Jun 26, 2017 hindi film music Now that Saregama Carvaan is here, move over, FM radio? Despite its flaws and limitations, the digital audio player is a case where the whole is. Buy Saregama Carvaan mini Telugu today. It has a collection of 351 evergreen Telugu songs by legends like Akkineni Nageswara Rao, N.T. Rama Rao, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam & Ghantasala. It comes with features like Bluetooth connectivity, USB, FM/AM.
The Carvaan is a new Bluetooth speaker released by the famous Indian music label Saregama. As you would expect from such as source, the Carvaan isn't just a simple speaker. It's got a number of interesting features built-in, most notable of which is that it comes with 5,000 classic Hindi songs, which you can listen to anytime you want to, without any Internet connection.
The other thing that really stands out is the design of the speaker, which looks like a classic portable radio. While is a modern and refined take on the concept, Saregama went with a chunky and boxy design for the Carvaan, which is decidedly retro.The unique look and concept behind the speaker really caught our eye, and we've spent the best part of last seven days using a Carvaan to see how it measures up beyond the striking design. Read on to know whether this speaker is worth your money.Saregama Carvaan design and featuresAs mentioned earlier, the highlight of this speaker is definitely its design.
In terms of specifications, it's a fairly straightforward. The 1.5kg stereo speaker has an audio wattage of 6W - that's 3W to each individual driver, though they're pretty close to each other because of the design, so don't expect wide stereo separation.The Carvaan supports USB playback, Bluetooth, FM Radio, and there's a Saregama mode which lets you play the stored collection.
Saregama is one of the most famous music labels in India, and on its website states that it is the custodian of over half the music recorded in India, with a history that stretches back to 1901. The Radio Geetmala commentary by Ameen Sayani included in the device goes back to 1952.The look of the Carvaan, as described above, is modelled after a classic portable radio. The plastic finish looks like something that was made in the 70s or 80s in India - there's a couple of large metal buttons on the front fact that let you switch between the stored content modes; and there's a huge and shiny tuning knob like a real radio would have.
A black band runs just under this knob, where a real radio would have the frequency details. In the case of the Carvaan, this space is used for a simple LCD display. There's a metal and plastic handle that can be turned out of sight, and on the left, you have four buttons, for the different sources - Saregama, USB, FM, and Bluetooth.On the right, you have a plastic vertical volume dial, and below that a 3.5mm port you can connect your headphones, if you want. On top there's a big power button, and a small battery indicator light. The lower half of the front face has a simple grille, covering the two speakers, and the back is mostly plain, apart from a USB port (for playing music), Micro-USB (for charging), and a tiny Reset button to reset the device. Using the CarvaanSwitch on the Carvaan the first time, and it starts off in Saregama mode, on Geetmala.
You can use the tuning knob to move forward across the years, from 1952 to 1979. The forward and back buttons under the tuning knob let you move forward between the different tracks on the record.You can also press the Moods button to switch between different genres using the tuning knob, and the Artistes button lets you do that for different singers. It's worth noting that the organisation of tracks is a little confusing - for instance, turning the knob moves you from Asha Bhosle to Mohammed Rafi, and if you keep turning the dial you get get Jagjit Singh and then SD Burman. The songs themselves are also not seemingly organised, but it's a minor quibble.You'll use the same knob to move across tracks on a USB drive, and to tune the FM radio. Using the FM radio is actually a lot of fun. You simply turn the knob to tune through the various frequencies - it's not an analog knob like a real old radio would have, but you still get to experience some of the same feeling, of physically tuning the radio. Many people reading this might never have experienced that, but it was a fun bit of nostalgia for us when testing the Carvaan.Bluetooth mode goes into pairing right away and is pretty easy to set up and use for anyone who has ever used such a portable speaker.
In Bluetooth mode, you can only use the volume dial. Performance and battery lifeThere are a couple of different ways to measure the performance of the Saregama Carvaan. First, there's the question of how good a Bluetooth speaker it is. On that front, it's definitely bulky and heavy, and the battery life - for something this size - leaves a lot to be desired.The audio quality itself is fairly decent. It works best with the stored music, delivering the classic tones of the old tracks and the radio commentary cleanly and loudly. The speaker is loud enough to carry to the park for a picnic, for instance, and it's very mid-centric, making it good for tracks led by vocals.Audio playback quality is good overall, but it's more in line with a speaker of around half the price, such as the, although the Carvaan is louder than the Mi speaker. Overall though, you're not buying this simply if you want a Bluetooth speaker - there are cheaper options that sound as good.