Urbanears Plattan 2 BT - Review 2022

When Urbanears released the wired Plattan ii headphones, we were impressed past the combination of cool design, solid audio performance, and reasonable price of $fifty. The new Urbanears Plattan 2 BT, Bluetooth take on that model, looks very similar to its wired sibling, but the price has been doubled to $100. Sure, we've seen price jumps for the wireless version of wired headphones before, but they're typically not more than $xx to $30 (have the Skullcandy Grind Wireless, for example). Urbanears claims there are audio improvements, as well as a newly designed hinge on the earcups. Merely while the audio does indeed sound different, some listeners might really adopt the wired Plattan 2's audio. That makes the $100 toll harder to swallow.

Design

You lot would be forgiven for thinking at a glance, that the Plattan 2 BT is identical to its sibling. Offered in vibrant monochrome colors like blue and red, both take the stylish matte plastic build and material coverings, both are on-ear designs with costly earcups, both are comfortable, and both have jacks for removable audio cables. The Plattan 2 BT differs in that it has on-ear controls, and a newly designed swivel that allows the earcups more flexibility to adapt to your head. Internally, the same-sized drivers are being used.

Oddly, in that location is too no included cable. We say oddly because of the jack included for a cable. That might be a first for Bluetooth headphones nosotros've tested—cables aren't ever a given, but when a jack is there, yous pretty much expect one. And at $100, in that location are enough of Bluetooth headphone pairs that offer a removable cable.

The audio cable jack is located on the left earcup, while the micro USB port for the included USB charging cable is located on the right earcup. This is besides where the power/pairing switch tin can be found; information technology tin be pushed up or downward to command book, or side to side to rewind or skip tracks, while pressing in one case rapidly plays/pauses music or answers a call, double borer summons your phone's voice assistant, and property information technology in powers the headphones down or upward. It's a graceful solution in the often less-than-graceful realm of on-ear controls.

The mic offers mediocre intelligibility. Using the Phonation Memos app on an iPhone 6s, nosotros could understand every give-and-take recorded, only it sounded like the microphone was covered in gauze and far abroad. This is fairly common on built-in mics for Bluetooth headphones, and so it's not a big knock on the Plattan 2 BT.

Urbanears rates battery life at more than 30 hours per charge, but your results will vary with your volume levels.

Performance

Because we notice the price discrepancy between the wired version of the Plattan 2 and this Bluetooth version puzzling, nosotros tested them against each other to run across if nosotros could hear a difference in the sound performance, as Urbanears claimed we would. In that location is a divergence, for certain, notwithstanding, it's not one that will thrill everyone.

The wired Plattan 2 has notably more bass response and depth than the Bluetooth version. In fact, their frequency responses are virtually similar night and twenty-four hour period, with the Bluetooth version pumping out less bass depth and besides a much brighter, crisper audio signature. Neither sounds markedly improve than the other—they're both acceptable sound signatures. Just the fact that they share the same proper name is strange. The Plattan two BT is a far more than mids- and highs-focused pair. It's not bereft of bass depth, only compared with its cheaper wired sibling, it has far less. Information technology can too be argued that the wired, cheaper version is less clear overall, just it's harder to fence that at that place'south a $fifty upgrade in overall sound performance.

On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife'due south "Silent Shout," the Plattan 2 BT delivers solid bass depth, but nothing comparable with its cheaper sibling. Booming bass isn't everything, though—what the Plattan 2 BT lacks in low frequency intensity information technology makes up for in overall residuum and a crisp, bright response.

Nib Callahan'due south "Drover," a track with less deep in the mix, gives us a better sense of the Plattan 2 BT's overall sound signature. The drums on this track take a pleasant roundness to them in the lows, without sounding overly thunderous, while Callahan's baritone vocals take some added richness in the low-mids, and a prominent, crisp edge to them in the high-mids. The guitar strums also benefit from a boosted presence in the high-mids. Generally speaking, it's a audio signature that focuses on mids and highs without ignoring the bass, only the bass isn't the master event.

On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop gets a solid presence in the high-mids, allowing its attack to slice through the layers of the mix. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the vanquish are delivered with restraint—we sense their power, just we don't hear it nearly as profoundly as nosotros would on a heavily bass-additional headphone pair. The vocals on this track are articulate, just they as well can audio overly sibilant at times.

Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene in John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, have a vibrant presence through the Plattan two BT. The lower annals instrumentation gets a soild boost in the low-mids, while the higher annals brass, strings, and vocals are reproduced with clarity and a brilliant overall presence.

Conclusions

The Urbanears Plattan 2 BT headphones sound pretty good, but the price seems like a reach when there are more affordable options that offer like performance, like the Plantronics BackBeat 500 and Skullcandy Grind Wireless, and similarly priced options that sound a trivial better, like the JBL E45BT and Sony MDR-XB650BT. The lack of a cable also throws us off—why include the jack and not the cable? There's nothing to actually dislike here, however. The headphones certainly wait cool and offering clear, well-balanced sound—but a lower toll and an included cable would have resulted in a college rating and stronger recommendation.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/review/18195/urbanears-plattan-2-bt

Posted by: galveztookins.blogspot.com

Share this post