Swedish lifestyle brand Urbanista has announced a pair of self-charging headphones in the Los Angeles wireless over-ears.
The power of the sun harnessed by a pair of over-ears on your head. That’s the sell line for Urbanista’s latest headphones – the Los Angeles – which are the world’s first self-charging, active noise cancelling headphones.
Mimicking the city they’re name after, the Los Angeles headphones are all about the sun. Powered by the Powerfoyle material created by fellow Swedish company Exeger, it’s a solar cell material that converts all forms of light – both outdoor and indoor – into energy to be stored in the headphone’s battery.
It’s a fantastic idea and means the headphones are perpetually charging – no need to plug them in or worry that you’re about to lose battery when you’re out and about. At least that’s the idea.
An hour outside on a sunny day with the Urbanista Los Angeles produces three hours of playtime, with Urbanista asserting that if conditions are overcast – welcome to the UK – you still get two hours of playtime. Urbanista also says that even when the headphones are worn indoors they’ll keep on charging. Leave them by the window for an hour and they claim you’ll get an hour back, (although these calculations are based “on certain lighting, charging and usage conditions and an initially fully charged battery.”)
What about the other features of the Urbanista Los Angeles? It incorporates hybrid active noise cancellation to reduce background noise, and from there you can switch to the Ambient Sound Mode to stay aware of what’s happening around you. Like the Urbanista Miami, there’s an on-ear detection feature that pauses and restarts audio when the headphone is removed/placed back on the head.
It’s compliant with Siri and Google voice assistants, connectivity is Bluetooth 5.0 and the headphones can be charged in the normal way via a USB-C connection. A reserve of 50 hours is stored in the headphones so you really will have to pull out all the stops to exhaust these headphones’ battery levels.
Available in colours inspired by its namesake, the Urbanista Los Angeles will be available in two exclusive colourways, one of which is Midnight Black. They’re priced at £169 / SEK 1999 / €199 / $199 and are available to pre-order from the Urbanista website.
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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.