A pair of earbuds easily offer the most convenient way to listen to music on the go, with no bulky cans getting in the way and no uncomfortable tips sealing your ear canal. Sure, you’re unlikely to get the same kind of noise isolation as either of the aforementioned alternatives, but it works well enough for casual, everyday listening. And if you want affordable earbuds with as many conveniences as they can pack into a tiny piece of gear, it rarely gets better than the Urbanears Sumpan.
At $29, it’s easy to expect a throwaway pair no different than the crappy ones they throw in when you purchase a new phone. And while it won’t mimic the sound fidelity of a premium pair of $500 buds, for casual listeners who just want to listen to their favorite songs loudly and clearly on the go, this strikes the perfect balance between affordable and functional, with a whole load of style to boot.
The Urbanears Sumpan come with 13.6mm dynamic drivers, with a 20Hz-20kHz frequency response and 101db of sensitivity. Truth be told, we can’t tell how it performs from that, but Urbanears does have a good rep for making cheap but good-sounding products. Sporting a lightweight, minimalist design, it comes with a hook-up feature that lets you lock the buds conveniently behind the neck when not in use, a cable loop for wrapping the cord neatly without tangles, a Kevlar-reinforced cable for durability, and a built-in mic for hands-free phone calls.
Available in a variety of colors, you can buy the Urbanears Sumpan directly from the outfit’s website.