By Anand Parthasarathy
April 7 2020: Audio enthusiasts who have decided to go in for a pair of on-ear headphones, rather than one of the in-earphones or the more recent earbuds, may find that this initial filtering is not the end of the problem. They will spoilt for choice, with dozens of brands jostling in the same price band.
Lenovo which only recently has entered the audio accessories market has cannily differentiated itself from the competition with a small but ( for hardcore sound fans) significant feature: the ability to choose between standard bass settings and one enhanced by a graphic equalizer, known as EQ.
As such discerning buyers don't need to be told, EQ changes the frequency response of select sounds like vocals say or an instrument, to enhance one feature like bass or treble.
With Lenovo's HD116 on ear headphones, in addition to controls for volume up/down, power on/off and sockets for a charger and an AUX port to connect a sound source with wires, one also finds a switch that toggles between standard bass and EQ-enhanced based. Listeners who like fine percussion play , will appreciate the ability to further boost the low frequencies. The makers promise a day long use on a full battery charge which takes one hour.
HD116 works with the latest Bluetooth 5.0 standard for wireless syncing with phone or other sound source. The built-in microphone is unobtrusive but effective and I found the soft padded head pieces a comfortable fit, with the overall weight just 113 grams. One earpiece folds to make a compact package for travel. The website mentions a carry pouch but I did not find one in the packing list of the unit I tried. Nevertheless, at Rs 2499 this is excellent value.