THE HIDDEN COSTS OF CHEAP GADGETS

What Brands Still Won't Tell You in 2025

- Words By: Shintu Dhang

India's love affair with ultra-cheap electronics shows no signs of slowing down. In 2025, the sub-₹2,000 segment is exploding with neckbands, LED bulbs, Bluetooth speakers, OTG pendrives, and mini power banks that promise the moon for pocket change. Flipkart's Big Billion Days and Amazon's Great Indian Festival have trained us to believe that ₹299 can buy “premium” anything. But open any consumer forum, or simply ask your neighbourhood repair guy, and the same horror stories repeat. Here are everyday gadgets Indians buy by the millions, and the hidden price we all pay for them.

WIRELESS NECKBANDS

Walk into any metro compartment and you'll spot at least three people wearing brightly coloured neckbands that cost less than a movie ticket. Brands like Goboult Audio Maverick, pTron Tangentbeat, and Zebronics Zeb-Yoga dominate this category with claims of "40-hour battery", "dual pairing", and "magnetic earbuds". Reality hits around a month, the rubberised cable hardens and cracks near the controller, exposing wires, and the battery drops to 4-5 hours. A 2025 survey revealed that 68% of neckband buyers under ₹1,000 had to replace the product within six months, that's ₹800 spent twice a year instead of ₹2,900 once every three years on a Sony WI-C310.

LED BULBS