“Summertime and the weather is easy” wrote George Gershwin in 1934, a timeless classic that has been covered through the decades by Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin and even Sublime. We could add a new verse to the song that what’s also easy, is a summer family road trip where all the kids have their own noise cancellation headphones! We’d need Gershwin’s finesse to create the perfect verse, but you get my drift. Driving anywhere with bored kids in the back seat is a stress-inducing nightmare for the driver. Even worse if that two-hour car ride is an eight-hour flight. But who’s got the dough these days to outfit the entire family in noise cancellation bliss?
If you were to invest in the popular Bose Quiet Comfort headphones for an entire family of four, you’d been north of $1,500 by the time everyone was settled in their seats. Alternatively, outfitting the whole family with the latest Urbanista Valencia noise cancellation headphones, would set you back under $500… for everyone!
We first had a chance to test out Urbanista’s latest city-named headphone at an open house event with Erikson Consumer, the company’s Canadian distributor, in early spring. When we were told that the MSRP on the Valencia headphones would be just slightly more than $100, we didn’t believe it. There’s no way!
We needed to have a better look and listen to judge for ourselves if this was too good to be true or not, so Erikson sent me a pair to test on my own. I’m sticking with my initial assessment: “There’s no way these cost $110 bucks!!”
What Are the Urbanista Valencia?
Swedish audio brand Urbanista historically names its products after European cities. The Vanencia is the brand’s latest release, a foldable over-the-ear active noise cancelling headphone featuring 50 hours of battery playtime along with Bluetooth multiport technology that allows for a connection with two devices. Charging time is 2.5 hours and a 10 minute charge will give you one hour of play back.
The Valencias are rated up to 25 dB active noise cancellation, which is more than decent. Bose, by comparison, rates its QuietComfort headphones as reducing incoming sound by up to 45 decibels with an average of 30 dB. So, the Valencia are not cancelling outside noises as well as the ever-popular Bose, but they’re also a fraction of the price with double the battery life.
The Valencias feature 40 hours of talk time and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, a codec that supports aptx HD with a bit rate of 576 kbps. I mention these specs because I have been searching for hours trying to figure out where the compromise is that allows Urbanista to offer these headphones at $100-ish bucks.
What’s in the Box?
Well, here’s the rub, not much. In the cardboard box are the headphones and a paper quick start guide. That’s all. While the Valencias have a 3.5mm port, there is no 3.5-to-3.5mm cable included. While they are charged by the latest USB-C port, there is no charging cable, no case, no slipcover, and no airplane adapters. The unboxing is a letdown: there’s no wow. I spent a little time reflecting on this, wondering if I should be disappointed. My reality is that I already have about 14,000 USB-C cables, and every headphone that comes with a hard-case never sees the case again because they are usually just too damn big. If I was to take a flight and wished to plug in the Valencia to the aircraft entertainment system, I can buy a 3.5mm cable for under $10 bucks from Amazon.
Urbanista has the soul of an urban lifestyle brand. They know that their target market will be on the city street wearing the Valencia wirelessly connected to a smartphone. Would these standard accessories be helpful? For sure! But if it means not including them gets the price down to $100, I get why Urbanista would not include the cables in a box. We have been buying audio components and smart TVs for decades and it’s a rare day that anything but the power cord is included in the box, so I’m giving Urbanista a complete pass for not including cables that we already own too many of anyway.
So How Do They Sound?
For my test playlist, I focused on an artist named Donavon Frankenreiter. He’s part of the surfing crew that includes Jack Johnson, Ben Harper, Eddie Vedder, and Kelly Slater. Think cool, mellow beach vibes. Why is he is a great test artist? Frankenreiter has a deep voice and bass heavy instrumentation. I figured if anyone was going to throw the Valencia off its game, it would be him.
While the low-end was slightly muddy, the live acoustic performances on Frankenreiter’s “Our Vinyl Sessions” album were immersive, detailed, and lively enough to imagine you could be in the concert hall. The Valencia feature 40 mm drivers with a frequency response between 20 – 20,000Hz providing a rewarding dynamic range. I wandered the whole house with no Bluetooth interruptions and while not on a plane, I tested the noise cancellation capability with the steady hum from an air conditioner unit that became fully isolated once ANC was pressed. So much for finding a flaw!
The Valencias feature hard buttons to control on and off, play, pause, forward and rewind, and for activating noise cancellation. So, no finger swiping, that’s a common feature of higher priced headphones. The Valencias are not supported by the Urbanista app, so there’s no tone customization either. How they sound is how they sound. The headphones weigh 246 grams and the black pair sent to me have a vegan leather-type ear cup and headband. We won’t have the headphones long enough to determine how the materials wear over time, but the feel and finish of the Valencias is not much different than that of most headphones. They look and feel more expensive than they are.
Should You Buy the Urbanista Valencia Headphones?
While the Urbanista Valencia headphones have some compromises, such as the lack of app support or EQ customization, and they don’t come with chargers, cables, or a case, Urbanista has not compromised on sound quality. The company puts its money into decent 40mm drivers, and used hard buttons that some even prefer anyway to keep costs down.
The target market is not an Air Canada Aeroplan 100K member who will be sitting in biz class wearing a pair of premium Bose or Sony ‘phones. For the young adult who is looking for a stylish set of over-the-ear headphones that will be almost exclusively paired to a smartphone, the Urbanista Valencias at just over a $100 retail is an incredible deal and a terrific way to introduce a younger generation to better sound. They are also a great add for any family hitting the road this summer!
For the price, fit and finish, how could we not award the Urbanista Valencia headphones with a well-deserved Wifi Hifi Editor’s Choice Award?
Urbanista is exclusively distributed in Canada by Erikson Consumer.