iMore Verdict
Bottom line: These high-tech earbuds have the features you want at a reasonable price.
Pros
- +
Truly wireless 5.0 Bluetooth earbuds
- +
Active Noise Cancelling
- +
Ambient Sound Mode (enforce and define outside voices)
- +
In-ear detection
- +
Wireless Qi charging
- +
25-hour battery life
- +
Touch controls
- +
Voice control
- +
IPX4 water resistance
Cons
- -
Occasional connection loss
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Urbanista's London Wireless Earbuds let you block out unwanted sounds, or let in and define outside voices. These earbuds have an array of advanced features, such as Advanced Noise Cancelling, Ambient Sound Mode, wireless Qi charging, in-ear detection, touch controls, and more.
Silence the outside world or let it in
Urbanista London Wireless Earbuds: Features
Urbanista's London Wireless Earbuds are a pleasant surprise. They are comfortable to wear, sound great, and are loaded with advanced features. The obvious comparison is to Apple's AirPods, or AirPods Pro, and there are a lot of similarities. Like the AirPods Pro, the Urbanista London Wireless Earbuds have ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) that you can turn on with a tap. If you need to be able to hear outside sounds, voices, in particular, you can turn on Ambient Sound Mode instead. Either way, you're in control.
Urbanista London Wireless Earbuds have in-ear detection. This means that pulling one earbud out automatically pauses your music. Put it back in, and your music resumes.
You can charge the earbuds four times (by placing them back in the case) before you need to recharge the case. You can get up to 25 hours of total play time on a single charge of the case. Like some of the AirPods models, you can charge the Urbanista London Wireless Earbuds on a wireless Qi charger. You can even charge the case while you wear the earbuds. It takes less than an hour to charge the case, either on a Qi charging pad or the included USB-C to USB-A cable.
I found that they paired easily with my iPhone, MacBook Pro, and iPad Pro. Simply open the case, and select the earbuds from your device's Bluetooth settings. There's a reset button inside the case; if you have any connection issues, you can press and hold that button for 10 seconds. Unlike Apple's AirPods, you can't switch seamlessly between your Apple devices; you must disconnect and reconnect each time you switch devices. Of course, this also means that you don't have to be all-in on Apple. Urbanista London Wireless Earbuds work with any Apple, Android, or Windows Bluetooth device.
Urbanista's flagship earbuds feel great and have a whole host of sophisticated features.
Touch controls put you in control with a tap, double-tap, or tap and hold on the Urbanista logo on each earbud. You can play and pause your music, adjust the volume, answer/reject/end phone calls, activate Siri or the Google Assistant, turn on/off Active Noise Cancelling, and Ambient Sound Mode. The controls are easy to use and work well.
My experience with the Urbanista London Wireless Earbuds has been quite positive. They sound great and are comfortable to wear. Three different sizes of silicone tips are included, so they should fit nearly any pair of ears. They are easy to use. The ANC is pretty good; I do notice slight muffling of outside sound, but I wouldn't say it's totally blocked out. You'll get better ANC with over the ear headphones than with any earbuds. The Ambient Sound Mode is pretty subtle too, but it is there. It's helpful to have when you need to hear outside sounds, such as voices. It's also safer if you're walking, jogging, or riding your bike to be able to hear ambient house. I can indeed tell the difference when I switch in and out of the various modes, one right after the other.
Since the Urbanista London Wireless Earbuds have IP4X water resistance, you don't have to worry about sweaty workouts or getting caught in the rain. The IP4X rating means that they will protect from splashing water, but not water jets or water immersion.
Urbanista's focus is aiming to hit the sweet spot between quality and price. Their goal is to make great audio technology accessible but not disposable. Axel Grell, who was Sennheiser's chief headphone engineer for 25 years, fine-tuned the Urbanista London's sound for "ground shaking bass and smooth highs." Urbanista CEO Anders Andreen, elaborates, "As a lifestyle-focused technology brand, we've designed our products to be an integral part of our customer's day-to-day activities while paying close attention to the 'soft features' that can personalize an experience. Sound quality, battery life, and control are all made to be effortlessly functional, while the form factor, comfort, and style give our customers an accessory that can perfectly fit any situation."
Urbanista London Wireless Earbuds are Urbanista's flagship earbuds, combining all the best features of their other headphones. Choose from four colors: Rose Gold, White Pearl, Midnight Black, and Navy.
All-around great
Urbanista London Wireless Earbuds: What I like
These are great every day, everywhere earbuds. I use them for video conferencing as well as listening to music and videos. I can easily switch them back and forth between all of my devices. I wear them for hours at a time with no comfort issues, and I have very sensitive ears. The fit is secure, and they have not fallen out of my ears, even when I jump up and down with my head tilted (just to test them out, that's not something I normally do for fun). ANC is one of my favorite features. It allows me to work outdoors on a nice day; it's quite noisy where I live near a main street, and the ANC dulls the noise a bit. The wireless charging is a nice touch, especially since I can charge the case while using the headphones. It's quite convenient to just pause the music by taking out an earbud and re-start it by placing it back in.
Not perfect
Urbanista London Wireless Earbuds: What I don't like
I've been testing out these headphones for dozens of hours, and a few times, I experienced a "blip" like an echo, delay, or difficulty connecting. Luckily the earbuds reset quickly, and the issues resolved. The reset button in the case makes it easy.
Bluetooth 5.0
Urbanista London Wireless Earbuds: Bottom line
Urbanista's flagship headphones, the London Wireless Earbuds sound great, feel great, and have a whole host of sophisticated features. While these aren't Apple AirPods, they do share a lot of features with AirPods Pro. Urbanista London Wireless Earbuds have Active Noise Cancelling as well as Ambient Sound Mode (comparable to Apple's Transparency Mode), so you can block the outside out or let it in. The charging case gives the earbuds four full charges, for a total of up to 25 hours of play time. The case charges up in less than an hour on a Qi wireless charging pad or with the included cable.
High-end
Urbanista's flagship earbuds feature Active Noice Cancellation, Ambient Sound Mode, Bluetooth 5.0, Qi wireless charging, touch controls, Siri access, in-ear detection, and more.
