When I’m on the road, I usually shuffle a playlist of my current favorite tracks to make the long ride a little less on the dragging side. But of course, music is a lot better (and more colorful) with a pair of awesome headphones. This summer, I’ve been field testing the Urbanears Plattan from Digits Trading in my trips. Read more…
What I first noticed about the Urbanears Plattan is the sleek, minimalist design, which the Swedish stylish headphone manufacturer has been known for. I super love the color I got—Petrol, a derivative of an aquamarine hue. But if the color I have is not for you, worry not because Urbanears has a full range of eye-catching colors for their 2013 Spring/Summer collection, such as Tomato, Forest, Coral, Black, and Olive.
Looking into the design more closely, the headband, like the cord, is covered by fabric that makes it notches better than one made of flimsy plastic. The collapsible headband also allows the headphones to be folded into something more compact and thus bag-friendly.
As mentioned, the cord is likewise enclosed in textured fabric, making it less prone to tangling nightmares. The cord being attached to just one side of the headphones, aside from making them look cooler, prevents irritating twists and knots.
A feature of the headphones that comes so useful when hanging out at the beach with a buddy is the ZoundPlug. It’s a 3.5mm jack embedded onto a side of the headphones that lets another pair of ear device share the music. Meanwhile, those who combine life with leisure will like the microphone and remote that’s compatible with a number of smartphones.
I’ve owned a couple of fancy headphones—ones that go more for design than function. I won’t reveal names here, but the sound output is quite bad for the premium price. Honestly, there are very few headphone brands out there that could successfully marry design with quality, and thankfully, Urbanears is one of them.
It would be quite unfair to compare the sound quality of these Urbanears to pairs five to ten times its price, but it does release quality sound output. I observed that the mids and highs are within optimum amounts, while the base comes in great doses, which I like a lot.
Testing the pair in different environments, I am pleased that the Urbanears Plattan keeps the dreaded audio leakage to a minimum. Yes, even with Avicii’s Levels on full blast, I wasn’t asked by my folks if I was deaf (yet again).
Verdict: The Urbanears Plattan goes beyond the trendy aesthetics—it’s packed with a great audio mechanism. I’ll be sure to bring my pair to my next trips!
The Urbanears Plattan is available at 2950 PHP from the Urbanears Concept Store in Podium. It’s also available at official resellers like Digital Walker and Beyond the Box. Digits Trading is the exclusive distributor of Urbanears here in the Philippines. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter!
