First it was a pair of over-ear headphones, then a true wireless, and now Urbanista has taken the Powerfoyle solar charging tech and integrated it in the form of a wireless speaker.
The Urbanista Malibu is the first product of its kind, the world’s first solar charging wireless speaker. Whenever it is exposed to indoor or outdoor light, it’ll absorb that light and turn it into energy to power its audio performance.
To add to its sustainable outlook, the Malibu is constructed from recycled plastic and materials. Rated to an IP67 standard it is fully waterproof and protected against the ingress of dust, dirt, or sand.
Battery life is as long as the speaker can go for thanks to its solar charging panels, but if you find yourself in a place where there is no light, Urbanista claims there’s a full day’s reserve of battery to lean on. If the Malibu speakers needs to be charged via a wired connection, that can be done so with its USB-C port.
It can generate 20W of power for audio playback, and other features include a lanyard to help make it easier to carry it around, and there is the Stereo Link function for pairing two speakers together.
The Malibu also arrives on the market with a companion app, which Urbanista says gives the user “deep customisation options” such as a customisable EQ band to adjust the performance of the audio to the user’s liking. The app also keeps track of the speaker’s live light-charging and access to historical data to see how the solar has performed in the past. It’ll be interesting to see if all these features help to make it one of the best outdoor speakers.
Inspired by the US beach city, the Urbanista Malibu comes in three colours although only two appear to have been announced: Midnight Black and Desert Gray.
The Urbanista Malibu is priced at £149 / $149 / €169. It’ll be available from Urbanista online and retailers worldwide from late September 2023.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
