At an event in New Delhi today, Sony upgraded its Extra Bass audio lineup by introducing three new headsets along with a bunch of Bluetooth speakers. The company claims to have banked heavily on bass and battery backup with water resistant functionality in some of them.
Starting with the headsets, Sony introduced its new MDR-XB950B1 and MDR-XB550AP over-the-ear headphones priced at Rs 12,990 and Rs 3,290. Both the headphones will be available starting April 20th across different offline as well as online stores.
Sony MDR-XB950B1
The XB950B1, which lies on the upper side of the bottle in terms of price, comes with a 40mm driver inside with a built-in rechargeable battery which can provide up to 18 hours of music playback. Also, the headphones have a dedicated Bass Booster button on the outside which the company claims increases low-frequency sound using Digital Signal Processing to give a multi-sensory listening experience. There is also a Volume/Track control button to adjust volume and skip through tracks. For the comfort, the headphones come with a metallic headband wrapped with soft cushions. The earcups are covered with soft pressure relieving cushions as well which Sony claims will pose no issues even when a user is wired in for a long period of time. Apart from Bluetooth, the headphones offer Near Field Communications (NFC) connectivity as well. There is an integrated microphone as well which helps you to attend calls without any hustle. Lastly, Sony’s new MDR-XB950B1 can be easily toggled via Sony’s Headphones Connect App which is available both on iOS and Android. The app enables listeners to fully control the sound levels with an easy to use interface.
Sony MDR-XB550AP
Coming to the more affordable offering in the headphones segment, Sony also introduced the MDR-XB550AP Extra Bass Wired on-the-ear headphones. The XB550AP is priced at Rs 3,290 and comes in Black, Red, Blue, Green and White colour options. We have a 30mm driver inside which, according to Sony, can deliver balanced sound with a commendable low-end, with 5 – 22,000 Hz Frequency response. There is an in-line remote and microphone as well to take and end calls which can also be used to fiddle with the audio track you are playing on your device. You can also customise the functions performed by the in-line remote by a free Smart Key app available on Google Play Store.
Sony MDR-XB510AS
Other than a couple of headphones mentioned above, Sony also introduced its MDR-XB510AS Extra Bass In-Ear earphones which are targeted towards sports enthusiasts and people who are into fitness and similar activities. The major highlight of these earphones is that it comes with an IPX5/IPX7 Water-resistant rating which means you can sweat it out without worrying about the headsets being damaged. There is a 12mm driver inside which Sony claims can put in some solid bass response. The earphones come in four colours i.e. Black, Red, Blue and Green and will be up for grabs starting April 20 for Rs 2,790.
Apart from these headphones, Sony also unveiled a bunch of Bluetooth speakers across different categories. Four in number to be precise, Sony’s SRS-XB40, SRS-XB30, SRS-XB20 and SRS-XB10 all will be available starting 25th April across all Sony Center and major electronic stores in India. The SRS-XB40 is priced at Rs 13,990, the SRS-XB30 is priced at Rs 9,990, the SRS-XB20 is priced at Rs 6,990 while the SRS-XB10 is priced at Rs 3,590. Further, all of them sports NFC and Bluetooth (v4.2) connectivity along with a portable and flexible design. Apart from this, the entire lineup is splash proof as well with IPX5 certification so one can enjoy the listening experience both indoors and outdoors, claims Sony.
For your entertainment needs, the SRS-XB 40 comes with three types of light which include a Line Light (Multi-Colour), a Strobe Flash and a Speaker Light (White) while the SRS-XB30 comes with a Line Light and a Strobe Flash. These lights will, of course, synchronise with the music to give that party mood as soon as you plug in the music. Regarding the technical specifications, the XB40 comes with two 61 mm drivers while the XB30 and XB20 come with 48mm and 42mm drivers respectively. The smaller SRS-XB10, however, comes with a single 46mm mono driver.
Another feature which Sony boasted about a lot at the launch event was the wireless party chain wherein one can connect up to 10 units of SRS-XB40, XB30 and XB20 models via Bluetooth. Besides, Sony has also introduced a dedicated Music Centre app which can essentially convert into a wireless remote control for your Bluetooth speaker. Further, Sony has also added another app named Fiestable through which you can add DJ sound effects and also control your speaker with motion gestures such as a front hit to PLAY and back hit to PAUSE.
The SRS-XB40 also supports Voice Guidance where you can access Siri or Google Assistant through Voice commands similar to what we saw on Google Home but the level of accessibility on the latter is expected to be much wider. The SRS-XB40 and XB30 can also act as a power bank for your smartphone by connecting it to the USB-A port.
For the battery life, Sony claims that the XB40 (5400 mAh) and XB30 (4200mAh)can deliver up to 24 hours of battery backup while the XB20 (2100 mAh) and XB10 (1400 mAh) can offer a battery life of 12 hr and 16 hr respectively. While the XB20 and XB10 take in a microUSB for charging, the big brothers i.e. the XB30 and XB40 connects through a dedicated AC adaptor.