New Delhi, July 26 -- Homegrown lifestyle technology brand, Noise, has been prolific for a while with a broad portfolio of affordable headphones, smartwatches, and mobile accessories. Its new sub-brand, ALT, is an attempt at creating a category that doesn't yet exist in India at any meaningful scale: everyday, lifestyle-oriented open-ear audio.

ALT is Noise's attempt to build audio for the way people actually live now-hybrid work, constant calls, shared spaces, and the desire for comfort over isolation, considering one is always "plugged in". Noise's intention is to make open-ear audio feel normal, not niche.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been using the two launch devices Buds Open and Clip, to get a clearer sense of what open-ear...