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How very nice it would be if we didn’t have to bother plugging in our gadgets to charge them. One day, that will surely be a reality, but meanwhile, Sweden-based company Urbanista’s Los Angeles headphones are already showing us a glimpse of what it could be like not to bother with charging. Urbanista has just brought their solar-powered headphones, the Los Angeles, into India and though you can charge them the regular way, you can then keep them topped just by feeding them some sunlight, or even just any light.
The Los Angeles arrive in a big box inside which there’s a very interesting soft-touch case. More of a sleeve, really, but it’s nice looking, lined with felt inside and a nylon-ish material on the outside. The case doesn’t have a handle, unfortunately. That’s a miss, considering these are supposed to be traveller’s headphones. A strap would have been even better so that you could sling them on the shoulder, but perhaps that might have detracted from elegance. Still, the case is welcome and looks very premium.
The fully on-ear headphones are minimalistic and elegant
The headphones themselves are minimalistic and elegant. The branding is barely visible on this uni-colour headset. Ours is all black but there’s a lighter beige-white in existence somewhere. There are no metallic accents or contrasting elements. If you look at the headband part of these headphones, it takes on a slightly different shade of black because the material changes. On the very top, facing upwards, it says PowerFoyle. The band is harder than is typical, including on the underneath. This is actually where you have the solar panel.
The ear-cups are fully on-ear and although cushioned with foamy material, are also a little less plush than is typical for expensive headphones. The arms of the headband are adjustable and move in a buttery smooth action. The ear-cups articulate in one direction. The headphones look about as premium as the case, but there’s a lot to say about the comfort and fit.
Tight fit
The clamping force of the entire headset is so strong it feels like a vice gripping one’s head. I couldn’t at any point forget they were on my head. Interestingly, I usually have the opposite problem with headphones, so I have to wonder how these will feel for bigger heads especially as they’re also a little heavier than usual. I found the experience to be similar for many reviewers online. The press-down on the ears was also a little strong and my ears felt warm rather quickly. In a hot country like India, these may well pose a problem for some people. There isn’t a sweat resistance rating for this headset either. Also, the whole experience may well tighten up for anyone who wears glasses — or a fancy hairdo.
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The Los Angeles headphones pair with the bare-bones Urbanista app as well
The Los Angeles headphones pair the usual way via Bluetooth (5.0, that is) though you can also look for the Urbanista app on both Android and iOS and use that to see what’s going on. It’s a very bare-bones so you read app and offer very many settings but does let you see the charging status in a graphic and select the level of Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). There’s no EQ setting. You’ll rely on the controls on the headset to set power on, volume, navigation, assistant, and ANC level. The buttons are clicky, which is good, but they’re too close together so you really have to feel around when you’re wearing them. Amazingly, these headphones don’t have a 3.5mm jack for connecting directly to a source and they should have had that for flights if they aim to be great for travelling.
Sunny side up
The ANC is quite prominent and outside sounds are effectively dampened. There’s an ambient mode which isn’t on par with say Apple’s or Sony’s audio products but does the job by letting in outside sound rather than amplifying or highlighting it. There’s also a default mode which one might tend to prefer if there’s no real noise to avoid because ANC does impact the sound quality quite noticeably. I wondered what was wrong with the sound until I turned off ANC and got a surprise.
Deep sound
The headphones come with a deep long-tailed bass
These headphones are really fond of bass. It’s the kind of extended bass I think of as ‘long-tailed’ meaning it’s not like a rapid slap but more lingering. The sound is energetic and driving and quite to my liking actually, for certain genres.With electronic music that has bass as one of the most prominent components, it can get a bit too much. One problem was that I found I had to crank up the volume right to the top to get to my usual listening volume. But I thoroughly enjoyed my beloved Jazz playlist (Jazz Velvet Voices on Spotify and Apple Music for those interested) and thought the songs had a different deep and rich quality. The highs are also crisp and satisfying. In fact, the Los Angeles sounded good enough for me to forget for a while that they were gripping my head. When I take them off however, I feel a definite weight having been lifted.
These are really interesting headphones, both because of the charging tech and because of their unique sound signature. They cost ₹24,999.
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