Our Verdict
The Beats by Dr. Dre urBeats are basic in-ear headphones that do well in most use cases but do not have the best sound for critical listening.
- Minimal Leakage.
- Stable and portable design.
- Subpar audio reproduction.
- Mediocre build quality.
Mediocre for neutral listening. They're too bass heavy and have a poor soundstage due to their design. Therefore, they won't be the best headphones for an accurate audio reproduction and are not ideal for neutral listening. The sound quality may even be a deal breaker for some casual listeners.
Above-average for commuting. The passive seal of these headphones isolates well enough for moderately loud environments. However, they're not the most comfortable or durable headphones to use on a daily basis for your commutes.
Above-average for sports use. They're decently stable and very portable headphones. However, they do not have any stability enhancing tips, and they're also not wireless so the cable could get tangled or hooked on something
Average for office use. They don't leak much, thanks to their in-ear design and isolate well enough for a lively office.
Changelog
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated Feb 16, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Oct 02, 2017: The microphone has been tested with our new methodology, as explained here
Check Price
Popular Headphones Comparisons
See our recommendations for the best cheap earbuds, the best earbuds and in-ears, and the best earbuds under $50.
The Beats BeatsX Wireless are not directly comparable to the Beats urBeats Earphones since they are Bluetooth-only headphones, and the urBeats are wired. On the upside, the BeatsX are a much more versatile option than the urBeats. They sound better, they're more practical for every day casual use, and they come with more tip options than the urBeats, which makes them slightly more comfortable (but not by much). On the other hand, since the urBeats are wired, you won't have any battery life concerns, and they're a lot simpler to use.
We've upgraded our Headphones Test Bench to 2.0! This update brings several key changes to our tests and usages, making it easier than ever to interpret our sound results based on your personal preferences. You'll also find a brand-new interactive graph tool featuring multiple targets (including our own!) for you to explore and compare.
For a full breakdown, check out our changelog, which includes detailed commentary from our test designer explaining the rationale behind our update.
We'd also love to hear your thoughts: your feedback helps us keep improving, so join us in the comments!
Test Results
The Beats urBeats have a simple but sleek in-ear design. They have flat cables and small earbuds that do not protrude much when in your ears. The inline controls and the ear buds look good, but the plastic used for their design feels a bit cheap upon closer inspection. They won't stick out in a crowd, especially, the gray and black color variation but the understated design will work for most.
The Beats urBeats earphones have the typical in-ear fit. You will experience the same inconvenience in comfort if you don't find in-ear models comfortable. However, they do come with different sized tips to help listeners find a better fit. They're also incredibly lightweight and won't be a problem for those who regularly use in-ear headphones.
The Beats urBeat's control scheme is simple and well-designed. They deliver call/music, track skipping, and volume controls. The buttons have a good feedback. Sadly they're relatively flat and a little cramped which makes them a less easy to distinguish by feel alone. However, you quickly get accustomed to it.
The Beats urBeats are extremely portable headphones. They comfortably fit into most pockets purses or bags which makes them easy to carry around on your person. There's no ideal way to fold them into their most compact format, but the cable is not too long or thick, and the ear buds are quite small, which doesn't take much space.
The urBeats come with a unique pouch that protects the headphones and doesn't add too much bulk allowing it to conveniently fit into a pocket. However, the case does not shield the headphones from hard falls or water damage. The case also opens with a squeeze which is stylish but may cause some of the headphones accessories fall out inadvertently.
The Beats urBeats earphones have a decent build quality. The audio cable is flat, which makes it less tangle prone, and it's sufficiently rubberized to be durable. The earbuds are hard enough, to not break from a few drops. However, the plastic design of the earbuds and the inline remote is not as durable as some higher-end in-ear models.
The Beats by Dr. Dre urBeats, like most in-ear headphones, are inherently quite stable. The in-ear buds fit deeply into the ear canal and are relatively hard to dislodge by just pulling on the cable or running. However, these headphones do not come with any unique stability tips to make them more stable. This means they will still fall out of your ears every once in a while, and the audio cable can also yank the headphones out of your ears if it gets hooked on something.
Poor Bass Range performance. The response is quite flat, but consistently overemphasized by more than 7dB. This makes the sound excessively bass heavy and muddy.
Average mid-range performance for the Beats urBeats. Low-mid is slightly overemphasized, which adds to the muddiness and boominess caused by the excess high-bass. Mid and high-mid are consistently underemphasized by more than 5dB, weakening vocals/leads relative to the lower instruments and pushing them to the back of the mix.
Poor Treble Range performance. The overall performance is underemphasized consistently by about 5dB. Considering the excess bass that these in-ears produce, the lack of high frequency emphasis makes these headphones exceptionally dark sounding.
Decent isolation. Although these headphones isolate passively, they perform on par with some active noise cancelling headphones. They achieve about 7dB of isolation in the Bass Range, which is very good for passive isolation. In the mid and treble ranges, the amount of isolation achieved is very good.
Excellent leakage. The Beats urBeats earphones leak very little as the significant portion of the leakage is limited to the 1KHz-6KHz range, and the overall level of the leakage is also quite low.
No compatible app.
