Urbanears Alby True Wireless Earbuds - Charcoal Black

sound quality", "battery life" and "comfort" Family member works for the urbanears co.

I really wanted to like these earphones. The packaging looks nice, the case is nice, the earphones look good and fit comfortably, they come in all kinds of colors, and they sound above average for Bluetooth earphones in this price range. And while they do a lot of things right, they also do a lot wrong – and in this very competitive market you can’t make these sorts of mistakes. First, what I like most about these is the ease of pairing with a device. After you take them out, you sync up to Bluetooth, and that’s it. They automatically sync to each other, no matter which one you’re using. You can use just the left one, or just the right one, or both. They quickly connect to your device and to each other – no hassle, no long wait, and no annoyingly-loud voice telling you that you’re connected. I ran through a series of tests, and each time I picked one of them up out of the case, a series of tones would indicate that the earphone is on, another series indicated connectivity, and then they just worked. It’s quick and efficient, and I wish all earphones could get this right. They also sound very good for this price range. Nothing about them absolutely blew me away, but they didn’t sound bad or weak like many Bluetooth earphones do. They sound as competent as a decent pair of wired earphones do. I did not test call quality; however, I suspect it is good enough for a quick chat in a quiet area. Alexa picked up my voice just fine, but there is no noise-cancelling feature. I also want to mention the case. It is small and compact, supports USB-C charging, and closes via a magnetic lid. It also has a single charging indicator LED, enough battery for approx. 4 charges, and uses standard magnetic charging via contact points. The earphones are easy to place and remove as well. Unfortunately, these have some hard to overlook issues. Let’s start with the touch controls. Of course, these have built-in touch controls that you can use to play/pause, skip to next/previous track, or call up your favorite voice assistant. Now, touch controls aren’t necessarily bad, but they have to be done right. Play/pause works by double-tapping the touch area. But where is the touch area? The quick start guide says it’s near the top, but I would definitely say it’s in the middle. So, play/pause works well. We can triple-tap on the left earphone to go to the previous track, and the same on the right one for the next track. This seems to only work sometimes at best, and never at worst. Through multiple tests, I could only get it to work roughly 50% of the time, and sometimes only if I tapped 4 times. I would say I have a defective unit, but many people complain of the same issues on their own website, so I believe it’s a design issue. You can also press and hold for 2 seconds to bring up your device’s voice assistant, but sometimes that would activate play/pause instead. And with no physical buttons anywhere, this makes navigation a complete nightmare. There is no auto-pause feature when you take one out of your ear, nor are there any volume control options, which is a bummer. I then took a look at the Quick Start Guide to see what else I could do, and found that there is only one page per language, with the last paragraph stating: “More information can be found in the full user manual, such as Bluetooth pairing with a second device and troubleshooting. You can find it at <our website>.”. So, I went there only to find the same exact Quick Start Guide, with no sign of a full manual anywhere. That was a pretty big annoyance. Lastly, battery life is stated as being 3 hours per charge. There are other similar earphones on the market that can make it 5 or more hours without a charge that don’t have as many issues, so this is a big negative in my book. In closing, I have to say that they sound good and have Bluetooth connectivity nailed down, but there are just better earphones out there. The battery life could be better, more features could have been added, and the touch controls need some huge improvements. With such fierce competition out there, these get a pass from me.

I bought these because a) I wanted a pair of Bluetooth earbuds that did not have blinking lights on the outside, b) because I cannot afford AirPods Pro right now, and c) I have had a good experience with just about every other Urbanears product I've owned, and these are pretty consistent with the Urbanears experience. The sound is pretty good. The fit is a little off (they feel a little "hard" when you put them in your ears), but you get used to them. These have become my default zoom meeting headphones, and they've worked out well as backup music headphones as well. The headphones are decent all-around, so I'm recommending them.

When I first got it, the product worked great. I could pair it with my phone or with my computer just fine. The earphones are comfortable, they look & feel nice, sound fine. Unfortunately, after about a month or two, it started having trouble -- the phone would only connect to one earbud at a time, and they wouldn't connect to each other. I followed various procedures to (temporarily) fix the issue (factory reset both earbuds, repair), which took about 5-10 minutes each time I wanted to use my device -- completely unacceptable. In addition, those fixes no longer work and sometimes I can't connect to the earbuds at all. This frankly shouldn't be a problem that arises at all. I can't recommend a product which ceases to function properly after a month or two.

10/10 would recommend. These are amazing maybe even better than airpods. They fit really well and the case is wonderful. It has magnets to keep them in the case and charging. Lightweight and fit in most ears. Sound quality is really nice and the small size doesn't take away from noise or quality. I could wear these for hours and they wouldn't bother me. Honestly these are amazing and I may just buy another pair for the wife.

I bought these because I have this brand of headphones, and they are really good. I can't say that for the ear buds. Forget these ones.

I really like these, they are comfortable, the sound is passable and battery life is very solid. These aren't for an audiophile, but for the average person who likes to pop them in while working out or doing housework/chores these are awesome. They fit nice snuggly and even manage to drown out the noise while I ride the mower around the yard! I've had quite a few mid range earbuds and these are much better than any other!

Edit 2020.08.24: After trying a different pair of similar earbuds selling for half the price, I realized that I had to downgrade this review from 4 starts to 3 stars, and here is why: sound quality. At the end of the day, no matter how nice and well-made earbuds feel, you get them because you want to listen to them. To that end, the overall rating of the earbuds needs to be more about the sound than anything else. As the original review below discusses, the sound on these is just too tinny--which is not acceptable for earbuds currently retailing for about $70. Just to confirm that it's not just me, I also had my wife listen, and she agrees that the sound is tinny. I have an iPhone, so I paried it to her Android phone to rule out any phone-specific issues, and I experienced no improvement in sound quality paring this set to a different phone. Unfortunately, as nice as these feel and look, there are better options out there for half the price and that feel and look just as nice. I do not recommend these. ---Original Review Below---- I wanted to love these, but I only like (not love) these because the sound is noticeably tinny--as in, there is almost zero bass. I got these for my audiobooks, and spoken voice gets to be somewhat grating after a long listening session. Although they are not perfect for music either, music does sound fine on these earbuds. The sound is very clear--tinny, but very clear--so music actually comes through pretty well. I just wouldn't describe it as an enjoyable listening experience, but I recognize that this is a very subjective judgment. So, after reading this first paragraph, you must be scratching your head as to why I rated this 4 instead of 3 stars. Well, the sound quality issue is pretty significantly offset by the build, finish, presentation, and convenience of these earbuds. They are very attractive, and in a matte black finish they really don't stand out as sorely as other colors might (like, say, glossy white). The earbuds feel solid and well made. They are fun to touch--speaking of which, the touch controls work fine, but I personally would have preferred buttons. The charging case is pretty small and cleverly employs magnets to keep the earbuds in place and to keep the lid shut. I like that the case stores extra charges to extend the battery life of the earbuds. Pairing was super simple, and I have no issues with operating the earbuds whatsoever. They connect almost instantly, which I really like. Lastly, as the pictures show, the presentation during unboxing is pretty nice. You definitely feel like you are unboxing a premium product. Everything from how the packaging comes out to the feel of the materials just gives off a good impression. I was able to request and get these earbuds for free from Amazon. If they were cheaper, I would wholeheartedly recommend these, but at the current price (~$70), I would like to think something else out there around that price might have a more balanced tonal range. If you don't mind earbuds that skew towards the higher frequencies, then feel free to get these earbuds without reservation. On the other hand, if you prefer having a fuller, richer, low-end to your sound, then maybe try your luck with something else.