Product Type: Earphones | Manufacturer: Urbanista | Price: £39.99 | Where to buy: Urbanista | [et_social_share]
The Urbanista Berlin earphones are a very cheap way to dive into the world of wireless audio. It’s just a shame sound quality can’t match.
Urbanista has a pretty good track record of producing low-cost, effective quality headphones. The young Scandinavian audio accessories manufacturer has impressed us in the past with Seattle cans and Melbourne Bluetooth speaker, so we were keen to see if these bargain wireless headphones could carry on the tradition. Costing just £39.99 RRP, they are a significantly cheaper than Apple AirPods and other wireless earphones from manufacturers like SoundMagic.
On first impression, Urbanista is doing everything right, shipping them in some very attractive packaging which will help the earphones stand out on the shelf. Inside the box you’ll find a micro-USB cable for charging them, plus the earphones themselves. Build quality is so-so and they feel like the gummy earphones you often buy at supermarkets. That said, the finish is nice and the bold colours certainly make them look trendy.
Since the Urbanista Berlin earphones are not true in-ears, they can be a little uncomfortable and often fall out from the gentlest knock. The design isn’t fully wireless like Apple AirPods; you’ll need to wrap the cable behind your neck. The isolation is also quite poor, meaning sound leaks heavily into the surrounding area. You wouldn’t really want to use these on a train unless you fancy the thought of other people hearing your music.
The little pack closest to the right earphone contains the battery and three usage controls. The center button controls pairing, while the ones either side are for volume control. It’s worth noting that this works with all three mobile operating systems… including Windows Phone. A small flap covers the micro-USB charging port, of which there’s up to four hours of life. That’s pretty short and could be a lot better, especially considering the AirPods get six hours without any cable whatsoever.
Sound quality on the Urbanista Berlin is pretty disappointing, with a muddy midrange and very little treble extension. We struggled to get excited by the sound due to a lack of dynamics and detail. It’s quite a boring sound stage overall, though bass response was admittedly okay. The inclusion of large 13.2mm drivers has no doubt helped with this.
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