Sennheiser Urbanite On-Ear Headphones Review

TECHNOLOGY X TESTING METHODOLOGY

In order to test the sound quality of the Sennheiser On-Ear Urbanite Headphones, we listened through a variety of movies, as well as to multiple genres of songs from hip-hop and pop to hard rock via the 3.5mm jack to mobile devices including an iPhone 5s, iPad Air 2 and iMac.

USING THE SENNHEISER URBANITE

COMFORT

To sum this headset up in one word, we would – without any doubt – use the word “comfortable”. This headset weighs 260g, which you can really feel around the stainless steel hinges. We did find that there is a pressure that makes the headphones form fitting, we found this to be a little bit on the tight side of things, and found it limited our usage time. We did manage to get 4-6 hours of usage out of them before noticing this. The velour-like ear cups are very breathable and we noticed that they remained cool throughout our usage periods.

SOUND

Sennheiser had the Urbanite’s listed to have “massive bass without compromised clarity”, but throughout our testing we weren’t overwhelmed with bass, which we had that slight expectation. The bass was rich, but not incredibly powering, which surprisingly we were ok with.

When watching and listening to movies, the experience was immersive. The audio levels were appropriate for the sounds being pumped out of the headset. The performance when just listening to music was also impressive, the sound was clear and crisp as these 2 channels stereo headphones pumped away. The treble and midrange were very detailed, providing an exceptional listening experience.

We cross-reviewed the Sennheiser Urbanite with the Turtle Beach i60, which has a slightly different design focus to it. The Turtle Beach headset is more geared towards surround sound enthusiasts, but its hard to disagree that when you listen to your favourite music through 7.1 rear surround sound that the sound is amazing! We found the Sennheiser’s to fall a little behind when it comes to the bass levels, but on the flip side Sennheiser may have trumped Turtle Beach on the mid range and treble sides. You are also going to find that the Sennheiser Urbanite costs a cool $100 less.

MICROPHONE

The microphone has a frequency response from 100 – 10,000 Hz. When in use, our voice was picked up easily and very little background noise passed through into our conversations. During phone conversations, the Urbanite was quite impressive – at least so we were told by our tester on the other end of line. We also did a quick ventrillo test, because we could, and through late night group gameplay we found that the Urbanite provided similar results. While it is important to note that they are not designed to be a gaming headset, the Urbanite could sure get away with it!

REPORT ANALYSIS AND FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, we were very impressed with the Sennheiser Urbanite on-ear headphones. We stick to our original comments when we said that we were taken aback in the beginning. We were expecting the headset to have an increased bass boost, and not be nearly as dynamic as these headphones turned out to be. Never mind how stylish they are as well! The Sennheiser Urbanite really has an “urban” feel to them, across all colors and designs.

There were a couple of things we didn’t like; the over-tightening sensation was a little much for our listening experience and did reduce our listening time. Additionally, the 3.5mm audio cable is a little short for our liking. The 1.2m length was fine when listening to your phone that is in your pocket, but not when you have it hooked up to your computer. When we originally received these headphones prior to CES 2015, we would have been the first to tell you that we would have liked to have seen the Urbanite’s be wireless as well, which as we know now is possible with the Sennheiser Urbanite XL Wireless.

As listed on Amazon.com, you can pick up the Sennheiser Urbanite for just over $151, which for, what you’re receiving, isn’t a bad price at all. If you are looking for a quality set of headphones that you will not be disappointed with, then we would recommend the Sennheiser Urbanite On-Ear Headphones without question. While there can always be some tweaks or additions to make every product better, the Urbanite is a solid package that combines style with exceptional audio performance. We found that these headphones are well deserving of our Silver Seal of Approval!

Check Out Sennheiser Urbanite Pricing On Amazon!