Urbanista Stockholm Plus

Both the earbuds and the case, which serves as a charging station, have a sophisticated appearance and are both well manufactured and lightweight. While the case weighs 39 grams, the weight of each headphone is only four grams, which makes for a comfortable fit that also seems to be suitable for pressure-sensitive people. As the earbuds are not placed in the ear canal like classic in-ear systems, but in the auricle, no pressure builds up, so that the Stockholm Plus is hardly noticeable even when worn for a long time. Due to their design, shielding from the outside world is rather limited, but this gives the advantage of not completely blocking out the environment and orientation is possible in urban areas even at higher volumes. The fit also offers sufficient stability for a quick jog, as the headphones fit fairly snugly, while the slim design only slightly protrudes and can be accommodated under a cap if required.

At higher volume levels, these earbuds have a runtime of three and a half hours, while a charging cycle takes about 45 minutes. The battery reserve of the case is sufficient to fully charge the earbuds four times and to 80 per cent once, so that the total runtime of this compact pair of headphones is up to 20 hours. The flat pocket-sized case can be recharged in 105 minutes via the USB-C connection, and a USB-C to USB-A charging cable is included in the package.

Device control

Pairing the earbuds is enabled with the opening of the case, which switches the earbuds are on and automatically puts them into pairing mode. Once a wireless connection has been established, extensive and precise device control is available via the touch-sensitive surfaces. Here, tapping controls the volume, which can be reduced on the left and increased on the right, while playback is controlled by double-tapping the left earpiece. Voice assistants are activated on the right-hand side of the headphones, and double-tapping on both sides of the headphones is used to answer and end telephone calls. In addition, title selection is supported by pressing the right-hand side of the headphones to jump forwards and the left-hand side for backwards.

In addition to the impressive touch controls, the clean and clear speech intelligibility during telephone conversations is a further plus point, especially as background noise is noticeably reduced when hearing one’s own voice. Another good feature is that both earbuds can be used individually in single mode. In combination with various Android and iOS systems, the Bluetooth connection also proved to be stable, although the range varied from seven to more than ten metres, depending on the paired device.

Sound

The Stockholm Plus have a compact, bright sound image with a subtle rounding off that appears fresh and agile. Since a more powerful bass foundation has been omitted, the rather slim, dry bass reproduction shows presence primarily in the mid to upper bass range and sounds well defined and crisp. Voices are reproduced with great clarity, but without any sterility, and they vividly take up space without seeming over-focused. A certain tendency to exaggerate sibilants is only noticeable at high volume, otherwise the extremely good intelligibility allows for fatigue-free listening, which makes these earbuds great for listening to podcasts, audiobooks and films. All in all, the tuning seems slightly heightened, but is harmonious, and the high-frequency range is characterised by the sparkling nature of the sound and does not drop off.