It's no surprise that as the tech gets more accessible, truly wireless earbuds are getting cheaper. However, despite a wealth of wire-free headphones flooding the market, not all of them are worthy of your dough. Fortunately Urbanista have stepped in to keep quality up while carefully watching the price, thanks to the Urbanista Paris.
For those unaware, truly wireless headphone are exactly that. There are no wires linking them to your music playback device, nor is there one between each of the two speakers. Pop them both in your ears, connect via Bluetooth to your phone, and you're away.
Like many others, the Paris come with their own charging carry case, to both keep them safe in your bag, and to juice them up. Unlike many other wireless buds, the case that comes with the Paris can offer three entire charges to the headphones, which, coupled with the battery life on a single charge of five hours, extends your use by up to 20 hours. Decent.
If we're being honest, in terms of design the Paris seem to draw heavily from Apple's Airpods. They're in-ear and feature a long hanging touch control and charging pad. This means they kinda look like cheap Airpods, and although they are a hell of a lot cheaper, that design choice might put you off - even when they come in colours other than white.
Still, that to one side (coz we're not fans of over-priced, over-hyped Apple tech, here), how do they actually perform? Well, the Urbanista Paris feature 10mm drivers in each bud, delivering rich and clear audio. The bass was somewhat lacking, we felt, but the inclusion of a few differing sizes of caps means you should get a tight seal, boosting musical lows.
Each bud has a microphone and we're happy to report that call quality was great. There are no physical buttons on the buds, not even a power button, so answering a call, or skipping a track, is as simple as tapping the side of one of the headphones. That sealed design also helps Urbanista give the Paris an IPX3 water resistant rating. Peace of mind if your ears sweat a lot. Or you like to listen to music in the rain.
But the included power case, delivering an additional three whole charges to what is already a great battery life, really makes these a contender. They certainly aren't the best sounding wireless earbuds we've heard, but they're one of the best complete packages. If you don't mind the Apple-like looks, and you are looking for something with actual value for money, check them out.
£99
Visit www.urbanista.com