Now that there are a lot of truly wireless earbuds in the market, the industry is looking at what’s the next big thing. Swedish lifestyle audio brand Urbanista would like to submit their newest device as a dandidate. The Urbanista Los Angeles headphones is the first of its kind as it is a solar-powered device that should not run out of power as long as you’re always in the presence of sunlight and even indoor lights. And with a price tag of around $233, it’s not such a bad deal.
The specs of the Urbanista Los Angeles seem to be pretty similar to their existing Miami range. It comes with 40mm neodymium drivers and 20Hz to 20kHz frequency response. It also has a built-in mic so you can take calls and also support Google Assistant. It has USB-C charging, Bluetooth 5.0 support, and on-ear detection. It also has the in-demand Active Noise Canceling feature but also an ambient sound mode if you need to be more aware of your surroundings.
But of course, the selling point of these headphones is that it is solar-powered, according to Wired. It is able to convert all kinds of light, whether it’s outdoor or indoor, into energy. Urbanista is using Powerfoyle as its solar source. Solar charging means you get an almost infinite playtime for your device. When you’re walking outdoors on a sunny day for an hour you can get 3 hours of playtime and if it’s cloudy, you get 2 hours for ever 1 hour spent outside. If you’re wearing them when you’re indoors, you also get energy from the ambient light.
You can also leave your headphones by the window for an hour and you should also get an hour of playtime. But if you’re still worried you’ll run out of power if you can’t get any light, the Urbanista Los Angeles has a 50-hour battery life from the 750mAh power pack that’s on-board. There’s also a carrying case USB-C charging cable, audio cable, and airline adaptor. For now, it only comes in Midnight Black but there might be more colors coming soon.
The Urbanista Los Angeles is available at 169 British pounds or around $233. It doesn’t seem to be available yet but you can sign up so you’ll be notified when it’s available for order or even pre-order.
