Nokia Suitcase

The new year has come and the year has proceeded, but there is some good news especially for those who bought Nokia Xpressmusic phones.
Why?
Maybe You are wondering.......
Heres why....


This kit contains the Nokia 5610 and 5310 phones, with a host of products to aid the music experience. Apparently, the suitcase was just a teaser and the products it contains not yet launched in India. After a lot of digging it was found out that JBL might be interested in bringing its docking station (present in the suitcase) to India.

JBL Docking Station

The docking station is primarily for the Nokia 5310 Xpressmusic phone. The phone fits snugly onto the given space and the buttons on the station sort of latch on to the ones given on the phone, allowing you to control playback and volume from the docking station itself. The best thing about the docking station is that it also charges your phone. The sound quality is something to kill for – it’s brilliantly loud. The lows are well-rounded and have a lot of character. You can feel the thump, and if we are talking about a small room, well let's just say you can have a blast. The volume can be cranked up to the max without much visible jarring. Once the 5310 is connected to the docking station, you can control playback, forward/rewind and volume from the external controls itself. Also with the converter (generally provided) you can blast music from any Xpressmusic phone, or even a regular MP3 player. So you need not limit the docking station usability to the 5310.

Altec Lansing Speakers

Altec Lansing speakers are in all fairness decent. This, however, is when compared to the docking station. For a small room, you can have a decent output, provided you do not blast the volume. The bass lacks warmth, and jars when the volume is pumped up high. This is because it doesn't have proper drivers to drive the sound.Mind you, this isn’t a docking station. It has a 3.5mm cable sticking out, which can attached to any MP3 player. From the way it was packed, we got the impression that the speaker was clubbed with the 5610. Well, if it is, it’s heavily undermining the 5610!

Philips Headphones

The Philips headset included in this ‘spy kit’ of sorts is quite light and easy to use. It can be folded and carried around easily. The sound quality is really good; you can comfortably listen to music with minimal distraction even while commuting. The cushioning around the ears helps to keep out ambient sounds. You will have to use it with a Nokia headphone adapter, as the wire is too short.

Accessories

The Nokia kit comes with plenty of accessories for mobiles and dock stations. What’s included is a mobile charger, a DC charger for the JBL dock, an additional Nokia adapter, 3.5mm to 3.5mm and 2.5mm to 3.5mm cords that can be used to connect the phones to the docks as well as other devices. So the Nokia case is quite well equipped – not just for the 5610 and 5310 but for any mobile or media device that use 3.5mm universal connectors for music output. Unfortunately the kit as a whole is not available in India. Then again, would you really buy it?We do know that the JBL dock will be available officially soon, but there's no definite word on price and availability.

Mitashi MH 3001 NC HEADPHONE

Noise cancellation is hot these days, with battery packs and weird on/off switches being telltale indicators of these bulky devices. Ever since Bose started the movement a while ago, players (big and small) have jumped on the bandwagon, with various products on offer.

Mitashi, a household name these days in the realm of affordable electronics, has come out with a model called the MH 3001 NC. These are active circuit noise cancellation headphones. Now to go on and see whether the underdog can stand up to the more expensive stalwarts or fall flat.

Design and Features

The product is quite light and compact, especially when packed snug in its square cardboard box. The foldable design means you can use it for cueing like a DJ, but the performance will dictate the extent of that possibility. The body is black all over, and thick plastic is the material of choice for the headband and driver cases. The top half of the pad has a semicircular glossy surface that bears the Mitashi logo.

The rims are padded with a soft coated cushion, while the exposed driver is protected by a thin sponge layer. Ergonomically it the device is very good, and does not cause any strain on the ears. The left ear contains a slot for 2 AAA batteries, while the right case houses the circuit; the power switch, and input for the EP cord on the bottom curve. The wires included are an RCA-EP and an EP-EP connector, but strangely no batteries are included.

Performance

The model is designed so that it works only in active mode, like the Bose, so you need to have batteries all time. After switching the product on, people encounter a short burst of low frequency feedback on the right, probably by the circuit situated there. It was not damaging, but the slight noise encountered in the absence of music is a drawback.

This gets masked when tracks are played, just like all other amps and their associated hums, though soft passages might get affected by this. Considering the price of the product, people should not be too discerning about the performance – and with this caveat in mind, the performance was good. The bass and mids were in control and sibilance levels too were fine.

Noise cancellation wasn't present but it made the background sound leak through a bit, that too in a weird sounding, out-of-phase form. The headphones can handle good amounts of volume without distortion, and again it’s the music playback capability that impressed us, and not the noise cancellation.

Conclusion
At Rs 1095, this could be the cheapest noise cancellation unit around, so it now boils down to whether you want to spend so little! The noise cancellation is not effective and a few negative issues crop up in the performance, but the sound itself is not bad at all. If you're on a shoestring budget, you might as well give it a try.