A Gimmick?

Okay, so here’s the official Urbanista ad for these earbuds:

You don’t have to watch it, though, because it basically takes a minute and a half to tell you the same thing that the product title on this page does. And no, that isn’t that long, but it’s a bit much for an earbud promo video.

What’s more interesting than its content, though, is the subtext the ad accidentally communicates.

The first thing Urbanista highlights is the self-charging case. The second thing is the material the case is made of that allows it to be self-charging (something called ‘Powerfoyle’ that can apparently recharge in natural and artificial light).

Thirty seconds into the video (in other words, a third of the way through), we get our first mention of anything related to sound. And even this is just to mention their active noise-cancelling function. Then there’s a bit about transparency mode, the ability to connect to multiple devices at once, color options, and the app.

Somehow, they take an entire minute and a half to explain these earbuds, and at no point do they say a single thing about sound quality, which inadvertently tells the viewer: these are a gimmick product and not to be taken seriously for their intended purpose of listening to music or podcasts or whatever.

What’s funny is that this is wrong. Or partially wrong, at least.

And we know from a reliable source: you.

Last time we sold these things, the comments made two things clear:

1. The solar-charging function is a slow, if not outright useless gimmick; and…

2. The overall sound quality is better than expected.

And yes, point 1 might be a dealbreaker if you were to pay the ridiculous price of $258 they once went for on Amazon. But for $25? They can just be buds that under-deliver on their charging potential and over-deliver on sound quality.

And let’s be honest, it’s better than the other way around, right?