Urbanears Plattan headphones review

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The Urbanears Plattan headphones are colourful, stylish and bang out beats in a quality fashion - an essential bit of kit for urbanisters

Those noble folk at Urbanears are trying to solve one of the image conscious urbanite's biggest problems – how to make your ears look sexy.

Unable to tolerate the sight of fleshy flaps of sonic scooping gristle laying bare in the metropolitan commuter soup, bereft of stylish musical feed, Urbanears has created a range of head adornments to rid the world of this travesty.

The Plattan model is on test here, in a rather fetching shade of blue, but if that's not your thing then don't worry as Urbanears have got your back, offering up a bewildering selection to choose from that literally include every colour of the rainbow; from deep maroons, to exotic greens, they're all on offer.

But are they worthy of gracing our best headphones list? We find out...

Urbanears Plattan: Design

The general design might initially look reminiscent of many other similarly priced headphones on the market, but look a little closer and lots of significant differences appear.

Firstly the headband is fabric covered (as is the cord), giving a more quality feel than the usual plastic variety, and also adds to their stylish nature.

Secondly the Ear cups have a tough leather feel finish, rather than the pick-away soft type you often find, meaning these should hold out much longer and not deposit material in your lug-oles.

Urbanears Plattan: Style

A nice feature, very much in keeping with their Scandinavian stylish minimalism, is the inclusion of an extra jack socket on one of the ear cups.

This cleverly lets you share your music with a friend, without having to stretch them over two heads; your chum can simply plug in their own 'phones to the extra jack and you're both dancing to the same beat – though the effect this might have on your gadget's battery-life is unclear.

A final piece de resistance is that they fold down rather neatly, making them fit in your bag a charm, avoiding tangly hell.

Urbanears Plattan: Sound

Audio quality is decent, especially alongside other com peting brands. Mids are full, highs present but not tinny, and a hearty dollop of bass keeps the bottom end in check.

If you regularly commute, then you will be pleased to hear – or not as the case may be – that dreaded audio leakage is kept to a minimum, so more of the music goes in your ears, and not everyone else's.

Urbanears Plattan: Verdict

The Urbanears instantly charm you with their fabric covered headband, folding ear-cups (for neat portability) and high-quality, colour coordinated ear cushions.

The design offers less audio 'leak' than other similar on-ear designs, which has the added benefit of shovelling more sound direct into your ears, a job which they do admirably.

The colour range available is truly boggling and you may find yourself changing your mind pre-checkout multiple times. An added bonus is the secondary 'Zound' plug for instant music sharing.

Urbanears Plattan availability: Out now

Urbanears Plattan availability: £50