The market of true wireless earbuds has "truly" exploded these past few months, making a purchase decision that much harder! The latest contender - the Urbanista Athens - bring lightweight comfort, water resistance, long battery life, good sound quality and, good-ole mechanical buttons to break away from the touch control bandwagon!
With the included Athens charging case, you are able to recharge the Urbanista Athens earbuds 3 times over. Each Athens earphone can hold 4 hours of charge, while the Athens charging case can hold 24 hours, giving you a total of 32 hours of battery power on the go.
The actual playtime will depend on the volume level though. At 50% volume and while using the default Bluetooth streaming (SBC), you can get up to 4 hours per earbud. The Bluetooth 5.0 chip inside the Urbanista Athens earbuds also supports aptX sound quality, which is great for hi-res audio, although battery life is slightly shorter (3.5 hours at 50% volume).
The Urbanista Athens earphones weigh 12 grams (6 grams each) so, they are pretty lightweight considering the electronics inside each earbud, including a 6mm driver and a 50mAh battery, which can last 16 days in standby mode. The charging case weighs 39 grams so, total weight including the earbuds is 51 grams. If lightweight is a top requirement, you should also checkout the review of the London ANC earbuds.
As far as calls, the Urbanista Athens earphones support call audio via both ear pieces, which amplifies the volume of the call, making the Athens earbuds very useful for someone who talks a lot on the phone. This is, especially, true since the bluetooth range is strong and stable, allowing you to keep the phone in a trouser pocket while talking via the earbuds.
Each earbud contains a microphone capsule so, you can use the Athens earphones independently of each other. While the microphone quality of the microphones is good, one thing to bear in mind is that the earwing loop integrates a small hole opening for the microphone. If it's not positioned correctly around the body, the rubber earwing can muffle the microphone.
The Urbanista Athens charging case has a smooth rubber finish, which feels extremely pleasant and fits perfectly in the hand.
The charging case measures 6.5cm long, 3cm wide and 3cm tall and has smooth rounded corners, making the charging case easy to slip in and out of a trouser pocket.
The rubber coating on the charging case isn't so much a fingerprint magnet, although since it's rubber it is prone to oily smudges.
At 6mm in diameter, the Athens drivers have the standard driver diameter size most truly wireless earbuds have. The nozzles have metal mesh tips with short stocky necks, which are angled.
Thanks to the smooth rubber finish on the body of the earbuds and the integration of earwing loops, the Athens earphones fit comfortably in the ears and stay in extremely securely, making them ideal for jogging, running on a treadmill, etc. The Athens earphones are IP67 dust and water resistant.
The Athens drivers signal-to-noise ratio isn't overly high (81dB); hence the maximum volume output isn't the loudest but with a proper seal, the volume can go loud enough to block out the clanking noise of lifting weights being dropped. The drivers deliver good audio while handling the whole range well with crisp treble and deep enough bass.
The front side and perimeter of the Athens earphones is completely rubberized with soft silicone, which provides very good grip when pressing down the mechanical button.
The buttons aren't touch-controlled but are very easy to activate without having to jam the earbuds into the ear-canal. You can control the volume, skipping of tracks, play/pause, activate voice assistant and answer/end/reject calls.
Surrounding the perimeter of the buttons, there is a thin led ring, which when lit up gives the Athens earphones a cool effect reminiscent of the eyes of an owl. Accessories included are a 16cm long audio cable. You can buy the Urbanista Athens on Amazon. Check out the reviews of the Sydney speaker and Brisbane speaker. Check out the review of the Miami ANC headphones.