JBL is making solar-powered wireless headphones

Wireless headphones have matured so much in recent years that you can go days at a time without charging up. On the flip side, that means it’s also easy to forget to charge them up sometimes. JBL believes its new headphones with solar charging are a solution that could mean you never go another moment without tunes.

“Virtually unlimited” playtime — The company’s Reflect Eternal over-ear headphones feature a “Powerfoyle” material along the band that can draw energy from both indoor and outdoor light.

According to JBL, an hour and a half of outdoor time is enough to get you through 68 hours of listening — if you’re starting with fully charged cans. For comparison, Apple states its AirPods can deliver 24 hours with a fully charged case, the same amount the Reflect get with no solar charging.

Besides solar charging, the Reflect Eternals pack a pretty standard spec-sheet with features like 40mm drivers and some water resistance. There’s a dedicated smart assistant button on the side for activating Google Assistant or Apple’s Siri.

JBL unveiled Reflect Eternals through a crowdfunding project and it’s already hit its goal with an expected October 2020 release date. If you’d like a pair you can still order them through Indiegogo for $99, the only place JBL is selling them for now.

Never stop listening — Still, if the technology works well, I don’t see why other makers wouldn’t adopt solar charging in their over-ear headphones. Just yesterday my headphones died halfway through a jogging session and I pretty much lost all motivation to continue. If you’re like me you wear headphones pretty much all the time, so the Reflect Eternals seem like the logical next step in step in ensuring we can always tune out the world around us.