The world of wireless audio has a new contender, the Poco Pods true wireless earphones. Priced at just Rs. 1,199, they offer a basic, affordable audio experience in a market flooded with high-end options.
Cutting Through the Noise: Poco Pods
These earphones sport a generic look, with light, durable earpieces and a stem design that offers a proper in-canal fit.
A standout feature of these earphones is the touch-sensitive controls. Double-tap to play, pause, or answer calls; triple-tap to skip ahead (unfortunately, you can’t skip back). Long press both earpieces to turn on or off the low-latency mode. A little tap here, a little press there, nothing complicated, just straight to the point.
The charging case has a small indicator light and a USB Type-C port. These include environmental noise cancellation but, interestingly, no charging cable in the box. So what’s the verdict on the Poco Pods’ design and features? Simple, but effective.
Under the hood, Poco Pods host 12 mm dynamic drivers with Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity. Disappointingly, they only support the SBC Bluetooth codec, a spec we’d hoped to be better at this price point.
On the plus side, using the earpieces individually is hassle-free, ensuring secure connectivity regardless of whether one is in operation or safely tucked away in the charging case.
The Poco Pods’ straightforward true wireless function hardly disappoints, but the sound quality leaves room for some improvement. Track tests reveal a slight muffling under heavy attack and an emphasis on bass frequencies.
Call quality is decent indoors, while outdoor performance takes a hit despite the presence of ENC. Low-latency mode doesn’t alter much on basic mobile games either.
With the earpieces yielding about five hours on a single charge and over three additional charges provided by the case, you are looking at 22-23 hours of total runtime.
The Poco Pods provide everything that you would expect from a headset at this price. Basic, but stable. Not detailed, but engaging. Passable noise isolation and decent battery life. Poco’s opening salvo into the wireless audio market is commendable, but the lack of AAC Bluetooth codec support is a glaring omission.
