Thread: Hi-end things

Hey there, what exactly does "hi-end" mean? Is it only about electronics or can I say it about some other stuff like high-end antifreeze (like top-quality) or a high-end car or high-end milk

"High-end products" are a range of products with the highest price tag.
Note: This does not always mean that they have the highest quality.

High-end can be used for alot of things.

I don't really see it used for food though. Stuff like gourmet or specialty fills that void.

Anything that is cheap even if its the most expensive stuff isn't normally worded High-end either.

High-end Cheese, High-end Paper, High-end Tacos and other things like that would sound weird worded like that here.

I agree with Fritomaster that expensive imported foods would not normally be called "high-end", and that "gourmet cheese" or "organic heritage artisan potatoes" would be used instead.

I'm not sure I would use "high-end" for top-quality antifreeze or gasoline, either -- instead we'd say "premium."

You can definitely use high-end not only for electronics, but also for furniture, carpeting, bicycles, automobiles, clothing -- it tends to imply "individually designed and hand-made by master craftsmen," as opposed to "mass-produced by machines." (In actual fact, a "high-end" item might be made by mass-produced by machines -- certainly so in the case of electronics -- but it's made with high-quality components and is "built to last". In the case of furniture or clothing, some of the sewing may actually have been done by hand.)

And as Deborski cautions, there may or may not be a real difference in the quality or durability of the product.

Just to complement the great posts above. A Engl-Rus marketing dictionary provides this definition: high end of the market = upscale market - элитный рынок, рынок богатых потребителей, верхние эшелоны рынка (рынок товаров для состоятельных интеллигентных потребителей с уровнем дохода и образования выше среднего). Hence probably 'high end goods' (but i think it would be difficult to translate this into Russian). By the way i've seen there can be a confusion between HI-FI and high end (HI-FI is used for electronics only as far as I know).

Thanks guys for your awesome answers!

Originally Posted by alexsms

Just to complement the great posts above. A Engl-Rus marketing dictionary provides this definition: high end of the market = upscale market - элитный рынок, рынок богатых потребителей, верхние эшелоны рынка (рынок товаров для состоятельных интеллигентных потребителей с уровнем дохода и образования выше среднего). Hence probably 'high end goods' (but i think it would be difficult to translate this into Russian). By the way i've seen there can be a confusion between HI-FI and high end (HI-FI is used for electronics only as far as I know).

HI-FI stands for "High Fidelity" and can refer to the quality of the music which is produced, or the recording equipment which reproduces it.

Hope that helps.