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OnBeat are solar powered headphones designed by Scottish audio engineer Andrew Anderson, who launched a Kickstarter campaign recently to complete the project and produce the headphones for retail.

Anderson describes the headphones as “high quality, eco-friendly” and will charge your smartphone or tablet while on the go. The aim of the OnBeat headphones is to provide the user with an easy charger on their person, if their mobile device’s battery is running low, especially when mobile is in greater use than ever before.

A number of prototypes were developed to see if the issue of a low battery when out and about can be addressed. This tinkering led Anderson and his crew to what they have now, which is a slick looking pair of headphones with an “integrated flexible solar cell” running across the headband that gathers the solar power.

The headphones themselves are fitted with lightweight lithium ion batteries that hold the power that has been accumulated.

As Andrew puts it, the OnBeat aims to get the balance right between an easily rechargeable headset and the quality of audio that the listener expects from a pair of headphones.

“From the offset we not only wanted to develop a product to keep your devices going all day, but a product that would give you a superb sound from low range for bass, mid-range for precision DJ’ing and high range for vocal and acoustic excellence. The headphones also have an integrated remote for controlling the volume of the music in your ears,” says the group’s Kickstarter page.

If successful, the OnBeat would mark a considerable achievement for solar power for personal use with our phones, tablets or possibly even laptops.