Review – PLAYGO BH 70, AI driven wireless headphone – Nailed it!

By : Christopher David, TECHx Media.

Headphones move really fast in the consumer market and if they are noise cancelling, and good, then even faster. No wonder, brands are putting in a lot of thought and innovation and implementing tech to its best use while building these gadgets and rightly so.

There are close to 3 billion + smartphone users globally, it’s a whopping customer base and any innovation that clicks pays off really well. Brands are also doing their best to enhance user experience by enabling features like noise-cancellation, trendy designs, better output and of course battery life (most annoying if runs out quickly).

One such brand is PLAY, an Indian startup with their newly launched PLAYGO BH-70™ world’s first AI driven noise – cancelling wireless headset. Let me tell you this, I have been using the headset for a few days now and it looks promising.

Let’s see what PLAYGO BH-70™ has to offer – It’s important that we discuss the design, features, connectivity, sound quality and battery life. But first things first, lets jump to the Sound Quality and then come back to the other stuff. 

Sound Quality – NAILED IT!! The sound quality is the most important feature of a headset and there’s a reason why some brands are doing great by constantly enhancing this. PLAYGO BH-70 gives you good sound quality and delivers what it promises in terms of noise cancellation and output. Try listening to some Metallica, AC/DC on this and you would know what I’m talking about. Used it in the metro, near a construction site, and with my TV on 70-80% volume and it worked really well.

Although, there are more brands offering slightly enhanced noise cancelling headphones available in the market but you will be paying a minimum 20-30% more for those babies. So, within this price range PLAYGO BH-70 is a good grab for sure. The Play Go app provides you with equalizer options, where you can select the sound effects and the genre and that’s pretty much what the app offers. 

Battery Life – Think No More! If you consume the battery in a day, then you are not sleeping, not eating and definitely not working. If your average usage is around 3-4 hours a day while travelling or here and there before sleeping, it should last you a week before the next charge. Packed with a 1000 mAh battery and type – C charging point, the battery does perform well and the Type C connector is now being used widely, so this is a good addition.

Design – The build is strong with plastic widely used all over. It weighs around 300 gms so its manageable while holding it or while put on. It comes with protein leather earcups for higher durability and comfort which can be worn for long durations, depends on an individual though. The cushioning on either side and the headband makes it a comfortable accessory to own. The headset comes with a portable case for added protection when you are not using it, which also has a compartment for those charging cables. This is something new as not many brands offer these cases along with the headset. PLAYGO BH-70 comes in 2 colors, grey and dark brown – personally I like the grey one more as that’s my favorite color, but the brown one also has come out pretty well and looks equally good.

Connectivity, Features & Specs – The headset promises unique features like AI driven self-calibrating left and right earphones, Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation, Smart-touch-&-talk and Auto-pause-&-play features. The headset uses 40 mm device drivers which enable a good mix of Bass and Treble balance. With Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, built-in CVC 6.0 noise cancelling microphones and the latest Qualcomm aptX codec, the performance is surely enhanced for user experience. It is also compatible with voice commands that can be used with Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Apple Siri.

The ANC button has 3 variants working in opposite ways, first two of-course in which you can switch on/off the anc mode (which works well enough) and the third is transparency mode, which highlights the background noise so you can hear your surroundings better. This works great if you are travelling and have to respond or need to have a quick chat with someone, just cup your hand on the lower left area of the headphone and you are good to go, the transparency mode is on.

Also, the Auto pause & play feature comes in handy when you just want to stop listening to music, just remove the headset and the music stops, put it on to get the music back on. Make sure to enable these features on the app though, in case they aren’t automatically enabled. You are looking at 2 buttons on the left side – Bluetooth and ANC button and 3 on the right – volume (+), call and volume (-) button, the left and right side of the headphone being pre-marked.

Calling feature – Make sure to use transparency mode while answering calls or making a call. On anc mode the voice is slightly muffled, as if you are talking into the mouthpiece from a distance.

The headset is compatible with iOS and Android devices and the app can be downloaded from the Apple or Google Play Store.  

Verdict – While a lot of factors depend upon our decision to buy a headphone, ultimately the winner is the one that gives you the best experience – But to experience that, you still need to buy one. The headphone is well priced and well within the competitor pricing range with the kind of features it offers. The design, built and features offered are simple to use and they work effectively, so there you have a winner. Battery life again, is good so you are sorted in terms of the playing hours on a single charge. GO FOR IT!!