The use of wireless headphones is increasing thanks to their many options and high mobility. Sometimes, new products reveal an interesting line that is not yet around. Draco company decided to import the brand to Israel Urbanista, a brand born in Sweden and made available in more than 90 countries. One of the products that the company will import are Los Angeles headphones – on-ear headphones with a particularly nice gimmick: they charge themselves.
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The company boasts that it has delivered the world’s first self-charging headphones. Last year the Los Angeles headphones were launched by Urbanista, and only now are they making aliyah to Israel. In 2019, JBL announced solar headphones that were successfully crowdfunded on IndieGoGo. However, so far the Reflect Eternal headphones are not available. In 2020, the company apologized and announced that there were major delays due to the corona virus, and that it would offer refunds to its supporters. Since then Adidas has also announced similar headphones.
We took the Los Angeles model to test for a week, and came back with answers: the battery is indeed impressive and the sound is good, but the rest – less so.
battery: Not infinite, but impressive
Since the good news about these headphones is the battery and the impressive charging, it is appropriate to start with this. The built-in battery is 750 mAh, and it can be charged via USB-C. If these headphones are used continuously without charging, the company guarantees 50 hours of listening with active noise cancellation and 80 hours of listening without noise cancellation. It is impossible to really test this claim, because the solar charging strip charges the pavement.
The solar charging strap on Urbanista’s Los Angeles earphones / Photo: Nebo Trabalsi
The headphone band has a material called Powerfoyle supplied to Urbanista by the Exeger company. This is a material consisting of solar cells capable of producing energy from any type of light – according to the company, from sunlight to light bulbs in the house. The company stated that the headphones are always charging, both when they are on and when they are turned off. However, during the test the headphones were charged only when they were exposed to the sun and not when they were in front of fluorescent lighting or normal lighting. In a lighted space, the headphones did not reach a state of real charging.
The company promises almost infinite listening time, and in the message in Hebrew it is written that it is possible “for the first time to experience almost unlimited listening time thanks to the solar charging”. The reality test reveals that it is not endless hours of listening, but without a doubt there is an impressive time span. According to the company, an hour in the sun should generate enough electricity for three hours of listening, and on a cloudy day this drops to two hours. Throughout use, the headphones were around 90% charged. The company stops at 90% to protect the battery. And if you are outdoorsmen who walk a lot in the sun, you might get close to not having to charge the battery at all.
Sound: Good listening experience with noise cancellation in place
In the sound department, these are 40 mm dynamic drivers. The sound emanating from the headphones is vivid, the sounds are rich, and overall you get a particularly good listening experience. However, it is not the most advanced sound capabilities available on the market.
In terms of active noise cancellation – the headphones offer a variety of options: default mode, ambient mode and active noise cancellation mode. The headphones do a good job in terms of noise isolation, and they were able to overcome the moderate noise of a Tel Aviv street. However, the environment that allows you to hear what is happening near you, turns out to be dim and not the best.
In addition, the headset does not cope well with strong winds. In a situation where you face a strong wind, there is a high chance that it will penetrate into the headphones.
comfort: Not suitable for everyone
The bow of the headphones is too tight, so it may press on the head. As a result, the headphones are not comfortable for users with large head dimensions and are also cumbersome for those with glasses. This means that not all users will be able to use them for a long time.
Design: Banal, and the buttons are too small
In terms of the “dry” design, the design of the headphones has not been redesigned. The headphones look good, but not exceptional. However, the buttons will be a challenge. The division is as follows: there are three buttons on the right side – responsible for Bluetooth pairing, turning it on and off, and controlling the sound volume. The problem with the buttons is their size. The control buttons are too small, so it’s very easy to make a mistake and press the wrong things. On the other side of the headphones is a button to control the noise isolation modes. It is a single button of convenient size to use.
It is important to note that the company has decided to drop the possibility of connecting a jack to headphones, so that their use is wireless only.
Case: Large as befits Keshet headphones
The headphone case is the original size and does not add any more empty space that just takes up space in the bag. However, this is a relatively large case, so if you have too many things in the bag, it will be an engineering challenge to figure out how to carry them from place to place.
and also: The app doesn’t always work well
The various audio companies that offer headphones to consumers realized a long time ago that it was necessary to offer an application through which it would be possible to effectively manage the use of headphones. In the case of Urbanista, in the application you can change the noise canceling modes, along with managing the buttons on the headphones. But what makes this application more interesting is the possibility to see the level of consumption versus the level of charging live. There is a kind of semicircle that shows how many percent of the battery has been consumed and how much has returned thanks to the constant charging. While turning on noise cancellation and playing music, the app shows about 10 milliamps in use.
Urbanista’s app monitors battery status / photo: screenshot
However, the connection of the headphones with the mobile device was lacking. In many situations when the headphones are already connected to the device, the application may not recognize that there is an existing connection and will ask you to scan again. It would have been worthwhile to create a much better application, with more options and better synchronization with the connected device.
price: Branding themselves as premium headphones
As far as the Draco company that imports the company’s products here, this is a premium product. The company priced the product at NIS 800. The price in Sweden is 1,990 Swedish kroner – about NIS 630, and there is free shipping worldwide according to the company’s international website. However, contrary to what is written on the website, there is no possibility of delivery to Israel.
Bottom line: The road to heaven is paved with small mistakes
It’s not surprising that Urbanista’s intention to be the first in the world to release headphones that charge themselves is bound to lead to mistakes that hinder the overall experience. But the desire to be first led to quite a few mistakes: the pressure in the head due to the tightening, the non-innovative design, the large case and the poor application that falters – indeed harm the overall experience. At the same time, the sound quality is good, the almost endless battery gives work and great active noise cancellation – indeed strengthen the brand more and present an interesting product.
*** Full disclosure: The Draco company, which markets Urbanista products in Israel, provided the headphones for review