. Other than that, there are design elements that make the K350 look sporty.

Pick it up, and you’ll realize that it has a rugged feel to it. It feels durable and not cheap. We find it solidly built all around and while it doesn’t stand out in design, it makes up for it in construction.
Found on the earphones are the playback controls for volume & play/pause (which we think only works with iPods, iPhones and iPads), along with the microphone. It’s close to your mouth so it won’t be a problem talking for most people.

Enough on the appearance and let’s focus on the sound. After all, it’ll be just another expensive ornament if you don’t listen to it.
Just like any other of this kind, it isolates the sound you hear. We took it for a spin and we have to say that it delivers significant amounts of bass –  although it varies for the most part as we tried it on different equalizer settings. Treble, for some reason, was somewhat off at loud volumes. We didn’t appreciate all the loud cymbal-like noises when we were listening to music. It’s okay, don’t get us wrong but your ears won’t last long on loud volume settings.

Midrange frequencies were the quantities that excelled in our moments of use. It mixes well with some bass and treble elements, and it  is surely what creates the music experience with the AKG K350.
The AKG K350 comes with extra ear tips and the pouch/case for the earphones itself with AKG branding over it. The package is quite well, but the design isn’t for everyone. It isn’t the perfect music experience either, but it’s getting there and is trained well to do the job.

The AKG K350 retails for around Php3,799.
AKG K350 specs:
12Hz – 23kHz frequency response
20 mW max input power
16 ohms Input Impedance
121 dB SPL/V Sensitivity
1m cable (length)
3 g (weight)

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Jabra Clear first impressions

Some people just look for quality sound without compromising looks with all those tangling wires. Today, we have the Jabra Clear in our hands, a wireless Bluetooth solution for all those people out there. Let’s take it for a spin and see our first impressions after the break.

Well, the first time we got our hands on the Clear, we didn’t notice the size. Instead, we noticed the simplicity of its looks. All that there is are the essentials. There’s the ear hook, the micro USB port for charging, the power switch, the volume rocker, and of course the earpiece. There’s also this multipurpose button which can unpair devices, take calls and all the usual stuff.
One thing about the device is that it’s small. It didn’t become so obvious at first, but when we tried to keep it away after use, we were afraid that it could get crushed in our pockets or just get lost.

Enough on the looks; let’s talk about audio. Sound was averagely loud for the most part, and it didn’t block the whole ear and it was quite comfortable up to a certain extent. It’s certainly not for music, as the experience obviously isn’t cut out for it. However, from the name of the product itself, it is clear.
The microphone on the bottom did a great job as well as audio was clear and audible.

Ever since we charged the battery fully, we have not drained it yet for a day of moderate use. We surely don’t think that anyone could wear it for a long time as it gets irritating after a long while.

To wrap it all up, we have to say it’s a fine piece of hardware. Of course, it can’t be avoided that it is this small, because larger headsets would tend to be uncomfortable and weird looking. The Jabra Clear retails for more or less Php2,000 – so I guess it’s up to you if you wanna grab one for yourselves. For us, it’s a thumbs up and a win-win situation.

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Plantronics launches the Voyager Legend and Marque 2 M165 Bluetooth headsets

From the pioneers of the lightweight headset, the mobile headset, noise-canceling technology and the personal speakerphone, comes two new Bluetooth headsets. Pioneer recently launched the Voyager Legend and Marque 2 M165 Bluetooth headsets to the local market to further strengthen its line of consumer and commercial headsets.
First up is the feature-packed Voyager Legend made for businessmen on the go. It has a Smart Sensor technology that reacts as soon as your wear it so you don’t have to click anything when the phone rings. It even announces who’s calling so you don’t need to take out your phone from your purse or pocket, and just say “Answer” or “Ignore” to take or drop the call. It can also accept voice commands to check battery level, connection status, and more.

One thing special about the Voyager Legend is its triple-mic active digital signal processing that can cancel noise and wind for a clearer reception on the other end. The boom mic also ensures that your voice is the only thing being heard on the other end. It has multipoint technology too which allows you to pair it on two different phones, useful in today’s world where more people are using multiple handsets. It also has a water and sweat-resistant coating so you don’t have to worry about using it when its drizzling or touching it with wet hands.

The Plantronics Voyager Legend is already available and retails for Php4,900.
The Marque 2 M165 is an upgrade from the Marque M155 and is geared towards the casual mobile user. It has a smaller profile than the Voyager but lightweight and easier to use with less buttons to play with. Like the Voyager, it has multipoint technology for pairing with two different phones. The small size only allows for dual-microphone which is still effective in blocking background noise and minimize wind for clear conversations.

This phone doesn’t talk to you but it allows you to use voice command to answer a call for a truly hands-free use while driving. It also features Deep Sleep which extends the battery up to 180 days if it’s out of range of paired devices so you can just leave it in the car for long periods and still ready for use when you get back.

The Marque 2 M165 is already available and retails for just Php3,600.

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Divoom iTour Rock portable speaker review

People love music on the go and it has been a way of life ever since the days of boomboxes, walkmans and the such. Fast forward to the present day and we have portable speakers the size of onions that could get so loud it could please a crowd. It’s simply amazing on how portable speakers nowadays can deliver so much more and with the myriad of shapes and designs to choose from, and it’s been a daunting task of deciding which one sounds best.
Now what we have here is Divoom’s iTour Rock portable speaker which could very well be worth checking. Does it deserve to be a crowd-pleaser? Let’s find out.

Divoom is a company solely focused into making portable audio products that deliver superb sound at an affordable price. Oh, and they look stylish too! The iTour Rock is one of their creations and it’s the type that is a tad bigger than the likes of X-Mini but still remains to be portable enough to fit on your palm. It has a camouflage-like design that comes in blue, green and yellow colors you can choose from.

Underneath the speaker, you’ll find the power switch and the 3.5mm audio jack nicely tucked in. Now I find the audio cable to be short on this one as it can be a hassle when you want to place it on a certain distance from your audio device. If you look at the side, you’ll see a 3.5mm port to which you can attach another iTour Rock for better sound performance. Now that’s cool!
It also comes with a USB cable for charging on your laptop’s USB port or you can connect it to your smartphone’s adapter (it works actually). The speaker delivers 7-8 hours of playback so this is great for going on long trips.

Now the iTour Rock is not all about the looks but the sound as well. I have to say, the sound is superb! Crank up the volume and the sound still manages to be clear all throughout the highs, mid and lows. The speaker comes equipped with a PO-bass technology that delivers deep and powerful bass – a treat for the bassheads out there. A bit of a con about the speaker is that it tends to easily bounce off all over the place on higher volumes so try to put it on a cloth or a tissue of some sort to soften the surface. The speaker is loud enough to fill up a fairly large room like a living room and even better on smaller ones like your studio type room.

Overall, the iTour Rock is a thing to be desired. Oh and it comes at an SRP of just Php 1,100 so this is a bang for the buck purchase! There are other cheap speakers out there but nothing comes close to being affordable and sound great at the same time so I highly recommend this. You can get the iTour Rock on your nearest gadget store or online through Multiply.

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LUV Power Land All-in-One AC Power Charger

There are so many portable batteries for smartphones and tablets out there but this is the first time we’ve actually seen one that incorporates an AC wall charger right into the body. The LUV Power Land has just that feature.

One of the more common scenarios with the normal portable batteries is that we keep on forgetting to recharge it once in a while. On occasion, I would find myself with a couple of drained up batteries on a trip.

What the LUV Power Land hopes to achieve is skip the part where you forget to re-charge the batteries because you’ll always use the device as a wall charger. That means you’re charging the battery at the same time you plug your phone or tablet in your wall socket.

The package also comes with several socket adapter so you’ll be ready when you bring it to international travel. There’s also a few USB adapters for various smartphones an tablets (although the one for Apple is still the old one).

The Li-Ion battery has 2600mAh battery which isn’t really that huge but should be more than enough for a single fill of most of the flagship smartphones in the market like the iPhone 5, Galaxy S3, HTC One X+.

The LUV Power Land All-in-One AC Power Charger retails for about Php3,000 in local stores (Switch, A Store, iStudio and Travel Club). Comes in a variety of two-tone colors like green-white and black-orange.

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One thumb drive to rule them all

Wouldn’t be cool if all of your files, including all your movie and song collections, are stored in a keychain-sized thumb drive? Well, if money isn’t a big deal to you, then Kingston might just have what you’re looking for. Folks, meet the world’s first 1TB thumb drive – the DataTraveler HyperX Predator 3.0.
Apart from being the world’s largest-capacity USB 3.0 flash drive, Kingston recently announced storage solution is also a speed demon reaching transfer speeds up to 240Mbps and 160Mbps write-speed. According to Kingston, its mammoth capacity and incredible speed allows users to view/edit large files straight from the thumb drive.

However, the colossal capacity and blazing fast read/write speed isn’t the only thing that’s insane about the DataTraveler HyperX Predator. The 512GB version of this Zinc alloy-enclosed thumb drive can be had for a bank-breaking USD1,750. Just imagine how much its 1TB brethren will cost once it debuts on the latter part of this quarter.

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