Urbanista Miami review: A cheap AirPods Max alternative that keeps playing for days
Our Verdict
With bass-rich audio quality and monster battery life, the Urbanista Miami is a expert pair of agile racket-cancelling headphones — and the low cost makes it a bully one.
For
- Outstanding battery life
- ANC for cheap
- Good sound quality
Against
- No app...yet
- Audible wind noise
- Tight fit
Tom'due south Guide Verdict
With bass-rich audio quality and monster battery life, the Urbanista Miami is a good pair of active dissonance-cancelling headphones — and the low price makes it a great one.
Pros
- +
Outstanding bombardment life
- +
ANC for cheap
- +
Proficient sound quality
Cons
- -
No app...yet
- -
Audible wind noise
- -
Tight fit
The Urbanista Miami could hardly accept come at a ameliorate time. Information technology's a ready of over-ear headphones with colorful, modern styling, long bombardment life and active noise cancellation (ANC) — just at a much lower toll than certain other headphones to share these qualities.
Urbanista Miami specs
Colors: Red, black, white, teal
Battery life (rated): xl hours with ANC, 50 hours without
Size: eight.i x 6.half dozen ten 3.5 inches
Weight: 10.9 ounces
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0
Processor: Not stated
Yeah, if you lot were recently burned past the $549 asking cost of the AirPods Max, the $149 Miami might wait similar the perfect consolation prize. In fact, compared to most of the best wireless headphones and best racket-cancelling headphones, it could salve you hundreds of dollars. And, as our Urbanista Miami review will explain, that's not the but good thing nearly it.
- Check out more of the all-time over-ear headphones
- Cleer Enduro ANC review: Even better battery life than the Miami
Urbanista Miami review: Price and availability
- Urbanista Miami for $149 from Urbanista
The Urbanista Miami is currently only bachelor direct from Urbanista, though information technology can ship to a host of countries including the U.S. and U.K.
It costs $149 and comes in 1 of 4 unlike colors: red, blackness, white and teal. The white pick is unique in leaving its aluminium headband spine unpainted; all the others are one solid colour throughout.
Urbanista Miami review: Design
Urbanista apparently intended the Miami as a "level up" on its previous headphones, the Urbanista London. That wouldn't be hard in terms of size, as the London was a fix of true wireless earbuds, whereas the Miami is a full-sized pair of over-ear headphones.
Build quality exceeds expectations for $149. Instead of flimsy plastics, the Miami is built from costly, matte-end aluminum, with vegan leather wrapping around the padded earcups and headband. It's non the most foldable set of over-ear cans in the world, but the earcups practice rotate apartment for easier storage. And there'due south some modest pivot adjustment in add-on to the standard adjustable headband.
The styling is keen besides: sleek and uncomplicated, with the controls and ports tucked abroad on the lesser of the earcup mounts. On the right is a ready of three buttons (more than on these later) and a 3.5mm jack, so you can go on listening with the included aux cable should the battery run apartment. On the left is the alone "Feature" button and a USB-C port for charging.
Information technology's a very straightforward design overall, though Urbanista has managed to find the elegance in such simplicity.
Urbanista Miami review: Comfort and fit
For all its padding, the Urbanista Miami is a tight fit. And on two counts: the stiff headband makes the whole set clamp effectually your caput with considerable force, while the earcups exit very trivial room for your ears to exhale.
On the i hand this is good, or at least improve than having a loose fit. Maintaining a firm seal is of import for ANC to work, and you never want headphones that feel similar they're going to autumn off as you lot walk. But compared to my Bose QuietComfort 35 II headphones, the Miami's earcups felt a lot more cramped.
However, I wouldn't phone call the Miami outright uncomfortable. I found myself getting used to both the tightness and the small earcups inside the infinite of a few songs, and wore the headphones for three hours straight on an ill-considered long walk — though I did take my glasses off for the last 60 minutes, as the temples were pressing into my caput.
Urbanista Miami review: Setup and controls
Pairing the Urbanista Miami over Bluetooth is quick and simple. It's merely a affair of belongings down the "Command" button and finding the headphones on the device'due south Bluetooth menu.
The Command button wears many other hats: information technology's the power push button, the play button, the intermission push and the answer/end/reject button all in one, depending on how long you press it and how many times in succession. It can also summon Siri or Google Assistant with a double press.
All these inputs worked fine for me, and I particularly appreciated having a tactile, physical push button instead of finicky impact controls. Likewise for the ii volume/skip buttons that flank the Command button, and the Feature button over on the left cup.
This simply switches between ANC fashion, ambient audio mode and "default" mode, which doesn't use either. Dissimilar the other 3 buttons there'due south a delay between each input, which tin can wearisome things down if you want to apace switch modes, but otherwise in that location's nothing to complain about.
Urbanista Miami review: Audio quality
Urbanista CEO Anders Andreen told me in a phone call that the company wanted the Miami to evangelize strong bass without "diluting" the mids and highs. There's definitely a powerful bass slam, but good news Anders: the residue of the frequency range survives the impact.
If annihilation the Urbanista Miami is one of the best-sounding inexpensive racket cancelling headphones I've used, especially for more than upbeat tunes. The funk-rock of Clutch'south "In Walks Barbarella" positively divisional forth, and the harsh electronics of Defqwop'due south "Centre Afire" were filled out with a rich warmth.
Likewise for the faster, rap-led "Just I Male monarch" past Tommee Profitt, which swelled beautifully on the dorsum of the Miami'southward generous low terminate. It's non all a bass testify, either: niggling details tin can still shine through, like the twinkling guitar furnishings on Pale Waves' "Kiss."
Admittedly non every single song volition benefit from such a forceful audio signature. Some of the quieter moments on Julien Baker's cover of "The Modern Leper" would have benefitted from a more than delicate touch. Simply then there's cypher actually wrong with how the mids and treble are presented, and if you lot wanted a much more perfectly-balanced set of ANC headphones, y'all'd need to spend a lot more than on the Sony WH-1000XM4 or Bose 700.
Urbanista Miami review: Noise cancellation
When compared to more expensive, pinnacle-of-the-line headphones, i affair you shouldn't await from the more than affordable Miami is Bose-level noise-cancelling effectiveness. The Urbanista Miami does quieten sounds, merely mainly achieves this by making background objects sound further away, and often with a kind of audibly candy tinge. One reason it remains worth investing in the Bose 700, or even the AirPods Max, is to cut out nearby disturbances cleanly and ruthlessly.
And nevertheless, in most situations the Miami's ANC is more skillful enough. The differences between this and a premium pair of noise-cancellers is by and large noticeable when you lot're not playing music, and so by but using the headphones as intended, information technology's piece of cake to only enjoy the sound.
Some other big win is the inclusion of an ambient sound mode. This repurposes the ANC microphones to amplify sounds, and so you tin have conversations (or just heighten your situational awareness) without taking the headphones off. This, like the ANC itself, isn't a match for the similar transparency modes on the Bose, Sony and Apple headphones, but will work well enough when out shopping. Some of our favourite pairs of low-toll ANC headphones, similar the Sennheiser HD 4.fifty BTNC, don't even include an ambient mode at all.
Unfortunately, both ANC and ambient modes tin can suffer from air current noise. This occurs when the wind blows beyond the tiny recessed holes at the top of each earcup, where the mics reside. It's not similar it causes a deafening arctic howl, but I constitute the but way to stop information technology completely was to cover over both of these holes, which isn't a practical solution. It's improve to just turn up the volume and drown it out.
Urbanista Miami review: Features
Wind weakness aside, ANC and ambient modes alone are impressive features to find on a pair of $149 headphones. But there are a few more worth mentioning, the showtime of which is the set of included accessories.
The Urbanista Miami comes with a hard carrying case, a 3.5mm aux cable (handy if your smartphone has nonetheless to abandon headphone jacks), a USB-C charging cable and an airline adaptor, so you lot tin can use the Miami with in-flight entertainment systems. All the basics are covered, though I'd have liked a longer charging cable — this one is merely about 6 inches long.
There'due south as well on-ear detection, whereby the Miami senses when you've taken it off your head and automatically pauses your music and so you don't miss anything. This proved reliable, and it works the other mode so that the music auto-resumes once the headphones are back over your ears.
Absolutely, at that place's non a lot else in the feature department. The ANC only has ane level of effectiveness, the EQ can't be customised, in that location's no IP-rated waterproofing (though my pair endured some lite rain), and for the time being there's not even a mobile app. Urbanista says this is in the works for iOS and Android, and a beta version will launch later this year, just for at present your controls are limited to the onboard buttons.
Urbanista Miami review: Battery life
If you're looking for a party piece, though, how'due south this: the Urbanista Miami lasted for 46 hours and 36 minutes of music playback in my testing, with all merely half-dozen of those hours using ANC. That's a fantastic consequence. The AirPods Max tin can simply manage around 20 hours, and it's the same story with the Bose 700. The Sony WH-1000XM4 does improve, having lasted for 29 hours of ANC playback when nosotros reviewed it, merely the Miami leaves its high-priced competitors in the dust.
It really surpasses Urbanista's own figures, which claim 40 hours of ANC playback or fifty hours in Default mode. I don't doubtfulness that 2d number for a moment, and recharging for an hour gave me eighty% of the charge back, enough for several days of regular listening.
Urbanista Miami review: Phone call quality
The Urbanista Miami also does fine work as a telephone calling headset. I was told my voice came through loud and articulate, audibly more so than when I was speaking directly into my Pixel 4a.
In that location was apparently no troublesome interference from outdoor noises either, like traffic and trains. And despite my earlier trouble with wind noise during music playback, this wasn't an issue during calls.
Urbanista Miami review: Verdict
While Apple'due south accountants won't lose whatsoever sleep over the Urbanista Miami, information technology genuinely does look and perform like a dependable low-cost alternative to the AirPods Max. It's nowhere near as avant-garde when it comes to features, but ANC and ambience modes mean you could hardly call it oversimplified. The battery life is almost as good as it gets, too.
Then there's the toll. $149 for racket cancellation, a rich sound profile and solid build quality is a bargain, peculiarly when Urbanista's fashionable styling won't give away that yous've spent less. And, with the hope of an upcoming companion app, there's a chance this pair of swell-value ANC headphones could become even improve.
- More: Forget AirPods Max — Sonos headphones simply leaked
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/urbanista-miami
Posted by: abarcaalts1960.blogspot.com
0 Response to "Urbanista Miami review: A cheap AirPods Max alternative that keeps playing for days"
Post a Comment