Urbanista is a relatively new company to join the market but we have heard such good things about them! We recently reviewed a pair of their Nightrunner earphones and really impressed us. Urbanista have mainly produced earphones/headphones and have recently branched out to portable speakers too. We were fortunate enough to get our hands on one of their new models, the ‘Melbourne’.

The speaker comes in a pretty cool cardboard box. Quite small in fact, but hopefully this smaller speaker will be able to perform. In the box is a USB cable to charge and a shoe lace type piece of string to be used as a lanyard if desired. The speaker itself is quite small, it’s about the size of an iPhone 6, but three or four times thicker. It’s very portable, fits in your hand like a mobile phone and is rather light in weight. The speaker has a rubbery case, with a large mesh on the front, a speaker radiator/vent at the rear and a little nib on the side to attach your lanyard. There are four buttons on the top, power on/off, volume up/down and Bluetooth activation. There is also a pin hole next to the buttons, which is in fact a microphone so the speaker can be used for conference calls or alike. On one of the sides, underneath a small flap, is the USB charging port. The speaker comes in three colours: white, black and a bluey/teal colour. Overall, I really like the feel and look.

So it looks good, but will it perform? On paper it certainly does. Take a look below:

  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • Speaker size: 3 +3watt φ40mm full range plus 50mm passive radiator
  • Sensitivity: 80dB ±2dB SPL @1KHz
  • Impedance: 4ohms ±15% @1 | KHzFrequency: 100-20000Hz
  • Microphone
  • Playing time: about 6h/li>
  • Charging: Micro USB, about 2 hours charging time
  • Works with Android, iOS and Windows
  • Weight: 180g (without package)
  • Product size: 130x65x22mm

Setting up the speaker is very simple. Turn the Bluetooth on your mobile device, turn the speaker on and pair the two together. Very common task with Bluetooth but if you’re unfamiliar with it, instructions are included. The battery life of the speaker is also identified in the task bar of your mobile device which is very handy so you can easily spot whether the speaker needs a charge when out and about.

The speaker itself is awesome, do I need to say anything else? I was concerned that there wouldn’t be enough… well, anything considering the size of this speaker but oh how I was wrong. I played a variety of songs and loved each and every one of them. The speaker is very well balanced, with plenty of bass and defined highs and mids. It can also go very loud; enough to fill a small room or to have a decent BBQ party on the beach! When it reaches its louder volumes, the speaker still performs and very little quality is lost. For the size, the price and the quality, this is an exceptional speaker.

Any negatives to the speaker? A couple. I’m not a fan of the flappy cover that protects the USB port and I’m a little concerned what might happen if you accidentally get something stuck in the rear speaker radiator. I’m being really picky when I say negatives however, the speaker is so good. I’m happy to live with them.

The speaker currently retails at a mere £59 but it’s worth every penny! We highly recommend it! For further info and to purchase, visit the official Urbanista website.