Sens, a new wearable brand has entered the Indian market with a product range including smartwatches, neckbands and TWS (truly wireless) earbuds. The TWS models are named after the musicians and four of them launched the Cnatra 1 and 2, and the Hendriks 1 and 2. Let’s take a look at their Hendriks 1, priced at an introductory price of Rs. 1699. All the devices are designed in the US and manufactured in India. The brand is new in the market but it looks promising with all the product range.
Build quality and design
The case is the highlight and will give a remarkable strike as it is small and the zinc alloy metal case feels solid, also you don’t get this kind of premium case in this price range. It weighs around 70 gms with the earbuds in the case. The case is squared in shape with dimensions 55mm side and 25mm thickness. The case comes with a USB Type C charging port and an indicator on the bottom edge. The case has soft padding from the inside which gives cushion to the earbuds and also feels premium. The solid metal block of the hinge feels sturdy and it can take some rough use. The snap of the closing lid is pretty snapping.
The Earbuds are meant for in-ear design with an extended stem with a semi-cylindrical shape. It comes with three sets of silicone tips in Small, Medium and Large sizes for better fitting. The ergonomics of the stem allow precise touch controls and design with a series of circles of decreasing size down along either stem. The earbuds weigh around 3.5mm which feels light. Both the stems get a charge from the base and also microphones are placed there. It fits so easily that after a while you will forget to wear them, also don’t fall out easily. It is not fragile, nor feel cheap knock off and with the case it gives a premium feel for sure.
Features
Unfortunately, it doesn’t have any app to control the earbuds as there is not much to do also. The setup is simple and easy for pairing with the smartphone. A tap on the left earbud will decrease the volume, a tap on the right earbud once will increase the volume, a double tap on either side will play or pause your music, and triple touch to earbuds will trigger the compatible voice assistant (Google Assistant/ Siri) with the smartphone. The TWS doesn’t support multi-device connectivity, which is completely acceptable with this price tag. Also, it lacks no-ear detection. The Earbuds come with an IPX5 rating which means it has water and sweat protection but not dust protection. The IPX5 rating is a bonus at this price.
Performance
The Earbuds have 10mm drivers which are composite as we usually see 12-13mm drivers in this range. The Hendriks 1 supports SBC, AAC audio codes, and also comes with Bluetooth 5.1. The user can switch SBC and AAC manually, by going inside the Bluetooth settings. The treble is good but it is not high bass. As for audio output, it handles low and mid fairly better along with vocals. But on high output, it gets slightly muffled which is acceptable in this budget. The maximum loudness touches 80db which is within the range.
The voice quality is great but the microphones pick up the ambient noise. Noise cancellation is too much to ask in this range, but in a noisy environment and windy conditions, we won’t recommend using it. When receiving a call the controls are the same for the earbuds – single tap for answering, double tap for ending the call and long press to reject the call. The controls on the earbuds are precise and hardly got any mistaps while using it nor any ever got the wrong interpretation every single time.
The connectivity is any major feature where the earbuds shine. Pairing it with a smartphone or laptop is seamless once it is paired. The website claims the Bluetooth range to 10m and in the user manual it states 12m but beyond that, the connection is lost completely. The sound feedback of the earbuds (prompting pairing mode or connected) could be a little hard and would prefer a softer tone.
The company claims 6 hours of battery for each earbud which has a 30mAh battery and the case has a 450mAh battery which will last for 30 hours. It takes 2 hours to charge completely from 0-100% battery. In our use, we got around five hours and forty-five minutes of usage time of earbuds with 75% volume. Even with max volume, it lasted around 4-4.5 hours. The charging case takes nearly 20 minutes to charge the earbuds which had 0% battery.
Verdict
The Hendricks 1 comes with a special introductory price of Rs. 1,699 which is a stealer deal. It is an undisputed champion when it comes to competition of any TWS in this range. The case, connectivity and controls are the positive aspects to look forward to. The Hendricks 1 is undoubtedly reliable and the best option to opt for in this range.
