Urbanears is a fresh brand from Sweden. It is really easy to spot a set of Urbanears headphones due to being completely in one colour. From the moment I stood at the shipping dock unpacking the Plattan I was impressed with how well this concept works. The box was all purple depicting the headphones on the front. Unfolding the box was easy, and you can unpack the headphones in under 30 seconds. I personally hate having to destroy the packaging to get to the goods, but at worst the package gets some marks from the tape removal.
The Urbanears Plattan looks like your ordinary on-ear headphones, apart from the colour scheme. The soft wide headband is wider than the metal band inside giving it a soft, light feeling. The only parts not moulded/painted are a small metal strip around the ear cups, and a metal logotype inside the headband. The look is definitely modern, albeit with a retro style harking back from days of yore.
The sound is great providing a good representation of every sound source ranging from spoken podcasts to heavy metal. Strong bass, but not on par with the leaders in that field such as Bose On-ear, Beats By Dr Dre Studios and B&W P5. I would say that the Plattan offers best value for money concerning on-ear headphones though.
Noise isolation is good, both from ambient noise entering the headphones as well as not leaking sound upon the environment.
A microphone is found on the cord the Plattan is delivered with. It is placed perfectly next to the mouth. To me I have only had positive experiences using the microphone. The answer/hang-up button is rather small, and pointy. It is hard to accidentally press, but also somewhat more sensitive when trying to double tap to change track. What I miss are volume controls that most new headsets come equipped with. The microphone can pick up some wind when outside, but most headphone microphones do.
Worth specially to note is the excellent shoe lace cord extending from the left ear cup. It is thick, rather rigid and not prone to entanglement. At 120 cm the cord is too short to use with a stationary computer. Included in the package are also an ordinary 3.5 mm adaptor, and a special Nokia adaptor.
Another cool feature is the Zound plug, which lets you plug in any 3.5 headphones or speaker into the right ear cup. This means that any of your friends can share your music, or even use a set of speakers to set up a cool 3D soundscape.
Plattan fits any head, and even my rather large noggin fits inside. I have to extend the hinges completely to not feel any extra pressure though. As with all headphones using leather for the ear cups they tend to get rather sweaty, and sticky in warm conditions. They hang on tightly even when exercising, but as they become sweaty I rather not recommend them for exercise/running.
The Plattan is probably the best bang available at a reasonable buck. At about a third of the cost of the premium on ear headsets it is still as good when it comes to style, rugged design and microphone. The cool colour concept also means that you can get several for use at different occasions. I am thrilled to see these kind of cool products from my native country.
Final Rating
Plattan at Urbanears.com $60 + $15 flatrate shipping to the US.
