Urban Social review

www.urbansocial.com

Urbansocial regard themselves as online dating's version of a trendy bar with leather sofas... It's an online dating service designed for young professionals in the UK. Urbansocial offers members a host of services, including online dating with picture profiles, secure messaging, profile searches, interest groups and dating event listings.

The Good: Interest groups feature • Discussion forums • Membership rates set below industry average

The Bad: Very basic functionality • Lack of telephone support • Low number of payment options • Limited network

Profile Creation

As a prospective member it's quick to create a basic profile in order to take a look around the site. We were able to conduct searches in just around two minutes. Unfortunately we couldn't see much sign of many members and certainly very few with photos. A very bad first impression.

Login via Facebook	Multiple photos	Video profiles
Compatibility testing	Photo via webcam	Sign up ~ 5 mins
Horoscopes	Photo editing

Search Style

There is a basic search to find users close to you and select the radius around your postcode. It's possible to conduct more advanced member searches to take into account any specific attributes such as hair colour, height and build.

When searching the site we noticed that a lot of member profiles do not contain photos. We marked the site down on this basis.

Free to search	Advanced search	Save searches
Find new members	Postcode search	GPS-based search
Search last login	Gender search

Halo Score

There is a fairly comprehensive FAQs section on Urbansocial and it is possible to email the support team with further questions. There is no phone support option on this site. We did award more Halo score as this site offers the function of self - cancelling membership and repeat billing.

	Show last login		Online profile removal		Cancel subs online
	Show who's online		Block / blacklists		ID checks

Payment & Support

It is only possible to pay for Urban Social membership via credit or debit card. Unlike many sites you cannot use PayPal or cheque payments which give you better control over automatic billing.

We've marked them down for response to email queries: It took over 10 days for us to receive a reply to our support query.

Credit / debit cards	Non-recurring fees	Phone support
Direct debit / SO's	Cancel subs online
PayPal	Mobile payments

Communications Summary

Communication options are limited to direct messaging and virtual winks, which in the case of this site are referred to as Flirts. We noticed the omission of now common communications features such as instant messaging and video chat.

Show who's online	Flirts, kisses, winks	Direct messaging
Show who's looking	Instant messaging	SMS texting
Friends list	Video chat

Mobile Features

This site doe not currently offer a mobile or smart phone application for any platform.

	iPhone app		Android app		GPS-based search
	Blackberry app		Nokia app

Many of the links on our website take you to your destination via a special re-direct. Rest assured this isn't anything weird or scary; it just means by using the link we may get a small commission for referring you. It helps us earn a little for putting this site together and is hugely appreciated. Thank you!

45%
overall review score

How we rated Urban Social:

Profile creation:	Search style:
Halo score:	Payment/Support:

Urban Social prices:

1 month subscription: £15.99
3 month subscription: £25.99
6 month subscription: £35.99

network reach...

UrbanSocial is a small dating site in comparison with the well known dating brands. We found their coverage to be strongest in London and the Southeast.