ZDNET’s crucial takeaways
- At $119, the Urbanista Los Angeles earphones use a good audio experience with a smooth look.
- These earphones are terrific for casual listeners searching for an elegant set of earphones for less than $200 with fantastic noise-canceling and a long battery life.
- Their on-ear fit can be unpleasant, and the earphones do not get really loud.
Aside from enhanced sound cancellation and spatial audio, there have not been numerous groundbreaking developments within the customer earphone world. These days, brand names are toying around with solar-powered charging, and I believe that’s a function worth providing a shot.
When Urbanista, a Stockholm-based customer audio business, sent me its Los Angeles solar-powered earphonesI aspired to check out the solar-powered charging function and see whether the earphones’ noise and charging tech were legitimate. Urbanista makes lots of solar-powered audio items, and ZDNET evaluated the business’s solar-powered earbuds previously this year.
The Los Angeles earphones, according to Urbanista, continuously charge whenever they’re exposed to both indoor and outside light. Does it in fact work? I enter the solar charging tech, the sound quality, and whether the Urbanista Los Angeles earphones deserve your cash listed below.
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Urbanista Los Angeles Headphones
Urbanista’s Los Angeles earphones provide 80 hours of battery life, solar-powered charging that operates in the sunniest environments, and good noise.
Upon very first appearance, the Los Angeles earphones are delightfully streamlined and elegant. The earphones are available in 3 colors: Midnight Black; Sand Gold; and Desert Gray. I got to check the Desert Gray cans, and I am definitely consumed with the colorway. It’s clear through the colorways and total appearance of the earphones that Urbanista is attracting trendy and trend-aware consumers.
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Much like a set of trendy high heels that are classy however undoubtedly unpleasant after a couple of hours, the earphones do not fare well with all-day wear. Out of all the earphones I’ve checked this year, the Los Angeles felt the most unpleasant around my head.
Since I use glasses and earrings, the Los Angeles’ on-ear fit made it challenging for me to keep them on my head throughout the day. The ear cup pads are luxurious, however the earphones’ band is so tight that after a couple of hours, it seemed like they were digging into my skull.
For $119, the Los Angeles provides above-average noise that will please any casual music listener’s combination. These earphones provide strong, effective bass to offer an immersive experience and are simply great with softer, symphonic music.
I listened to Celebration Peopleby Vince Staples and Outkast’s Ms. Jackson with the Los Angeles on high volume, and the earphones provided pronounced bass and clear vocals. While listening to my winter season early morning classical playlist, on the other hand, the instrumentals weren’t crisp and clear and rather failed and dull.
While using these on runs, on the train, and even in the rear seat of a cars and truck, I observed that the Los Angeles earphones’ volume does not get extremely loud. I kept pressing my phone’s volume button to get my music to go louder and louder, and I recognized that I currently maxed out the volume.
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The Los Angeles earphones include 80 hours of battery life, Bluetooth Multipoint connection, and on-ear detection, a good touch for a set of earphones. The buttons on the cans are rapidly responsive, too.
The ANC on these earphones works well in reasonably loud environments, however the microphones do not appear to mask external sound and muffle noise in the manner in which theBose QuietComfort Ultra or theJBL Tour One M2 do. If you choose less sound cancellation while travelling or working out, you will not have an issue with the ANC quality.
Is the solar-powered charging tech a trick? I’m happy you asked. To turn light into battery power, the earphones make use of Exeger’s Powerfoyle solar battery innovation on the headband. Powerfoyle, according to Exeger’s site, changes “any indoor or outside light into tidy, limitless energy.”
“You do not require direct sunshine to charge your items, the light in your house or a cloudy winter season day is simply enough,” checks out a post describing Powerfoyle tech on Exeger’s site.
I didn’t discover this to be real. You require lots of direct sunshine for the battery to get more energy than it drains pipes, and hardly ever will you get this by simply positioning it near a fluorescent lightbulb in your house or leaving it out on a counter with the cooking area lights on above.
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Even when I put it in the sun, the greatest I’ve seen the battery mA skyrocket to was 8 mA (that’s fantastic according to Urbanista’s app, however the greatest mA it gathers is around 12 mA). And when you put the Los Angeles in sufficient sunshine, it still takes about an hour to acquire 1% of battery life.
Unless you reside in a glass home with 360-degree access to the sun, you’ll probably just navigate 2 to 3 hours of excellent light on a warm day, which is inadequate to completely charge the earphones’ battery. While it’s an ingenious concept, I hope this innovation is surpassed in future generations, as the solar-powered charging element of these earphones disappointed what I was anticipating.
ZDNET’s purchasing guidance
I suggest the Urbanista Los Angeles earphones to style-minded, tech-enthused people who use earphones when they work out, commute, and work. With a long battery life and good noise, many people would not have an issue using these earphones. I would not suggest them to audiophiles, individuals who wish to shut out glaringly loud sound, or anybody who desires a robust and immersive audio experience.
If you’re after remarkable noise-canceling, think about the Bose QuietComfort Ultra earphonesIf sound quality is your primary concern, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 are for you. If you still require some assistance purchasing the best set of earphones for you, take a look at ZDNET’s list of the very best over-ear earphones