Big-screen, flat-panel televisions are becoming more affordable, and the credit for this goes to brands such as Vu, InFocus, Intex and Micromax. Some of these brands are actually looking to diversify and include premium products in their portfolio. This, in turn, could pose a stiff challenge to brands such as Panasonic and Samsung.
When it comes to headphones, the definition of good sound depends on the music you listen to and the preference for bass or treble. But the basics of a good headphone never change, and they include powerful and clear sound—and good looks.
Intex LED-5500 FHD TV
Rs.69,990
The LED-5500 FHD has a smart design. The black-coloured bezel around the screen is fairly slim, and the curved design of the silver-coloured table-top stand makes for a rather good-looking television.
You get a 55-inch LED panel, with Full HD (1,920x1,080) resolution. At default settings, the colours look a bit subdued, but if you tweak the picture settings in the menu, you will be able to get really vibrant colours. The brightness levels are good and the panel isn’t reflective, which makes the LED-5500 FHD comfortable for viewing in a brightly lit room.
Intex has integrated what it calls the Eye Safe T Matrix. This algorithm works in the background to reduce strain on the eyes by improving pixel accuracy, improving the quality of the video signal and ensuring that fast-moving visuals are smoother.
The image-correction and noise-elimination algorithms do their job. There are no content imperfections, such as low-resolution pictures or recording disturbances, when stretched on a high-resolution big screen. The overall picture quality is quite crisp. What is particularly impressive is the clarity of the text.
The only foible, in terms of picture quality, is that the black colour reproduction is not very deep, so certain dark shades look a bit grey.
This otherwise impressive television has a few other shortcomings too. First, the rather chunky wireless remote control has a plastic feel, and a cluttered layout—not really something one would associate with a TV in this price bracket.
Second, the TV doesn’t have any smart features, a big omission perhaps since the younger demographic may want one-touch access to streaming services such as Netflix.
Third, there is no optical output audio option, which will make it a bit harder to connect the TV to a home-theatre system.
While Intex may not necessarily be the first brand you think of when buying a fairly expensive TV, the LED-5500 FHD TV offers robust picture-enhancement features and good picture quality—and there aren’t too many options in 55-inch TVs at this price.
Sennheiser HD 471 G
Rs.7,990
The Sennheiser HD 471 G’s biggest strength, which is its lightweight build, is also its weakness. At 498g, the weight is quite light for a big-sized headphone. But that has been achieved with what is essentially an all-plastic chassis. The headphones just don’t feel expensive. While there is nothing really wrong in terms of the build quality, it does not look as expensive as it actually is.
Nevertheless, enough has been done to ensure that the HD 471 G is comfortable to wear for long durations—the padding on the headband ensures that the plastic never really touches the skin. The leatherette padding around the ear cups is soft, but does not offer the kind of breathability that the suede in Sennheiser’s Momentum On-Ear headphones offer.
Sound isolation, however, is quite good, blocking out most of the ambient noise, except what is in really close proximity.
Styling issues aside, the HD 471 G retains the classic Sennheiser signature soft sound. The headphones aren’t bass-heavy, nor do they highlight the treble or vocals more than they should. There is still a generous amount of bass, but you won’t hear an unnatural thump.
The HD 471 G can handle multiple genres of music with relative ease. Be it classic rock, modern trance tracks, or a bit of R&B, these headphones do not stumble in terms of audio performance—they can reproduce excellent detailing on classic tracks. This is, in fact, one of the few headphones among the recent launches that is actually better tuned for classic tracks.
The only shortcoming is that with certain tracks, the higher frequencies may not be as clear as they should be. But if your playlist usually consists of multiple genres of music, this is a headphone worth considering. Simply because it is extremely flexible in terms of the sound produced, and the neutral sound is what makes it work well with a variety of music genres.
