When it comes to over-ear headphones, you want to make sure how they look compliments your style just as much as your music compliments your day. The New York headphones from Urbanista seriously look the part: available in either Dark Clown (that’s black to you and me) and Moon Walk, which is a white and grey combination.

Made with faux leather ear cups with a generous amount of memory foam padding, they are a little on the large side but very comfortable and still look awesome. The ear cups are mounted on an adjustable slide and will also fold in for a slightly more compact storage option. The headband has a slim amount of padding which, after a while, can become uncomfortable on the head due to it being so hard. There are buttons located at the rear of both earcups within comfortable reach and easy to distinguish with your fingertips. The buttons allow you to adjust the volume, skip tracks, answer and end calls, activate ANC and activate voice assistant. The on/off is a slide button which reduces the chance of them accidently switching on in transit, however it is quite small and stiff and those with larger hands may struggle with it.

The New York headphones feature some powerful active noise cancellation, so you can allow yourself to become completely immersed in your music and forget about the world around you. With the ANC activated, you will get 16-hours of continuous playtime from one 2.5-hour charge and 25-hours without, plus 700-hours standby time. If you do run out of power there is always the included AUX lead, made with high quality materials and a woven finish, but it looks better in the Dark Clown version than the Moon Walk.

Also included is a good quality and cool-looking soft carry case. The only issue with this case is that the draw string doesn’t close tightly enough to protect against dirt and rain. Perhaps a zip would have been better? There is also no hard case included.

So, with aesthetics and features covered, let’s take a look at the sound. Starting with the bass, I would go as far to say it has one of the best quality bass responses of any other headphones in this class. Not merely loud and punchy (although at higher volumes it will vibrate on your head), it is wonderful layered and detailed, making electro, dance, dub, etc, sound great, as well as single instrument pieces like Ludovico Einaudi sound amazing. I felt the treble held its own with clear vocals, however the mid-tones seem to get a little lost in amongst the bass and treble. This was most noticeable for me when playing indie and folk music.

One last thing that got under my skin was the fact that it made a small beep every time it started a new track. I’m not sure if it was to do with my settings, but it doesn’t happen with any other headphones. Both pointless and irritating! The New York headphones are ideal for fashion conscious bass lovers, but true audiophiles might be disappointed by the lack of mid tones. RRP £149.00

4 out of 5

Current Cheapest Price

Pros

Powerful, enjoyable bass

Loud

Look great

Comfortable memory foam ear cups

Clear treble

Easy to locate buttons

Active Noise Cancellation

Good battery life

Cons

Lacks mid tone

Hard head bang

Bag doesn’t fully close

Fiddly on/off switch

Beeps between tracks (WHY?!?!)