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- Very good sound high quality
- Smooth, comfy design
- Low-latency gaming mode
- Interesting value
- Unbelievable battery life
- Wi-fi charging
- IPX4 water resistance
- Pressured handbook disconnecting earlier than connecting to a different system
- Finicky contact controls
- No ANC
I’ve had my palms on Urbanista’s new finances pleasant Seoul earbuds for a number of weeks now, and I have to admit my expectations have been fully exceeded. I figured that since Urbanista is utilizing the Seoul’s ultra-low latency gaming mode as its main promoting level, there can be some sacrifice of sound high quality, construct high quality, battery life, one thing. I used to be flawed.
Sound High quality
Let’s begin with any audiophile’s precedence primary: sound high quality. Whereas these earbuds could not elevate the richness of the highs, mids, and lows as a lot as a $2,000 set of studio cans, for his or her $90 price ticket, the Seoul fully shatters expectations. I’ve been utilizing the Seoul as my solely pair of headphones for the final a number of weeks and have put them by the aural ringer- podcasts, hip hop, rock, heavy metallic, lo-fi, classical, you title it, and haven’t as soon as been dissatisfied.
I’ve been by greater than my share of headphones, from $10 drug retailer cheapies to high-dollar main model true wi-fi earbuds, and the sound high quality that the Urbanist Seoul ship is greater than spectacular for its price ticket. If the out-of-the-box EQ isn’t to your liking, the Urbanista app (extra on the app later) enables you to select from 4 extra choices: Speech, Bass enhance, Treble enhance, and Energize.
Notably absent from the Seoul is any energetic noise canceling (ANC), which is actually a mark towards it. Nevertheless, in my utilization, from noisy espresso retailers to strolling subsequent to busy roads, the Seoul’s passive noise canceling by no means struggled to provide me an satisfying listening expertise, nor did I discover myself cursing the dearth of ANC. The microphone has proved excellent as nicely, as I’ve had many a cellphone name whereas strolling subsequent to a loud avenue. Are you positive you possibly can hear me okay? You don’t hear that busy avenue or something? Nope. By no means a problem.
Construct and Design
In the case of the construct of the Seoul, Urbanista has continued their pattern of modern, minimalist design. The charging case is comparable in measurement to the Airpods Professional case, and simply as unobtrusive. At first I used to be apprehensive the case felt probably flimsy, however this concern has proved unfounded as my careless dealing with hasn’t broken it in any manner. The case options 4 small LEDs within the entrance to show the present cost of the case, a function I actually recognize.
For the earbuds themselves, they’re fairly related in measurement to the Airpods Professional, however I personally discover them extra comfy. The Seoul comes with two extra silicone suggestions in numerous sizes, however I’ve discovered those that come inventory on the buds to be good for me. I haven’t felt a priority that the buds would fall out, even when jogging on the treadmill, and the match is comfy and doesn’t really feel international to my ear in any manner.
Talking of the treadmill, I used to be greater than thrilled once I found the Seoul is rated IPX4 water-resistant. Prior to now I’ve spent extra for earbuds solely to comprehend that taking them to the fitness center was a no-no, so tack versatility to the Seoul’s scoreboard. Don’t fret if these items get uncovered to some rain or sweat.
Gaming Mode
As I discussed earlier than, Urbanista’s primary promoting level for these earbuds are its gaming mode. For any critical gamer, audio lag might be soul-crushing. Mistiming your actions attributable to laggy audio cues generally is a dying sentence, and most earbuds aren’t designed with that in thoughts. With the Seoul, merely maintain your finger to the correct earbud for 5 seconds to toggle on gaming mode. On this mode, latency is lowered to a paltry 70 ms, permitting you to recreation in your cellphone worry-free. Or, use your Seoul with the Nintendo Change, which has opened up assist for wi-fi headphones.
Regardless of what you might assume, gaming mode isn’t only for gaming. If you end up shaking your fist whereas watching a film as a result of audio isn’t lined up as completely as you’d like, gaming mode generally is a repair for that. For transparency, I personally haven’t had that challenge, however it’s a nifty trick to have in your again pocket.
Battery Life
We’ve talked about sound high quality, the construct, the flagship function, however what has impressed me probably the most in regards to the Seoul is definitely the battery life. Within the weeks that I’ve had these earbuds, I feel I’ve charged them perhaps twice. Twice. As I’ve stated earlier than, these have been my day by day drivers, each for work and for play. I exploit them continually. Not as soon as have I discovered myself cursing that they misplaced cost unexpectedly, or that I wanted to plug them in for a bit to make use of them once more. Urbanista advertises the buds as holding an 8 hour cost, and a fully-charged case pushing that complete all the best way to 32 hours. I wouldn’t be stunned if it’s much more.
The Cons
Okay, okay, so what do I not like in regards to the Urbanista Seoul? My primary gripe is minor, however one which’s come up a number of instances in my utilization. The Seoul can keep in mind as much as 6 paired gadgets, however to hook up with a tool, you should manually disconnect from the earlier system. What this implies for me is that I’d discover myself comfy in mattress, about to float to sleep to a podcast, solely to comprehend that I have to arise, go to the lounge, take my work laptop computer out of my work bag, and disconnect the headphones earlier than I might join them to my cellphone. Admittedly, this is probably not a giant deal to some folks, however should you plan on utilizing your headphones throughout a number of gadgets, this can be a problem.
The contact controls work completely superb, and have what you’d expect- double faucet an earbud to pause or play, choose up a name or dangle up. Triple faucet to rewind or skip forward. Lengthy press for gaming mode. Nevertheless, the sensors on the earbuds are fairly small, and don’t have any tactile distinction than the remainder of the earbud, which implies I’ve discovered myself having to fiddle with them a bit longer than I’d wish to get the contact controls to reply. I’d love an enchancment on that sooner or later.
Lastly, the Urbanista app is completely serviceable, however nothing to write down residence about. It’s simple to make use of, shows proportion cost for every earbud, has a fast gaming mode toggle, permits for some primary settings modifications, and entry to the aforementioned EQ presets. Once more, the app is completely superb, however I might see quite a lot of audiophiles wanting for extra EQ presets, if not a handbook EQ mode.
Last Ideas
The Urbanista Seoul are implausible headphones that actually might most likely be offered above their value level. If low-latency is one thing you worth in an reasonably priced pair of earbuds, then you need to most likely simply get a set of those. The sound high quality is excellent, the battery life is unbelievable. The contact controls might use a bit work, the app is pretty naked bones, and no ANC is some extent towards it, however honestly, the professionals vastly outweigh the cons. Take the value into consideration, and I feel these are a no brainer. When you’re within the want for a pair of wi-fi earbuds, I strongly advocate you take into account a visit to Seoul.
The Urbanista Seoul is obtainable now from Urbanista for $89.90.
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