Urbanista brings solar powered headphone technology to true wireless headphones

Urbanista has been following up on its solar-powered headphones since last year, the Phoenix, a truly wireless pair of solar-powered headphones, the company announced today. Like the headphones, the Phoenix uses Powerfoil solar panels made by Exger to extend their battery life from the sun’s rays. But unlike The Los Angeles headphones have solar panels built into the headband, the panels themselves are not included on the Phoenix headphones. Instead, they are built into the Phoenix Charger case.

The decision to convert the solar-charging technology into a charging case makes sense given the small size of the headphones. But it does mean that users have to make an effort to keep the solar panels focused on the sun. For example, the headband of your headphones is supposed to sit on your head to absorb the sun’s rays whenever you use them outdoors, but most people keep their headphones’ charging case in their pocket or bag when they’re listening to their headphones. And about.

Image: Urbanist

Urbanista claims that Phoenix can get 8 hours of playback from their own shoots. Combined with the charging case, however, you’re looking at around 32 hours of total playback, and that should increase by around an hour for every hour spent in direct sunlight. Like previous Los Angeles headphones, the Phoenix’s charging status can be monitored from the Urbanista companion app, which offers the option to adjust the headphone’s EQ or customize the touch controls.

Aside from solar charging, other more traditional headphone features include IPX4 water resistance (meaning they’ll survive sweat but not heavy rain), Bluetooth 5.2 support, and a USB-C charging port for charging. When they are finally dry. Phoenix headphones support active noise cancellation, have a transparency mode to hear the world around you, and there is an option to connect to two devices at the same time (useful to make a phone call without forgetting the connection to the laptop). Available color options include black and pink.

Image: Urbanist

While Xager CEO Giovanni Fili confirmed that the Phoenix are “the world’s first Powerfoyle-powered true wireless headphones,” it’s less clear that they’re the first solar-powered headphones. A company called Pearl Audio previously announced an Indiegogo campaign to support similar headphones, but it doesn’t look like these “AI-Powered Earbuds” actually shipped. The campaign’s last update was last November, and as of this writing, the crowdfunding page has been blocked and flooded with comments from supporters asking for refunds.

Urbanista, on the other hand, has a better track record, having released a pair of solar-powered headphones last year. But in the year We’ll have a little longer until the release of the Phoenix, which will ship until the fourth quarter of 2022. When released, it should be available globally for $149 (£). 129, 149 euros).