Pros & Cons
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- Powerful audio with subwoofer-like bass response and crisp highs.
- Handsome design.
- App includes EQ.
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- Some bugs in testing.
- No included cable for aux input.
Urbanears Baggen Specs
| Bluetooth | |
| Channels | 2 |
| Physical Connections | 3.5mm |
Urbanears' lineup of multi-room wireless speakers consists of the Urbanears Stammen and the Baggen, reviewed here. Neither option is cheap, but at $449, the Baggen is the pricier of the two by $100. Visually, you'd have a tough time telling them apart—the Baggen is essentially a bigger version of the Stammen. And like the Stammen, we experienced some glitches in testing when using the companion app. But apps can be updated, and using the speaker in Bluetooth or wired mode works fine. So the real question is whether it sounds $100 better than the Stammen, and the answer is yes.
Design
The front face of the Baggen is, like the rest of it, covered in cloth grille. The speaker is offered in six colors: black, blue, gray, green, orange, and pink. Behind the cloth, dual front-facing 2.5-inch tweeters and a single 5.3-inch woofer deliver audio from the Baggen's 11.8-by-11.8-by-6.6-inch (HWD), 14.5-pound frame. The speaker's overall dimensions are really the only difference visually—but internally, the Baggan delivers a combined 60 watts of audio output from considerably larger drivers than the Stammen.
On the bottom panel, there are four rubberized feet, a connection for the cloth-lined power cable, a 3.5mm aux input (but no cable is included, unfortunately), and a USB port (for charging mobile devices). There's also a port to allow the speaker's driver to more easily push air out, located near the connections on the bottom panel.
The two speakers have the same control layout placed on roughly the same space on the upper panel. It consists of two knobs and various LEDs. The volume knob works in conjunction with your mobile device's master volume levels, and the change is smooth and seamless—a slight turn of the knob results in immediate, accurate adjustments. The other knob switches between various sound sources—the cloud icon (for internet radio), Bluetooth, aux, and then numbered presets, 1 through 7, that can be assigned to music from Spotify Connect or internet radio stations. It's easiest to do this within the Urbanears Connected app.
To function in Wi-Fi mode, you need to download the free app. The setup process is simple, assuming you're connected to the wireless network you intend to use with the speaker. Once set up, the app auto-updates your speaker's firmware if needed. Through the app, the Baggen can stream audio from Spotify Connect and Chromecast apps, as well as AirPlay. There's access to "over 30,000" internet radio stations—switch the dial on the speaker to the cloud icon to access them. Searching for local and international stations was a breeze, and the feeds were of decent quality. The app is also where you can assign multiple speakers to work in solo mode or in a multi-speaker array.
The source knob doubles as a play/pause button, but unlike the volume knob, this button often has an annoying delay time. Pressing play on an iPhone 6s (with both the phone and speaker updated to the latest firmware), you'll get audio playback within seconds, but after pausing it, pressing it to resume playback with the knob often doesn't work. Holding the button down for too long results in a system reset, which means you have to set it up again in the app. For some reason, this issue only occurs in Wi-Fi mode. Also, while using Wi-Fi, after a few idle minutes, the connection via the app was often lost. You can bypass these issues using Bluetooth; you can still use the app's EQ to adjust bass and treble in Bluetooth mode. But for the price, it shouldn't be an issue at all.
There's no included speakerphone functionality, which is less common on speakers this size and price, but would have been a nice inclusion, at least for Bluetooth/solo mode.
Performance
The speaker is capable of getting exceptionally loud. On tracks with intense sub-bass, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," it delivers powerful, booming bass response. The lows will please big bass lovers, even at moderate volumes. At top volumes, this is one of the louder speakers we've tested of late, and there were no distortion issues.
Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the Baggen's sound signature. The drums on this track can often sound unnaturally thunderous on bass-forward systems; through the Baggen, the drums have a solid, but subtle sound, not unlike the Stammen's response. The standout element here is Callahan's baritone voice, which gets some added low and low-mid richness, but also receives plenty of high-mid presence, giving it some added treble edge and definition. The guitar strums also benefit from a solid high-mid presence, and there is a good overall balance between the lows and highs—but things do tend to lean a little more in the direction of the lows.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop receives enough high-mid presence to retain much of its sharp attack, but it's the loop's sustain that gets the most sculpting and boosting—it packs quite a low and low-mid punch. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are also delivered with gusto, approaching subwoofer-like bass levels. The vocals on this track receive a healthy amount of high-mid and high frequency presence, sometimes a little too much, highlighting their sibilance in spots. Overall, however, it's a clean and balanced sound that, again, leans toward the lows.
On orchestral tracks, like the opening scene in John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, the lower register instrumentation receives a little added heft, but nothing that upsets the balance tremendously. When there are truly deep lows in this mix, the Baggen delivers them with lovely richness, but the spotlight still belongs to the bright higher register brass, strings, and vocals.
Conclusions
So, is the Baggen worth $100 more than the Stammen? You bet. The power this speaker summons is impressive, and it's capable of delivering greater bass depth than its smaller sibling. If you're looking for other multi-room wireless speakers in this general price range, we're also fans of the Sonos Play:5, and the more affordable Jam Symphony and JLab Block Party. At $450, the Baggen is an investment, but it strikes us as a more solid option than its less expensive sibling. The app is still a little glitchy, but hopefully that gets worked out, and in the meantime, the Baggen functions perfectly as a Bluetooth speaker, no app necessary. Bass lovers will not be disappointed.
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