Over the past century a lot of interesting things have come out of Scandinavia: Volvos, Abba, grisly crime fiction books, social democracy, and some rather attractive audio equipment. It was Danish company Bang & Olufsen that declared stereos and audio equipment needn’t look ugly in order to function properly.
Recently Sweden has become a bit of a hotspot for headphone and speaker design that looks as good as it sounds. Companies like Sudio and VAIN have produced some excellent wired and wireless earphones that have delighted me. Now another brand has joined the party and this one is called Urbanears.
As you’d expect from a Swedish product, Urbanears are stylish and functional products that will click with the generation that wants products to look as good as they sound. Take the company’s speaker range, for instance.
Urbanears offers three wireless speakers and they’re all clad in a range of different-coloured cloths and feature real control knobs for that analog feel that lends a bit of vintage chic to this very modern technology. At the top end of the range is the Baggen. This chunky wireless speaker offers Bluetooth, AirPlay, Google Chromecast and Internet radio built in. There’s also a 3.5mm input jack so you can play old-school analog sources like a Discman or cassette player. The Baggen weighs 6.6kg and pumps out 60W of Class D amplification through a 5.25cm and two 2.5cm woofers. It’s chunky enough to fill a big room with sound and is available in six colours.
Sitting in the middle of the range is the Stammen, which is a bit smaller at 210 x 210mm and weighing 3.6kg. It has two 3/4˝ neodymium dome tweeters and one 4˝ woofer. The speakers are driven by three Class D amplifiers that deliver 2 x 15W and 1 X 40W of power.
Finally there’s the little Lotsen, which was the model that I tested. This dinky little speaker weighs just 1.6kg and is small enough for a bedroom or kitchen. It has all the other connectivity features of its two larger siblings and can deliver 20W of output through its 1˝ neodymium dome tweeter and 4˝ woofer.
Setting up the Lotsen was very simple thanks to the free Urbanears app which can be downloaded for iOS or Android platforms. Because all the speakers are AirPlay compatible they can be used with Mac computers. This speaker is the first I’ve reviewed that features connectivity for Spotify, Internet Radio, Apple AirPlay, Google Chromecast and Bluetooth devices. It’s pretty much got everything covered.
Unlike many Bluetooth speakers, the Urbanears range isn’t battery powered so you do need to be near a power outlet to use it. The sound of the Lotsen was excellent and there’s plenty of bass, even from this baby of the pack. What’s more, Urbanears speakers are multiroom so you can play music throughout your home by adding more Urbanears speakers as you go. The Internet radio function is excellent as you can assign up to seven radio stations to presets or seven of your favorite music playlists. When you come home just select your favorite radio station or playlist and your music will start playing without the need to use an app or computer.
Verdict: These stylish speakers from Sweden provide just about every connectivity option you could want: Spotify, AirPlay, Google Chromecast and Bluetooth. You can even connect an analog device. There isn’t a USB port for playing music stored on a stick but as long as you have a phone or tablet you can pretty much stream any music you like. The retro knobs for selecting source and adjusting volume are well implemented and will appeal to lovers of stylish designs. The cloth finish is available in six colorful finishes ranging from pastel shades to slightly stronger hues for more modern interiors.
Prices:
Baggen $349 / £329 / €349
Stamen $249 / £229 / €249
Lotsen $199 / £179 / €199
Available colors: Vinyl Black, Indigo Blue, Concrete Grey, Goldfish Orange, Plant Green, Dirty Pink
More info: urbanears.com
