One bugbear of wireless headphones is having to recharge the battery. This Adidas self-charging pair could resolve that problem. And besides sunlight, they can be charged by artificial light, too. That way, you can juice them up indoors without relying on the sun to play ball.
They are called the Adidas RPT-02 Sol, and they are made in partnership with Swedish solar technology innovators Exeger. The solar wizardry – called Powerfoyle – is built into the headband.
Powerfoyle is a light-cell material that harvests energy from both natural and artificial light. It claims to be the "most resilient solar-cell technology in the world". These Adidas headphones aren't the first to use the tech – that honour goes to the Urbanista Los Angeles that came out last year. But the RPT-02 Sol are the first sports-oriented pair, and pack up to 80 hours of stored battery reserves (the Urbanista Los Angeles topped out at 50 hours).
There is no word on how much light exposure results in how much battery life, but for the Urbanista pair an hour of sunlight generated three hours of playtime; even in cloudy conditions, an hour yielded two hours of playback.
The Adidas RPT-02 Sol also have a light indicator on the headband that helps you detect the strongest light for the maximum charge. The mobile app tells you charge and battery status, while the headphones are also IPX4 splash- and sweat-proof and feature physical controls.
Built partly from recycled plastics, the Adidas RPT-02 Sol cost £199.95 (about $240, AU$344), and go on sale on 23rd August.
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