Urbanista Berlin wireless earphones review
Urbanista Berlin earpods
€39.99Pros
- Lightweight
- Convenient
- Strong Bluetooth connection
- Look good
Cons
- Poor sound quality
- Wouldn't stay in my ears
- Plenty of alternatives
We’ve have a couple of offerings from the Urbanista stable to review. The Berlin earphones and Seattle headphones. How do they stack up?
Our review of the Seattle wireless cans will appear soon but here I’ll hand over to Mr Webb for his opinions of the Berlin earphones. Jay
I usually favour wired earphones but when I was asked to test the Berlins, I was intrigued.
The packaging looked slick and the earphones looked a little Apple EarPod-like.
Urbinista Berlin design
All the earphones I have had follow the usual earphone design. That is a tip goes in your ear and the driver(s) is held in a cylindrical housing of either metal or plastic. All standard stuff.
The Urbanista Berlin requires you to put the plastic driver pod in your ear.
Around the pod is a thin sheath of silicone that wraps around the earpiece.
On the back there’s a little flap that covers the battery-charging micro-USB port, and you’ll get around four hours’ use between charges. This is pretty poor for a pair of headphones such as this; it’s closer to the stamina you get from wireless earphones that are true cable-free earpieces. Perhaps it won’t be a huge issue if you’ll use the Urbanista Berlin exclusively for the gym or for running.
The Urbanista Berlin earphones are available in black, white, or a pair of two-tone finishes with white earpieces and pink or turquoise cable-plus-highlights.
Urbanista Berlin performance
I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Bluetooth experience with these earphones. Cheap buds tend to be prone to frequency break-ups in signal. This can be triggered by anything from minor interference or just by moving around. Not so the Urbanista.
Battery life checked in at about 4 hours, which is good. I found them to be nice and light as well as very convenient.
Comfort and fit
I do not consider myself to have pretty large ear holes but, I found them both uncomfortable and that they wouldn’t stay in.
When I did get them to stay put the controls would pull the right-side pod loose. Most annoying, especially when it happens when you’re hands are full.
This less than perfect seal also means that isolation isn’t great.
Sound quality
The lack of isolation also has a detrimental effect on the sound. The high and high mid ranges are pretty weak. The low mids are OK but the low range would certainly have been improved with a good seal.
I found the stereo image narrow, even for earphones.
Urbanista Berlin review conclusion
The Urbanista Berlin look impressive and are well packaged. Unfortunately, they’re not that comfortable and their sound quality is fairly poor.
Battery life is decent but not outstanding.
If you’re looking for some fitness earphones, perhaps spend a little more money and grab some Skullcandy XTfree buds.
Urbanista Berlin price and availability
You can purchase the Berlin earphones direct from Urbanista for €39.99.
