We have previously tested a majority of Urbanista’s headphones, which often combine good style with an attractive price. Like the test-winning Urbanista Seattle Wireless. But now we come to Brisbane, the largest and most expensive speaker in the range, which also consists of Sydney and Melbourne ..
Construction and handling
Urbanista has opted for a narrow and high square format where the others are either round or flat, or oblong tubes. It is a practical format as you can squeeze in large speaker elements, something that both Sony and Philips have used in previous test winners. Brisbane feels good in the hand, which in combination with the fact that it can withstand rinsing with water makes us trust that it can withstand hanging out on the excursion.
Battery life is ok, but since Brisbane is charged with micro-USB, it takes three hours to charge it. You can activate the voice assistant on the phone with a button, but otherwise the only feature is that you can connect two pieces. Unfortunately, we only had access to one copy, so we could not test if it really is the right stereo, or two speakers playing the same thing.
Sound quality
After sinking into the chair during the testing, we suddenly sat up when we put on the first test song. Wait now, this sounds good! Good sense of presence in acoustic melodies and concerts. If you drive on orchestral pieces, it manages to keep the instruments apart. If you play electronic music, it has enough bass for it to be captivating, and it can handle high volume without distortion.
Conclusion
Where most wireless speakers mimic each other in shape, competing for the most eye-catching colors, Urbanista goes in the opposite direction. The design is discreet and the colors simple. The shape is dictated by the fact that you should be able to have large speaker elements and get good sound. Something you also get, to the extent that this is the speaker that actually sounds best in the test. On the other hand, JBL is more robust and has a better battery, which is also important.