It is no imply feat making a pair of wi-fi headphones. All the similar challenges of constructing a standard pair of headphones stay, however they’re joined by a necessity to supply respectable battery life, good wi-fi connectivity, and to do all of it with out compromising on the sound high quality that folks got here to like within the first place.
In taking their flagship headphones wi-fi with the Plattan 2 Bluetooth ($99 / £85), UrbanEars have scored a decisive two out of three towards the above factors. They’ve that very same respectable sound that got here to outline the Plattan II, and battery life is an distinctive.
However sadly their wi-fi connectivity is not astounding. By common use in central London we skilled frequent dropouts – way over with competing headphones.
Granted, these issues will happen far much less in case you intend to make use of these in much less densely populated areas, however if you’d like a pair of headphones to make use of anyplace then it is a not-insignificant challenge that makes the Plattan 2 Bluetooth laborious to unreservedly advocate.
These are a price range pair of headphones (with no high-end applied sciences like noise-cancellation or Bluetooth AptX assist), however store round and yow will discover higher wi-fi headphones for a similar worth.
Design and options
Issues initially bought off to an excellent begin with the headphones – their design (each by way of aesthetic and performance) is superb certainly.
Little or no has modified between these headphones and the wired Plattan 2s. They’re nonetheless accessible in a number of colours starting from a stark white by way of to brighter pink and blue variants.
These strong colour schemes are solely damaged barely by a single line of silver trim that flows round every earcup, and albeit we’re huge followers of the understated look. Hinges at every finish of the headscarf permit the earcups to fold away, and the headscarf itself is versatile with out feeling flimsy.
This neat little nub handles observe skipping and quantity management duties
The most important change from the wired model (apart, naturally, from the truth that this factor doesn’t have any wires) is the addition of the identical management stick discovered on Marshall’s latest headphones just like the Marshall Mid. Press it to play or pause the music, slide it up and down for quantity management, and slide it left and proper to skip forwards and backwards by way of tracks.
This stick, discovered on the suitable earcup, is easy, neat, and works very properly certainly. Given the choice we would love such a management scheme to change into the default on each pair of headphones.
A weight off your…head?
Due to their have to include a battery, many wi-fi headphones find yourself feeling just a little weighty. The Plattan 2 Bluetooth haven’t any such downside, however this may give them a barely low cost really feel. Frankly, they nonetheless really feel effectively constructed so we wouldn’t get too hung up about it.
On the left earcup, subsequent to the Micro USB charging port, you’ll discover a single three.5mm jack which, curiously, has a twin objective. Both you should use it to connect with a tool that doesn’t assist Bluetooth, such because the Nintendo Switch, or you may truly plug in a second pair of headphones to share music with a buddy.
Since there’s just one jack you may’t make use of each these items of performance at a time, however it’s fairly neat all the identical.
UrbanEars claims that these headphones ought to ship over 30 hours of battery life. The truth is, once we spoke to the product growth group they claimed that 30 hours of playback was achieved when enjoying the headphones at most quantity.
In on a regular basis testing we discovered that the headphones simply lasted a full week of use one one cost, so battery life should not be a problem for you.
Sound high quality
A lot of those similar enhances may very well be paid to UrbanEars’ sister model Marshall Headphones, however the place the Plattan 2 Bluetooth headphones stand aside is with their sound high quality, which is rather more refined, extra balanced, and albeit extra listenable.
Whereas the Marshall headphones kick you within the crotch with their bass earlier than throwing up satan horns and operating from the room, the Plattan 2 Bluetooth simply need you to have an excellent time.
Give the headphones a observe with just a little little bit of rythm to sink their enamel into like Aom by Mouse on the Keys, and its two piano strains are distinct and clear, even with its driving drumline within the background.
Sure, the soundstage is a contact constricted, however we’re inclined to present it a move at this worth level.
Step into extra Marshall territory and the headphones nonetheless maintain up effectively, though element can often endure. I Discovered a Method by Alkaline Trio is expressive and dynamic by way of the headphones, even in case you received’t be blown away by how clearly you may hear the bass buried within the combine.
Lastly, the headphones give Cecilia Ann by the Pixies all of the rhythm and dynamism the music deserves with out compromising on its element and layering.
However nearly as good as they sound, this barely issues with the quantity of dropouts we skilled with these headphones. After we did our preliminary hear in a resort room these have been much less obvious, however step into an space with extra interference and the drop-outs are common.
Crossing one significantly busy avenue we discovered that the headphones gave the impression to be reducing out greater than they have been truly enjoying the music.
No pair of wi-fi headphones is ideal, however the Plattan 2 Bluetooth have been merely not so good as the competitors, resulting in moments of actual frustration when making an attempt to get pleasure from a music.
Each earcups might be simply eliminated for cleansing or substitute
Verdict
The Plattan 2 Bluetooth find yourself being a irritating pair of headphones to evaluate.
A lot of them is so nice. Their design is genuinely glossy and classy, the controls are effectively thought out and intuitive, and their sound is nice at this worth level.
Take heed to them someplace the place there is not an excessive amount of wi-fi interference and you will have a completely nice time.
However step into busy metropolis streets, and the way in which they battle to keep up a constant connection makes them laborious to advocate, even at their wallet-friendly $99 / £85 worth level.