Product Type: Wireless headphones | Manufacturer: Urbanista | Price: £89.00 | Where to buy: Urbanista | [et_social_share]
The Urbanista Seattle Wireless headphones are a good addition for any fledgling audiophile but its Bluetooth connection made me angry sometimes.
We were quite impressed with the wired Urbanista Seattle, thanks to surprisingly good sound quality and an excellent price point. Now say hello to its wireless and more expensive cousin, the Seattle Wireless. Hailing from Scandinavia, Urbanista’s range is aimed at the everyday consumer, which is evident in the massive emphasis in the design of the cans. Some would say they’re quite plain, as there’s an absence of patterns or glimmering sheen on this pair of cans. But I quite like the minimalism. The headphones feel high quality to the touch, with strong plastics and a nice rubber textured finish. Each ear piece is padded with non-removable memory foam resulting in excellent comfort levels. The clamping force is pretty spot on. They won’t be squeezing your head like a watermelon and even fresh out of the box, I didn’t feel the need to stretch them out a little. Just like its wired cousin, the Wireless is adjustable, able to fold up and placed conveniently in a bag.
High quality presentation is also evident in the packaging, with the nice box and plenty of bling. The inside is equally minimal with a fabric braided cable and some feelgood propaganda you probably won’t read. Still, it’s a nice touch to see Urbanista trying hard to connect with the consumer. No pouch or bag, sorry.
The majority of us invest in cans to escape a little and It’s pretty hard to do that when seven Ubers fly down the road and interrupt your Bluetooth connection!
On the cans themselves is a single audio jack, micro-USB port and on switch. Looking at the cans you’d think that was it but don’t panic, you weren’t scammed. The music controls are hidden away and embedded into a touchpad on the side of the right can. Remember the ignored propaganda? It’d be a good idea to read it otherwise you could miss the most crucial point of these cans. For those of you who don’t like manuals, you might be left wondering how to work the things. Once you’ve located the hidden wireless controls, things are quite easy to grasp. There isn’t a steep learning curve and learning the different gestures to play, pause and skip is quite straightforward. The controls are very intuitive and incredibly easy to pull off on the move. I felt so much freedom skipping tracks and turning up the volume on the fly – without having to unlock my phone.
As for the sound quality, I really enjoyed it, I just wish it didn’t get interrupted 10 per cent of the time on the walk home. The majority of us invest in cans to escape a little and It’s pretty hard to do that when seven Ubers fly down the road and interrupt your Bluetooth connection! The Seattle Wireless seems to try and sync with every other Bluetooth device it can find¦ it’s a very active Bluetooth connection. Sound quality is really smooth, albeit not the most exciting in the world. The overall tone is detailed and flat, with no unnecessary bumps in the frequency range, quite similar to its cheaper wired counterpart. The bass was present and clear, enough for me to take it off the cans and nod appreciatively with a smile. I couldn’t tell the difference in sound quality when switching from Bluetooth to wired, a clear sign of quality within the Seattle Wireless. As it is, the Seattle Wireless is a good pair of cans for anyone looking to free themselves from constricting cables. Maybe don’t use it in congested cities. Another problem I faced was the finicky switch. On average, I had to flick it on and off two times until activated. I’m going to put this down to a dodgy test sample and nothing malicious on Urbanista’s behalf.
Excellent build quality coupled with detailed, smooth sound make the Urbanista Seattle Wireless a decent purchase for those wanting a pair of convenient wireless cans. What lets it down is the promiscuous nature of Bluetooth, dropping the connection randomly when another capable device is nearby.
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