Last week, I intended to talk about a couple of new headphones hitting the market. However, I was so impressed that I actually found earbud-style headphones that fit and that I liked, I had to expound a bit on that.
With that done, it's time to talk about the other set I spent time reviewing. This is also a rather unique set of headphones.
where it’s @
The Urbanears Plattan ADV Wireless headphones require a USB port for charging or a music device with Bluetooth or a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. The headphones retail for $99. More information is available at urbanears.com.
The Plattan ADV Wireless headphones -- in Tomato (apparently, it's also a color) -- from Urbanears combine the technology of over-the-ear, wireless headphones with the convenience of being able to toss them into your washing machine. Well, part of them, at least.
The headphones are made of plastic with a thick foam on the earpieces. The foam and soft leather covering it keep the earpieces comfortable. However, the earpieces are fairly small, so they don't completely cover the ear. It means these aren't noise-cancelling headphones. They don't do a whole lot to eliminate outside noise.
The headphones include a power button, a micro-USB port for charging, an LED indicator to let you know when the Bluetooth is working and when the headphones need charging, and a headphone port to connect another set of headphones to them or to use the headphones with an audio wire if they haven't been charged. The headphones can go up to 14 hours on a full charge.
The headband on the Plattan headphones is metal, but it's covered with a thick foam-and-cloth piece that folds over the headband. This piece adds comfort and keeps the headband from digging into the top of the head. One of the key features is this piece can be removed and washed. Anyone who has used headphones for an extended period knows that headband can get kind of nasty after a while. The cloth headband can be cleaned in a washing machine, but only on the Cold/Cool setting.
Another key feature with the Plattan is the touch controls on one of the earpieces. The touch controls are on the earpiece with the power button and micro-USB port. That's important, because looking at the headphones, you really can't tell which earpiece has the controls. They're blended perfectly into the plastic exterior. The controls allow you to turn the volume up or down, move a track forward or backward, play, pause and even answer and hang up a phone call.
The touch controls take some practice to use well, and even then, they sometimes were hit and miss. It's hard to get a handle on the exact center of the earpiece when you're wearing the headphones, and if you didn't hit the center, it wouldn't play or pause as it should. When I missed, it either would turn up the music or reverse the track. It took a lot of practice to get it fairly consistent. Still, there were too many times for my liking when the controls didn't register my touch correctly. The controls need some refinement.
The key to any headphones is, of course, the sound. The Plattan headphones have good sound to them when it comes to audio. The music is rich, with good midtones and upper tones. The bass tones are slightly shallow, but not enough to really bring down the overall sound.
The sound on phone calls did well, though the party on the other end sometimes had trouble hearing me. The headphones have a very tiny microphone on them, but I don't know if it was the size, placement or just problems with the signal that caused sound issues.
The Plattan headphones do have some nice design features and ideas. However, the controls need to work a bit better than they do. Luckily, the sound quality makes up for the wonky controls.
They didn't impress me as much as last week's earbuds, but at least they show some promise.
Melissa L. Jones can be reached via email at mljones72@me.com.
SundayMonday Business on 07/06/2015