Urbanista has announced an overhauling of its solar charging headphone lineup with the new second-generation versions of both its Los Angeles over-ear headphones and the Phoenix true wireless earbuds. Both devices are still designed and built around Powerfoyle solar charging material from Exeger, but are now being updated with more power-efficient components, adaptive noise cancellation, and more streamlined designs.
Still relying on Powerfoyle solar charging material, these new models boast a host of refinements
At the center of all Urbanista’s plans for these new models, both the headphones and the earbuds are still being designed to offer reliable battery lifespans through solar charging. Due to the various amounts of light in any given area, it’s still unknown how much the batteries will be supported by this feature, but they are projected to charge from both outdoor sunlight (which is preferable) as well as indoor ambient light.
Currently, Urbanista’s estimates range from weeks to an infinite amount of listening. For example, Urbanista surmises that listening to the new Los Angeles headphones for four hours a day while the device itself receives 10 hours of “low light” charging per day (a combination of indoor light and outdoor sunlight) should enable an upwards of 50 days without needing to charge. With less listening or more light being added to the equation, these estimates point to a practically infinite lifespan.
For the second-generation Phoenix earbuds, Urbanista believes they could offer an almost 16-day lifespan with the same 10 hours of “low light” charging per four hours of listening every day. This figure increases to 100 days of playback with just two hours of daily listening and more sunlight exposure – or even infinite listening when exposed to enough light. We’ll have to wait and see, however, how closely their estimations match reality. Luckily, both will possess common USB-C ports for charging when batteries run out.
Urbanista has made some alterations to both devices in order to address the concerns with their predecessors and bring them more in line with modern expectations while not sacrificing their solar charging capabilities.
The new Los Angeles model now comes with a standard 3.5mm jack for wired listening, which the company has integrated while minimizing the battery drain associated with the feature on a lot of devices. Another alteration is to provide more comfort with a lower clamping force so as not to cause pressure on listeners’ heads.
The new Phoenix wireless earbuds will now offer an increased 40 hours of playtime (not counting any solar charging), with eight more hours added to the previous model’s 24 hours from the case and the same eight hours from the buds themselves (as was with the old model).
Both models have otherwise had their internals altered for more power-efficiency, with their overall size having been reduced for increased comfort. Other improvements are far more minor, with the Los Angeles now supporting multipoint for the first time, allowing the headphones to connect to multiple source devices at once. This is not a new feature for the Phoenix earbuds though, but it has been improved upon to make managing the companion app that much easier. The earbuds are also being given an improved IP54 rating over its past IPX4, giving it dust protection alongside the existing water protection.
Both devices are still in development, so the most we know about possible launch dates is set somewhere midway through 2024. Upon their releases, however, they will be priced at slightly cheaper rates, with the second-gen Los Angeles due to cost $179 and the second-gen Phoenix due to cost $129 – both $20 cheaper than the originals.
We will update you with more information and imagery as it becomes available.
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