JBL wants to make light-powered Reflect Eternal headphones

JBL plans to produce wireless headphones that draw energy from natural and artificial light to extend battery life. The Reflect Eternal should be released in October 2020 for $165.

JBL has a working prototype of the Reflect Eternal and is soliciting feedback from consumers, who can sign up through Indiegogo to order the headphones for a discounted price. The battery of the headset can be charged via light thanks to the integration of Powerfoyle from the Swedish company Exeger. This is a photovoltaic foil that can be placed on products and can thus provide energy.

By default, with a fully charged 700mAh battery, the headphones will function for 24 hours until they need to be recharged, JBL claims, but if a user walks outside for half an hour, this would increase to 31 hours and with 2.4 hours in the open air, the Reflect Eternal no longer need to charge. JBL assumes a light intensity of 50,000 lux for these claims.

On cloudy days, the headphones can simply be charged and after fifteen minutes of charging, they would function again for two hours. The headset supports bluetooth 5.0 and has an ipx4 designation for ‘waterproof’. Users can record phone calls with buttons on the earcups and there will be support for the Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. JBL plans to release the Reflect Eternal in red and green next October.