Urbanista Los Angeles review: solar charging headphones for epic battery
The latest wireless headphones from the Swedish company Urbanista hide an ingenious solution to battery life woes: solar charging.
The Los Angeles cost £169 ($199/ A$349) and look no different from a normal set of headphones, apart from a flexible Powerfoyle solar cell on top of the headband.
Fairly compact with simple, clean lines, they are available in either black or gold, the first of which helps the solar strip blend in the most. They feel solid and well made with a soft-touch finish, but are slightly heavier than the market-leading Sony 1000XM4.
The headband is well padded, but they have some serious clamping force on the sides of your head, requiring a bit of stretching out on first wear. But at least they don’t move around when worn.
Controls, connectivity and battery life
The Los Angeles are standard Bluetooth 5.0 headphones supporting the universal SBC and AAC audio formats used by most devices, and maintained a solid connection to various Apple and Android devices.
The right ear cup has three buttons for controlling playback and volume. Taking off the headphones also pauses the music. The left ear cup has a button for adjusting the noise-cancelling functions and a USB-C port for charging. They lack a 3.5mm headphone socket for using them without Bluetooth, which is irritating for use on a plane.
But where the headphones really stand out is through battery life. Without the solar charging the headphones last a tremendous 80 hours on battery (50 hours with ANC on), which is far longer than most competitors. But the solar charging makes them last almost indefinitely unless you only use them in a darkened room.
When the battery charge drops below 90%, the solar strip tops it up when exposed to sufficient sun or artificial light. In my time testing the battery never dropped below 50%, topping them up by leaving the headband facing a window when not in use.
Specifications
Weight: 320g
Drivers: 40mm
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C and solar charging
Bluetooth codecs: SBC, AAC
Battery life: 50/80 hours ANC on/off
Sustainability
Urbanista estimates that the battery will maintain in excess of 80% of its original capacity for more than 300 full charge cycles, but it is not replaceable nor are the headphones repairable, ultimately making them disposable.
The headphones do not contain any recycled materials. The company does not offer trade-in or recycling, nor does it publish environmental impact assessments.
Sound and noise-cancelling
The headphones have active noisecancelling, which works well enough to dampen the drone of a plane engine or road noise, but struggles with higher pitched tones such as fans or speech. They beat most cheaper headphones but won’t trouble some of the market leaders, making them about right for the price.
The ambient sound mode is fairly good too, allowing you to listen out for announcements or traffic, but struggles with wind noise.
The headphones have a reasonably wide and expansive sound that handles tracks with plenty of energy. But the sound is skewed to the low end with plenty of well-controlled, punchy bass producing lower notes than most headphones can manage. Treble and high tones are pretty good, but will get squashed by the bass. There is no equaliser available to manually turn it down, sadly.
Feed them some high energy electronica and they sound great, but less so with classical music or more nuanced tracks. Activating the noisecancelling makes them sound slightly less wide, expansive and energetic.
Observations
The announcements made when you switch on the headphones or change modes are too loud and can be quite shocking if you’re listening in a quiet space.
Call quality is average with my end of the conversation sounding a little robotic even in quiet environments.
The ear cups rotate to be flat and slide in the case, but do not fold up for travel.
Price
The Urbanista Los Angeles cost £169 ($199/A$349) and are available in black or gold.
For comparison, the Urbanista Miami cost £129, Anker’s Soundcore Life Q35 cost £130 and the Sony WH-1000XM4 cost £249.
Verdict
The Urbanista Los Angeles are the first solar-charging headphones on the market and deliver on one thing above all else: almost limitless battery life.
If you use them in bright environments you may only have to charge them once or twice a year, or not at all if they’re left facing daylight when not in use, which is remarkable. And they manage this solar feat while looking like a regular, tidy set of headphones.
They sound good, but very bassheavy with no adjustments available. The noise-cancelling is reasonable, but can’t touch market leaders. The Bluetooth connection and controls are good, but they lack a 3.5mm analogue headphones socket and crushed my ears a little.
Despite their solar credentials, the headphones are not repairable and the battery is not replaceable making them ultimately disposable and losing them a star.
Other reviews
Anker Soundcore Life Q35 review: budget headphones with good noisecancelling
Sony WH-1000XM4 review: Bosebeating noise-cancelling headphones
Bowers & Wilkins PX7 review: Bosebeating noise-cancelling headphones