Urbanista Los Angeles Headphones Charge Using Any Light Source

There are plenty of noise-canceling headphones on the market today, and what they all have in common is an internal battery that has to be charged periodically. A company called Urbanista has revealed a new set of noise-canceling over-the-ear headphones called the Los Angeles, hailed as the first self-charging, wireless, active noise-canceling headphones. The company claims that headphones can charge themselves from sunlight or indoor lighting.

That should mean they never need to be plugged in unless you spend significant amounts of time listening in a dark room. The headphones will launch early this summer and will reportedly cost £169. It's not entirely clear if they will come to the US at this time. Certainly, the big claim to fame is that the headphones convert all forms of light from the outdoors and indoors into energy to deliver what the manufacturer says is infinite playtime.

That means not only do you not have to charge the headphones to use the wireless Bluetooth connectivity, the active noise canceling features also don't require time on the charger to work. Urbanista claims spending an hour outside on a sunny day will generate three hours of playtime. When outdoors in cloudy areas, an hour of use in the light means two hours of playtime. Any indoor lighting will also help keep the battery topped up.

While there is a chance the headphones could run out of power depending on how the user listens, Los Angeles headphones do have a claimed 50-hour run time per full charge using an integrated 750 mAh battery. Charging can be accomplished using an integrated USB-C port.

Specifications include 40mm neodymium drivers with 20Hz to 20kHz frequency response. The headphones also have an integrated microphone for making calls on your smartphone and an ambient sound mode to let outside sound in. Urbanista also integrates on-ear detection, Bluetooth 5.0, and support for Siri or Google Assistant.