The Urbanista Athens True Wireless cost £119 from the Urbanista website
In this review, we cover another product from Swedish audio brand Urbanista. The Urbanista Athens ( Yes named after the capital city of Greece). The Key features of these earbuds are IP67 rated, Bluetooth 5.0, stereo calls, a smart assistant and compatible on both IOS & Android.
On the first inspection, these earbuds are designed with sports use in mind and have that rugged style and the urbanista logo printed on the button on the buds. They have a rubberised shell and colour wise they have a mix of grey and black. These are a pair of buds that can handle smashing it in the gym and getting hot and sweaty these buds will work just fine.
Looking at the buds a little deeper they are IP67 rated meaning they can be in water up to a meter deep for half an hour and are also dustproof. The buds also come with different tips and also 3 different pairs of Gofit wings that help create that balance of comfort in your ear as well as being secure when in your ears. The buds are also very lightweight meaning half the time you won’t notice the buds in your ears.
Setting up these buds is very easy the buds the first time put them in the case which also charges the buds. Take them out and the buds will start to flash a white light and they will appear on the phone as “ Urbanista Athens R” click pair then you will get a notification to pair with the “urbanista Athens L” click pair and you’re done. Then all you have to do next time you use them is take them out of the case and they will automatically pair. You will hear a voice telling you the buds are connected then time to pump up the jam. You will notice the right bud is the master and the left bud is the slave.
Controls wise it’s all very easy:
- PLAY– press the left bud button twice
- PAUSE– Press the Left bud twice
- INCREASE VOLUME– press right bud once
- DECREASE VOLUME– press left bud once
- NEXT TRACK– hold right bud for 2 seconds
- PREVIOUS TRACK– hold left bud for 2 seconds
- ANSWER A CALL– press either bud once
- END A CALL– Press either bud twice
- SMART ASSISTANT– Press right bud twice
Using the controls I found the buttons to be on the firm side meaning pressing the buttons created some comfort issues in my ears at times but you do get used to it after a while.
Moving on to how they sound and the bass is very good and urbanista has focused on the bass without affecting the sound profile. The overall sound quality is decent but the lows can sometimes overtake the mids but overall sound and when listening to something like Memories by Maroon 5. The highs are very good and the bass makes this track really enjoyable to listen to plus the vocals are very crisp. The audio in these buds are aided by the AptX Bluetooth 5.0 means you have the best wireless signal and this was proven as the whole time I used these they did not cut out at all adding to the experience.
Finally, you also noticed when you have got the fit right you get passive noise isolation and its very good in fact it cut out most outside noise which also added to the sound. The battery life you get 8 hours playback per charge but you also get a charging case that gives you 3 more charges totalling 32 hours in total.
The case is a soft-touch finish case with the Urbanista logo printed on the case. When you open the case you will notice 4 LED lights which indicate the number of charges you have in the case. The case also has magnets inside to hold the buds when not in use.
The case is quite small meaning it will fit inside most pockets and weighing at 50g even with the buds inside means it won’t weigh you down. When you need to recharge you are provided with a USB-C cable but if you use an Android phone you might get lucky and your phone charger will also charge the buds as well.
Overall, urbanista has created a great pair of earbuds ideal for the gym or doing sport outside and yes you can even swim with them if you like personally I am not a fan of swimming with buds but it’s a nice additional feature. You can also use your smart assistant and the controls are very easy to use.
The only negative I have is using the controls on the buds it did hurt my ears at times and there is not transparency mode but at this price, I can live without it.
These buds also offer a very good sound profile and give you 8 hours of playtime per usage and up to 32 hours in total all very good features. Price-wise at £119, these are a very good price for buds of this quality. So if you are looking for a decent pair of buds for the gym with IP67 rating these are well worth the investment.
Overall Ratings:
- Design: 4/5
- Features: 4.5/5
- Performance: 5/5
- Value for Money: 5/5
Total – 4.5 Stars
The Urbanista Athens True Wireless cost £119 from the Urbanista website.
