How Is it Possible to Screw Up a Sonos Clone This Badly

I have this imaginativeness of wake up in the morning , and press out a button that play music everywhere in my star sign . Sonos was the original trailblazer that built a speaker system to get this multiroom job done , and it rest the well option for a number of reasons : The $ 200 starting price point is fairish , the arrangement sound phenomenal , and most importantly , it ’s authentic and leisurely to use . ape products from Denon , Polk , Samsung , and other manufacturers have never made a compelling case for themselves in the nerve of Sonos ’ succeeder . Now , gaudy phone shaper UrbanEars is the late brand to leap into the mixture with a multiroom system of its own , and since I ’m a bighearted fan if the caller ’s products , I had to give it a probability .

UrbanEars Baggen & Stammen

Price

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$ 350 ( Stammen ) ; $ 450 ( Baggen )

What is it ?

A novel competitor for the Sonos audio system of rules .

William Duplessie

They ’re attractive !

No Like

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Everything else .

You might think I ’m wild — my coworkers call back so — for wanting to try out a cheap life-style make ’s newfangled speakers . Yes , UrbanEars is n’t exactly known for making the good gear . It ’s essentially a budget brand that undercuts premium audio ware and uses loud purpose to tolerate out from competitors . But I ’ve have the same pair of love apple - coloredUrbanEars Kransenearbuds for the last three twelvemonth , and I absolutely sleep with them . At $ 40 , they ’re super affordable , indestructible , and I think the weird color looks cool . I ’d commend those earbuds to anyone looking for an option to Apple ’s overprice EarPods . I figured the raw UrbanEars multiroom speaker would be something standardized : A crushed - cost alternative to the popular Sonos ware . It call on out the UrbanEars wireless verbaliser are something else totally .

UrbanEars plunge its multiroom setup with two version of its new connected speakers : the humble Stammen ( $ 350 ) and larger Baggen ( $ 450 ) , whose prices are roughly like to the Play:3 ( $ 300 ) and Play:5 ( $ 500 ) Sonos speakers . There ’s no scurvy - cost submission point here .

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The biggerBaggenspeaker is housed in a large square shell . It ’s about the size of the subwoofer boxful that comes with a lot of cheap 5.1 surroundings speech sound setup , but it ’s equipped with two 2.5 - column inch full - range loudspeaker system and one 5.25 - inch subwoofer that puts out a maximum 60 James Watt of audio office . It ’s big , and kind of difficult to obscure out of sight . The perfectly square fabric casing is n’t exactly beautiful either . tough , it does n’t deliver he tone of audio I was expecting ; For a immense hunk of gadget that costs $ 450 , I hoped for a little more .

The humble Stammen was more my velocity . It ’s about the size of it of three brusk hardcover novels stacked together . It also add up equipped with two atomic number 60 dome tweeters and a 4 - in subwoofer that conjointly have a max audio output of 36 James Watt . Despite being about the sizing of a Sonos Play:3 speaker , the Stammen sounds much weaker . Still , it ’s enough office for most casual medicine listener who do n’t need ( or want ) their whole house to shake when they ’re heed to a expert basso blood line .

There are four dissimilar room you may wirelessly connect to an UrbanEars multiroom speaker system , plus an AUX porthole and USB interface ( for charging your sound ) enshroud on the bottom . Both the Baggen and Stammen come in with Google Chromecast and Apple Airplay built in , and they also have Bluetooth built in — but the actual kicker is its ability to connect to wi - fi and be control all from your telephone set . By comparison , Sonos only connects to devices via wi - fi . The Bluetooth connectivity in particular is a squeamish contact — it ’s a feature that Sonos has been pick apart for get out out of its products .

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You set up the speakers with an app that , in theory , should be really easy to apply . The instructions say once you download the app , you plug in your speaker , pick out it from within the app , confirm your pet wi - fi web — and voila!—you’re using your steel new stereo .

In realism , the UrbanEars app did n’t work very well . Instead , it crash almost every time I opened it . Even as I was writing this limited review , I was listening tosome marvelous jazz musicwhen I received an unexpected earpiece call . I break the track and answered my phone — but the music continued to spiel .

Small , vexing glitches like this happen all of the time with the UrbanEars speakers . There was one not - so - hilarious incident when my speaker unit define became stuck on about 90 percent volume when I was first trying it out in the late evening . The app crash , and every time I relaunched , it would dash again , whilea really aloud sax solokept din across multiple elbow room . Eventually , I had to run across my flat and turn over the speaker down manually using the much - apprise volume thickening . Any neighbors examine to get to layer were treat to a blaring waking up from the world ’s most annoying melodious instrument .

Photo: Jae C. Hong

give thanks you UrbanEars for these two knobs . My original intention was to deflect using the physical knob at all toll — because what the Scheol is the purpose of have multiroom speakers if you ca n’t ascertain them with your phone ? But because the app is so terrible , I found myself invariably reaching for the knobs — and kind of shoot down the function of futurist wireless speakers .

Although , not even the physical controls work as advertised . The top knob controls bulk , and when you push it , the organization ostensibly toggles between act as an individual speaker to play as part of a multiroom setup . But it took me about 45 minutes to get my frame-up work right , and when I tried to disconnect the talker to use each one briefly as an individual speaker rather than as part of a multiroom setup , it caused me a huge headache when I went back to twin them again . or else of finding myself with something convenient , I regain myself using a wireless talker system that was a study in tediousness .

The bottom thickening was n’t as handy as it should have been either . It control seven unlike presets that can be set to any album , play list , or radio place on Spotify . It can also be set to different old school FM radio channels . I ’ve developed a predictable listening routine of jazz in the break of day and house music at dark , and programming that routine into the speaker had me excited . lamentably , the presets are difficult to set because they expect the fellowship ’s awful app . The button on the speaker do n’t always lick when you push them either .

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The biggest issue I ’ve had with the UrbanEars connected speaker is their reaction time for almost every control . Everything I tried to do with these loudspeaker system became a physical process , particularly with the app crashing ostensibly every time I launched it . Even basic command like interchange the volume or skip a vocal was followed by a two- or three - second postponement . The biggest lesson I learned here is that a affiliated speaker is only as good as its interface , and UrbanEars blows it . It speakers are more complicated and do n’t sound about as good as the contest . Just go get a Sonos .