Do you want to have a pair of wireless over ear headphones that do not finally need to be recharged? Well, there are, Urbanista’s Los Angeles. In reality the need to recharge them, as with all wireless headphones, is there, but this new product by Urbanista is designed to solve the problem in a new way and, moreover, completely compatible with an energetically sustainable approach, because the headband it is equipped with a layer of photovoltaic material capable of recharging the battery with light, not just that of the sun.
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Solar headphones, therefore, which recharge while we go around, or simply if left under a light source, without the need, therefore, of having to connect them to a socket, easy to recharge even if you are traveling and you do not want to. bring additional cables with you. The material used is Exeger’s Powerfoyle capable of converting any form of light into clean energy. This means, for example, that in one hour of exposure under the cloudless sky you get charged for about three hours of listening, if instead the sky is cloudy you get ‘only’ a couple. The Powerfoyle layer is all over the headband and the photovoltaic cells are in fact integrated into the material so as not to burden the thickness of the headband itself or the weight of the headphones.
The Powerfoyle allows you to generate energy not only in sufficient quantity for use but also, in the best conditions of course, a little more than that used for listening, thus creating the possibility of infinite autonomy. This feature alone, which is only offered by Los Angeles, makes Urbanista’s headphones deserve maximum acclaim, but also the aesthetics and audio are more than good. The ‘look’ is not particularly surprising, but we are in the presence of a pair of headphones that are still elegant and not particularly bulky. The lower part of the headband has a soft cushion and the two cone pavilions connected to the headband via a small extendable support.
The pavilions can rotate on the horizontal axis in order to adapt to the shape of the wearer’s head, the headband is decidedly rigid, so the headphones press enough on the ears, a ‘defect’ which however reduces over time. The control buttons, configurable via the app, allow volume adjustment, playback control and activation of ANC and voice assistant. And there is still a USB-C port to recharge the headset in the absence of light. Connectivity is Bluetooth 5.0, but there is no jack input, while there is a sensor that ‘understands’ whether we are wearing headphones or not. The autonomy is excellent, obviously varies according to the volume and use of the ANC, but it is definitely very sustained.
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Once put into use, the result of the solar recharge is decidedly spectacular, it works well even at home, with artificial lights and allows you to practically never have to recharge the headphones. Inside, of course, the recharge will be slightly below the energy consumed, while outdoors it is even possible to store energy for future use. In two weeks of constant use, both indoors and outdoors, the battery charge has remained essentially the same, especially if you leave the headphones in the light when not in use. The case that comes with the headphones, not surprisingly, leaving the top uncovered for this.
And the sound? Very good, the bass is powerful and in general the sound is enveloping and warm, perhaps not the best for those who ask for high fidelity, but it is definitely above the average of headphones in the same category. There is no equalizer, though, and that’s a shame anyway. The active noise cancellation is good, and the passive isolation, also given the pressure of the pavilions on the ears, works very well, improving the ANC. Through the Anc selection key, however, you can select an audio transparency mode that uses the microphones to allow you to listen to the surrounding noises and also to talk to those around you without having to remove the headphones from your head.
The final judgment is therefore more than good, the price-quality ratio is excellent (the price list is 199 euros) if you think about the convenient possibility of having the headphones always charged.