Urbanista Athens
Snug-fitting buds for runners.
Sticking to a more sporty look, the Urbanista Athens earbuds look like they can withstand you dropping them if worst comes to worst – something that not all truly wireless earbuds achieve. There’s the standard selection of silicone earbuds to choose from to get the right size for you, but the key here is to twist them as you pop them into your ears – that way you should achieve a secure fit.
The Urbanista Athens are nice enough to look at but they’re fairly standard fare for sports based earbuds; you won’t have to worry about them looking a bit too noticeable as you move. The only ‘moving’ part to them are the buttons for the controls. Unusually, they are pressure sensitive buttons rather than touch sensitive so you actually have to click them down to initiate an action (more on how this works out later on).
The Urbanista Athens are almost an enigma when playing music. For the most part, they sound fine, with a reasonable level of audio fidelity. Whack on the latest by Ed Sheehan and they sound just right. It’s when you get a little more ambitious with your choices that issues shine through.
It’s all oddly jarring. One track might sound perfectly respectable while another more challenging composition could sound quite disappointing. Having said that, when running or working out, you’ll rarely notice an issue – it’s only when you’re sitting down and purely taking in the sounds that you’ll notice the problems.
A slightly less appealing option than models like the Creative Outlier Golds at this price point.