- Powered by light
Powerfoyle™ technology enables the adidas RPT-02 SOL to transform all forms of light into battery life — allowing charging on the go without the use of cables. Let the light in and get all the playtime you need. - Built in part from recycled plastics
Built in part from recycled plastics, adidas RPT-02 SOL headphones are designed to handle the toughest workouts. 51% of the product consists of plastic of which 87% is post-consumer recycled PC-ABS and recycled nylon (excluding plastics in electronic components). - Sweat-proof and splash-proof
The IPX4-rated design is sweat-proof and splash-proof and able to handle the longest and toughest workouts. - 80 hours of battery life
Up to 80 hours of stored playtime when the light goes dark. - Intuitive controls
Intuitive controls consisting of a light indicator and easy-to-use control jog help you to get the most out of your workout.
-36%
adidas – RPT-02 SOL Self-charging headphone – Night Grey/Solar Yellow
$110.00 Save:$62.00(36%)
Available in stock
Description
Additional information
| On/Off Switch | Yes |
|---|---|
| True Wireless | No |
| Sound Isolating | No |
| Battery Capacity | 2.52 milliampere hours |
| Built-In Microphone | Yes |
| Battery Life | 80 hours |
| Water Resistant | Yes |
| Wireless Connectivity | Bluetooth |
| Connection Type | Wireless |
| Manufacturer's Warranty - Labor | 1 year |
| Manufacturer's Warranty - Parts | 1 year |
| Rechargeable | Yes |
| Model Number | 1006145 |
| Adjustable Headband | Yes |
| Color Category | Black |
| Headphone Fit | Over-the-Ear |
| Controls | Volume |
| Product Name | RPT-02 SOL Self-charging headphone |
| Charging Interface(s) | Proprietary |
| Brand | adidas |
| Color | Night Grey/Solar Yellow |
| Bluetooth Version | 5.2 |
| UPC | 7340055389204 |
Reviews (42)
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Kevin –
I love the fact that they charge under solar light, thats why i bought them. I just leave them in the car and let the sun do the rest. They have good sound and are worth it.
Stylian –
Wow.
First off we the packaging and product itself shows that Adidas made this with the environment and making a difference in mind. It was something I had not seen before from the moment I opened it up. It did not come with a power cable not that it really needs one ever. The battery out of the box was over 40% and with this being powered by the sun and having 80 hours of play time I just don’t see the need ever to charge it by cable.
Out of the box it is recommended to download the adidas headphone app which I did but even before I did that my watch and phone found it in the Bluetooth list of available devices.
It looks, feels sturdy not heavy good fit good feel and designed for those that enjoy exercising.
The app is good but you can tell it’s a work in progress. For instance it only lists one major music service to connect to (that doesn’t matter too much as I use a different one and it works great).
The equalizer is very useful too with some presets as well as a custom setting.
Sound. It is very good. Not great but very good. I like it very very loud and this gets loud but not as obnoxious loud as I like.
Comfort while wearing? Excellent. I used it while running a 5K and it was fantastic. Not too tight on the ears and sweat was not a problem. Sound was also actually very good like I wrote above already.
Overall? Amazing idea! To never have to worry about charging, to still provide very good sound and a great cool look
WyldeBlue –
I’ve honestly lost count of how many audiophile headphones and Bluetooth wired & true-wireless headsets, earbuds, & gaming cans I’ve tried over the past decade or so, all running the gamut from budget models that I gladly passed along to the kiddos (or chucked in the trash) to some truly remarkable mid-fi & summit-fi headsets that clocked in at hundreds (and a few in the thousands) of dollars. Honestly, it’s hard for much to surprise me after such a parade of stars & misfires; but then out of nowhere Adidas comes along with something truly unique that really made me stop & take notice. Bottom line–these surprisingly capable cans are DEFINITELY worth your time, even if they don’t necessarily hit the bullseye absolutely every time.
What’s the hook? The RPT-02 on-ear headphones are workout-friendly with a sweat-proof & splash-proof design that features an integrated “Powerfoyle” charging panel on the outside of the headband that CONSTANTLY keeps the internal battery charged whether by sunlight or artificial light. There’s a handy USB-C port on the right earcup but you’ll likely never need to use it–Adidas doesn’t even ship the headset with a cable or charger! So long as you’re not working out in complete darkness & then storing the headset in a sealed gym bag, you’re going to be getting at least a *little* trickle charge any time you leave the headset out in the open. In fact, after three straight days of use for several hours at a time listening to music, playing games on my Steam Deck, & watching some videos on my iPhone, the battery level only dipped by 1% from its out-of-the-box charge level. Want to know if you’ve placed the headset in an optimal location for charging–the push-button on the left earcup illuminates a segmented LED target icon on the inside of the headband to let you know how strong the light source is—the more segments of the target that are illuminated, the stronger the charging source is.
Construction supposedly includes a high degree of post-consumer recycled plastic & nylon fabrics–weighing in at less than 260 grams, I was afraid the RPT-02s might feel cheap or too delicate to take a hearty workout. But the headset is deceptively solid & feels sturdier than it has any right to–I could bend & twist the headphones without any plasticky creak or crackling sounds. The “petrified silly-string” pattern on the Powerfoyle panel & exposed plastic surfaces gives the headset a bit of modern art styling–it’s a nice departure from flat black. The headband & earpads are also covered with a breathable, elasticized fabric that feels a bit like a thin sock–it definitely keeps with Adidas’ activewear motif, but it was a strange feeling at first because I’m used to leather or microfiber pads. However, they did a good job keeping my ears from overheating, thankfully without being uncomfortable against the skin. The headband & earpads are also removable & washable so sweat buildup shouldn’t be an issue if you regularly use these for workouts & not just “althleisure listening.” Clamping force was reassuring, almost “substantial,” but was still just a bit shy of being uncomfortable–someone with a smaller head than mine will probably have no problem with fitment whatsoever, and they largely stayed in place during light to moderate workouts (more on that later). Despite being on-ear headphones (and thankfully very glasses-friendly), the earcups are actually quite generous in size & covered nearly all of my outer ear anatomy which probably helped with comfort by distributing some of that inward clamping force over a larger area.
As for the sound–well, I was in for another treat from the good people at Adidas. First, I’ll get this out in the open…I consider myself a bit of a head-fi & audiophile snob…next to comfort (otherwise, why bother?), I prioritize sound quality above all other aspects/features. I am not a bass-head, but I do appreciate a taut, articulate, palpable, & visceral bassline that has some heft & punch to it when it needs to go low. That’s part of the reason virtually all of my full-sized headphones are over-the-ear rather than on-ear models–an over-the-ear seal just can’t be beat for really hammering home those powerful low notes. But I also appreciate a headphone that can render highs & vocals with great clarity, air, & even some delicacy without turning so sparkly & detailed as to feel sterile. Where does this headset land–somewhere very nicely in the middle. Bass was pleasing but not overpowering; vocals were clear enough without being drowned out by a bloated low end, especially on some of the tamer EQs, & highs were rendered nicely without excess sizzle or sibilance. No, these are not end-game headphones that will blow you away with rich, sumptuous, audiophile-grade sound quality; but they are a SURPRISINGLY good-sounding headset, especially for an on-ear model, & they offer everything you could likely want in a workout-oriented headset with a sound-signature that is fun & totally engaging.
Other technical aspects of note include BT range–I managed to walk 50-60 feet away from my iPhone 12 around two corners & still had a rock-solid signal; if you do circuit training in a gym, you might not need to lug your phone or DAP around from station to station! A/V delay was also minimal enough that I honestly didn’t even notice during Netflix/YouTube streams. The audio interface is relatively simple; there are only a few series of rising & falling tones to indicate power status, pairing, & connection success—a few spoken prompts would be welcome, but the limited number of status updates doesn’t make this omission very problematic. The left-hand action button can also be programmed via the Adidas headphone app for different commands via single/double/triple tap. The square button on the right earcup is also a 4-way joystick; power/pairing are controlled by pressing in on the button, volume is adjusted by up/down presses on the joystick while next/previous track skip by left & right presses; it’s quite intuitive & a welcome change from the complex set of taps & holds in some other BT headsets & buds. Finally, the Adidas headphone app can be used for firmware updates, monitoring charge/power drain, media playback, & adjusting the 5-band EQ to one of several presets as well as a custom setting of your own design. Unlike some other extreme EQ implementations I’ve seen in the past, the Adidas headphone app provides sound profiles that are noticeably different from each other for their intended purposes (Rock, Vocal Boost, Electronic, etc.), but none are so outrageous or overblown that they fully destroy or obscure the music underneath. Call quality was certainly “good enough”—audio was completely intelligible if just slightly thin-sounding, but the built-in mic picked my voice up very well according to the caller on the other end of the line.
So…with all this going for it, why is the RPT-02 SOL not a complete homerun? First, despite the high clamping force, I don’t know how these would hold up to a really vigorous & sustained run…they stayed in place with my elliptical training & light jogging, but I’m not sure how well they’ll keep from flopping forward/back if you’re really bouncing around (as they started to do during a particularly heated portion of my own workout routine). Earcup personalization is also somewhat limited. The cups slide vertically along a pair of rounded-end hangers with click-stop detents to hold the adjustments in place, but lateral pivot & inward/outward tilt is VERY limited (maybe just a handful of degrees at most). I found them to be supremely comfortable, but if you have a somewhat “challenging” anatomy, you might struggle to get the earcups dialed in just right to your head shape. As mentioned earlier, the Adidas headphone app allows you to customize the function of the left action button, but the options are *very* limited; you can only choose from: open Spotify, activate a voice assistant, or no action. At the very least, I would have liked the option to remap the play/pause or phone functions to the left earcup action button so I could use either hand when I needed to stop/start the music.
But the biggest drawback I noted was the cloth material that wraps around the earcups. The fabric weave feels a bit like a black dress sock; as such, I noticed it picking up white lint & debris after only minor use. The weave is much looser than microfiber & thus feels like it might begin to pill after repeated handling. And handle it you will because you need to remove the earpads to clean them…but it’s not as simple as it should be. The earpads are loosened from the earcup assemblies with a quick counterclockwise turn, but the fabric covering that wraps around the back of the earcups features a tight elasticized collar that has a MUCH smaller diameter opening than the earcup itself. This means you must REALLY stretch the elastic opening to get the pad off the earcup, & even more so to finesse it back on. Worse still, each time you stretch the collar out to remove the pad (or put it back on), you’re straining & stretching that tiny bit of elastic thread. After just two cleaning cycles, I noticed that one of the earpad collars seemed just a *hair* looser around the middle than the other. Over time, I suspect/fear these elastic collars will stretch out more dramatically, perhaps eventually sagging around the center like the top of a worn-out gym sock. At the very least, reinstalling the earpads seemed like an unnecessary struggle because the elastic opening is so small that it was constantly pulling the other side of the pad down off the cup before I could slide the other side into place. Again, I get the whole activewear vibe, but this particular design choice seems to be begging for premature failure which would ruin the otherwise stylish design cues used throughout the rest of the headset. But at least there’s still a very fine & unique headset under the hood!
Hmirza –
The new headphones by Adidas are probably the first of their kind to introduce “light” charging. I am not kidding these headphones are powered by light, any light for that fact. These headphones can be charged using your indoor or outdoor sunlight. Having headphones that do not require to be charged and charge themselves is truly an amazing feature. Just an FYI, even though you can charge them up with the lights indoors, the charging feature works a lot better outdoors.
Unboxing and Setup:
Adidas had done an amazing job being environmentally friendly with these headphones. The RPT-02-SOL are made up of 51 percent plastic of which 87 percent is post-consumer recycled plastic. The headphones can also be charged with a USB-C charging input, but one is not included with the headphones. If you like, you can always buy one from the adidas website for $4.99 with the included QR code, but I can assure you that you will not need one. These headphones have an 80+ hour battery life and will charge themselves when being used. The build quality of these headphones is also pretty solid. These headphones are made for durability, so test them out I dropped them a few times from a height of about 4 feet to simulate them falling out of your hands and they held up well, so no complaints there.
The setup process was simple, I powered on the headphones and my phone automatically detected the headphones and guided me to download the “Adidas Headphones” application. Once paired you can start using the headphones and also allows you to choose your equalizer setting or create your own customs settings. One really cool feature of the app is that there is a live graph that shows you the battery drain and the gain. I left the headphones out under regular room light and took about 20 minutes for the battery to gain 1 percent charge, but when I took them outside the charging jumped up drastically. The headphones are also IPX4 rating meaning they are sweat and splash proof. The ear covers are also removable so they can cleaned easily.
Wear and Sound Quality:
These headphones actually fit on the ear and not over it, which was a different feeling from over the ear headphones but not a bad experience. The headphones are comfortable, and no pressure build-up from extended wear. The sound quality of the headphones is surprisingly pleasant but can be adjusted based on your preference using the equalizer settings. One thing I would like to make clear is that these headphones do not have any noise cancellation features which I think may have been by design since the headphones sit on top of the ear and not around it, so having noise cancellation would sort of defeat the purpose.
Overall, these are probably some of the most technologically advanced headphones that I have come across. I have tested out multiple headphones and none have been able to charge themselves using any light source. Never having to worry about your headphones no being charged is definitely a game changer.
SimpleLiving –
This pretty neat headphone has a solar panel on top of the headband. Besides this new solar feature, this Adidas is (1) made from recycled plastics, (2) designed for durability, (3) has up to 80 hours of stored play time, and (4) has intuitive controls. In addition to solar charging, you can still use any USB-C charging cable. Note that the box does not include a charging cable, uses minimal packaging materials (cardboard), does not use plastics for its packaging, and takes up very little space. About not including the charging cord, this is not an issue since, more likely than not, most users already have a standard USB-C of cable from other devices. Props to Adidas for moving forward to be environmentally conscious with this new headphone. They have this cool texture all along the headband and earcups. The ear cups and the headband’s underside have a weaving fabric, similar to some of Adidas’s popular shoes on the upper soles. They are removable for easy cleaning and for washing the fabric.
The top of the headband has solar cells, and it has a cool texture. The clamping force of the band is enough to keep the ear cups on your ear without causing discomfort. The cups are small; this is because they are on-ear as opposed to over-ear. You can move around, and they stay relatively in place, which is excellent for running or working out at the gym. The headphone has a multi-directional all-purpose button to control the power, Bluetooth connection, play, pause, skip, and volume. It has Bluetooth 5.2 and Qualcomm aptX for improved high-quality audio (HD). The headphones have a lot of bass; this strong pulse makes it great for working out to give you a push/motivation.
Overall, the sound is amazing for all types of music. The app has an EQ for sound adjustment if you want to change the boom or raise/lower the higher frequencies. The app also gives an update on the drain and charge. The sweat/water resistance is IPX4, so it will ok for splashes and sweat. For transportation or storage, the cups nor the headband don’t fold inward, so you are limited to making them as small as possible. The good thing is that they aren’t huge, so this is no issue. These don’t come with their carrying case. It is best to charge these using a USB-C cord instead of leaving them exposed to the sun when not in use. The solar feature is excellent for keeping the battery charged when used outdoors. Prolonged ultraviolet (UV) rays can damage some of the materials of the headphones. They are great for charging the battery while using them outside to keep it fully charged. The solar feature charges very slowly, but when listening to music, it charges faster than it discharges. The built quality and plastic material feels very premium. They are comfortable to wear even for prolonged usage, and the sound quality is good.
Freddy –
The Adidas rpt-02 Sol feels more like a prototype than a fully working product. I’ll start off with the good things about it. They sound very good with apt X HD. Great battery life, with 80hours of playtime. The controls it’s a little joystick . You have the center click button for play and pause. Then up and down for volume. Left and right is for RW and FF. That’s found on the right ear. On the left ear is your voice assistant button . And also shows you battery life on the headset but you have to look inside the left side to see the meter. It’s a bull’s-eye center and 2 rings around it. Super light weight and the band underneath can be removed which i assume is for you wash . The whole design and feel of the headset material is like the Yeezy 250. I couldn’t find a way to remove the ear cups . Now here comes the bad parts to this headset. The cushions on the ear cups are not that great for me it’s too thin since these are on ear headphones after 2 hours straight my ears hurt a little bit. They should have added more cushion. There is no USB cable but does have the port for one and if you need one it’s $6 on their website. The headband has no cushion. I got complaints on my voice asking to repeat things. The biggest disappointment since the whole thing about not bringing a USB cable is that they charge using any light source .yet inside my house i have bright lights and it never charged the headset i would constantly check the app to see the readings and what battery life and not once it went up or indicate that it would charge . I only managed to get a charge outside on a bright day. So now i wonder if on a cloudy day will it charge? The top of the headband is the solar panel . So for me this a complete failure since they advertise it can be charged indoors and outdoors
2leo2 –
Not a fan of “on-the-ear” headphones, however the quality is top-tier in spite of the fact that it is made of recycled materials. I was curious to see how solar powered headphones would work without burning up the battery or my head or something like that. So far they are really soft and comfortable and there are no signs of battery life decay. If you don’t feel comfortable charging with the sun, there is a conveniently built in USB-C port to charge normally. (Wire not included)
The functionality of headphones are pretty standard, connects via Bluetooth and they have a companion app for sound presets.
What I really like are the function buttons. One omnidirectional button to control everything from phone calls to volume to track skips, and one customizable button for google assistant and light exposure indication ( there’s a little ring light that tells you how much light is being exposed to the headphones to indicate charge level)
The app is necessary because the sound quality is poor, not as deep a bass as I would like for my preference. The equalizer presets provide good options to satisfy the sound comfort.
HappyPhantom –
These headphones are really great, feel futuristic, but are very practical to use every day. The packaging is all recyclable and the headphones themselves are made from recycled plastics. The headband and earphone covers can be removed and washed.
The set up experience was good, using the Adidas app to easily pair to a phone. The bass out of the box was a bit too much for me, but you can adjust that in the app. The sound is very good, and even though there is no noise canceling, the on-ear fit is enough to block out some sounds. I found the sound to be excellent after a few adjustments and actually prefer these to some other well known (yet more expensive) headphones.
The controls are very intuitive – a small joy stick to pause, skip, adjust volume, and power on/off.
Of course, the best feature is the solar charging. The app shows how much you are charging/discharging and there is a button on the headphones to check the solar charging. While solar charging is slower, the benefit is so great that charging speed isn’t important. For example, I charged the headphones with a wired connection when I received them – up to 100%. Then I used them as I normally would throughout the day – but when not wearing them I set them near a sunny window. This was a week ago, and I have yet to charge them with a cable, and still have 70% battery left. Doing this, I’ll never need to think about charging them.
The sound is great, they feel premium, and the solar charging is really incredible.
TechGuru –
The Adidas RPT-02 SOL are absolutely brilliant. I have been wondering why there weren’t headphones and other devices that charged via light or kinetic energy. These do just that, utilizing any form of light to charge the batteries; meaning sunlight, as well as artificial light can provide charging.
The light charging is great, but when combined with an 80-hour battery life, these headphones are always ready to go. Having such a long battery life, combined with their ability to charge in most situations means you never have to worry about having music for your workout or other activities. Now you only need to worry about your cell phone battery.
Another key point for these headphones is that they are largely made from recycled materials. That, combined with the light charging, make these an interesting addition to many other environmentally friendly offerings.
The only thing I don’t like about them is that they are on-ear headphones, not over-ear headphones. That said, I’m sure a large reasoning for that is to keep the amount of materials needed in production down to a minimum. They are very comfortable on-ear headphones though, and stay in place very well.
Loomis1975 –
These “look” like headphones made of recycled material. These “feel” like headphones made of recycled material. The battery lasts a long time, partly because it charges some whenever there is a good enough light source shining on the headband. You can also charge via USB-C port.
The Adidas Headphone app works very well with these. You can play with the equalizer for custom settings or choose a preset. I prefer “ROCK”. You can also see the light charging via a chart showing the (white) drain (yellow) gain lines. And above that you can see the current state, like mine right now showing “Draining -3.8mA” because I am using them with no appreciable light causing gain or charging. You can also update the firmware on the headset through the app and assign custom actions to the “action” button. Thats the button on the left side that by default on single press or hold, shows the current light condition via turning on the circle-band light on the inside of the bottom of the left side of the headband. Double press by default is your default voice assistant on your phone, as is triple press. As of now, on my headset/phone/app combination, I can only change double and/or triple tap to “Spotify” “adidas running” or “no action”.
The right button is a slider button, up/down/right/left/press in, the usual. You use this to answer/drop calls, play/pause, etc. Its pretty easy to get the hang of it.
The sound on these is really good at mid-low to middle-high volume. There is bass in the rock setting, pretty good clarity, you can hear the soft hiss in an old recording like “Nights in White Satin”, with pretty good tone reproduction even in the quiet parts. They get pretty loud before distortion creeps in.
The band is pretty tight and these are definitely ON-EAR headphones. There is only a little padding on the cans. I was expecting that my big sensitive ears would not be able to tolerate these very long, but surprisingly I was able to stand them being on about 1 hour 15 minutes before I had to take a break. The band is a very open design, with the exposed wires that say “left” “right” on them, and the expendable headband only down at the cans. So if you have long hair, you are going to get some stuck/pulled out occasionally.
I recommend these headphones for those wanting something that will charge passively, want something that heavily supports recycling and power use reduction, etc.
nautec –
What is cooler than knowing that you don’t have to worry about running out of power for your headphones? These adidas solar charging headphones eliminates the need to worry about charging your headphones. If you wear these headphones outdoors, the sun will rapidly charge the headphones. If you are inside with LED lightbulbs, make sure you place the headband pointed towards the light since it will charge much slower. Sound quality is impressive and the adidas app allows you to change the sound profile of the headphones. Surprisingly the earpads are washable and the headphones are light but hefty enough to know that these are not a cheap pair of headphones. It is really unbelievable how comfortable these headphones are and the fact that charging these headphones is simply having a light source whether it be outside or inside. In fact adidas does not even include a USB-C cable. The PowerFoyle execution on these headphones should set the standard on how we should think about being untethered from the power cord.
EXWOLF –
These headphones have great sound, have a unique solar charging feature with 80 hours of battery life, and have machine washable parts.
I have never worn over the ear headphones for working out and going for runs. I sweat a lot so the sweat proof in ear option was always my go to. I can’t not pick these up now when I have to work out or go for a run. They have a great bass but the sound signature can also be tweaked in the app to tailor it to your preferred sound. They don’t have active noise cancelation or any ambient mode but I didn’t have trouble hearing cars nearby on my run or blocking out sound at the gym. As long as you play with the volume, you’re good to go.
Having machine washable parts is a real game changer for me. Since I sweat a lot, I could never wear over the ear headphones for fear of damaging them and not being able to clean properly. With these, I can take off the ear cushions and part of the headband and throw them in the wash which is the best thing ever.
The coolest part about these headphones is that they charge with the power of light! There is a button you press which shows how powerful the charging is under certain light conditions which is helpful if you are only relying on that to charge this headphone. I left it in my room with the light on for a few hours and got back 4% battery and left it on my window which doesn’t get direct sun but gets some light from bouncing off the neighbors wall and I got 10% back. When I left them outside when I left to work I got back 15% back. Running with them during the day under direct sunlight was incredible. 30 minute run and I lost only 1% of battery life. I have yet to use the USB C charger to charge these headphones.
Overall, I love these headphones and I can’t not use them when I workout anymore. These are my favorite workout headphones now.
MurphyR –
I think these are good headphones for a very narrow segment of the public.
Battery – The battery life is great, but at some point adding to the battery life is unnecessary. In my use, I’d probably get over 80 hours as they indicate on the box. But I’ve been using them for more than a week, so at some point running out of battery is a problem of remembering to charge the device, and no amount of additional battery life will fix not remembering to charge something.
Sound – The sound is very good. I’d say it’s comparable with headphones in the $100-$150 range. There is no distortion or overemphasized bass, so you get really good sound from these. Is it worth the full retail? Probably not, but the sound quality is nice. The only reason to spend the money on these is if you really want the other features for exercise.
Exercise Features – There is a lot more fabric used in the production of these headphones than I’ve seen with any others. This has pluses and minuses. On the plus side, they’re meant for exercise, so you can take off the earcups and wash them. On the minus side, the fabric is fairly rough so I don’t find these to be comfortable for more than an hour or so at a time. If you are running outside and sweating a lot, I’m sure they’ll grip well, but just sitting at a desk or in an office, these are not the most comfortable. In my personal experience, they also squeeze pretty snugly. This would be good for exercise, but not if you wear glasses, as the frames will be squeezed into the sides of your head.
App – The app seems to be completely unnecessary. You have to download it to pair the headphones, making it more difficult to pair than most headphones, and there is no other purpose to the app. You aren’t adjusting the sound or getting access to other features. It’s just another (cr)app program to clutter your phone.
TLDR: Nice sound, but probably not worth it unless you exercise in the sun a lot, never remember to charge your headphones, and need to be able to wash the earcups.
Ohanaman –
THE BREAKDOWN:
These adidas RPT-02 SOL self-charging on-ear headphones are pretty comfortable, and I love the solar charging feature. They are lightweight and have removable pieces you can wash and put back on.
You are getting an improved Bluetooth v5.2 connectivity that covers the ground distance of 10m. You also get the dedicated headphone app from Adidas. This is available on both iOS and Android smart phones. On the right earcup there is a neat kind of joystick that can push up, down, right, left or push in. The left earcup has the light checking button which can also be programmed to do 3 things by double pressing. You cannot make your own function you can choose from Default voice assistant, Spotify, Adidas Running or No Action.
The headphones themselves are comfortable but did squeeze my head in the beginning. I wore them for long periods of gaming, music listening and several workouts. I normally have issues at the top of head hurting after hours of use but with these they felt the same after 5 hours as they did after one. Which is surprising because there isn’t much padding on the band where it meets your head. The inner head band and the ear cushions are not only removable but washable as well. I find this a great feature as I do work-out a lot and tend to get sweat stains on the headband and ear cups. These headphones are also IPX4 rated making them dust and water resistant. I wish there were a little more waterproof especially if you are working out or running outside in the rain. Due to there size and not being foldable you cannot easy stash them anywhere and there isn’t an included bag.
The solar panel is integrated on the top of the head band. It charges itself on its own whenever it gets solar or artificial light. When you press the left ear cup button it lights up the rings on the left side of the band to tell you how much light you are receiving to charge the headphones. When in direct full sunlight all three rings will be lit. You can These headphones are rated to give 80 hours of playback on a single charge. You can also charge it by using a USB-C cable.
The sound quality was just okay for these headphones with the 45mm drivers that boast a frequency response range from 20-20,00 Hz. A sensitivity rating of 105 decibels and an impedance of 32 ohms. Out of the box I felt the bass was a little boomy but using the app I was able to tweak the setting to a more suitable sound that works for me. It also supports Aptx HD, Aptx and AAC codecs.
The built-in mic works as intended. I didn’t notice that I sounded like I was in a barrel or a robot.
The app has some cool features like being able to see in real time the drain on the battery life and the charge on the battery. I put these out in full sunlight, and they only charged 6 percent in 2 hours. The good thing about these are I went on several runs and lost no battery life; I actually gain about 1 percent depending on how sunny it is out there.
PRO’s:
-Solar/Light charging
-Lightweight
-IPX4 rated
-80 Hour battery life
CON’s:
-Wish you could do more functions with the left earcup button
-No storge bag
SUMMARY:
Overall, this product worked as intended, and I would recommend this to a friend if they were in the market for device like this.
Shwanny –
The headline feature on these has to be the fact that they can charge with light. (Sun is best, but it’s not limited to that! Lights will do the job, albeit a little slowly and it’s important to note that you can still just charge the things with a USB-C cable. (Though there isn’t one in the box.) The battery life is excellent – you’ll get hours of use on a single charge. But there’s no denying it’s just kind of cool having the ability to charge a pair of headphones while they’re sitting atop your head when you’re outside. You can even see how much power the headphones are receiving from the light source by a little circle indicator on the inside of the band.
And speaking of these generally have a tight fit. The earcups use a fabric that has some texture, almost like little ridges to them, and this adds up to make them stay in place very well. Jogging in these is not a problem. Other activities with a bunch of head movement might not see the same success rate, but it’s nice to have a good alternative to earbuds if, like me, you struggle to find buds that stay in your ear holes. Also, they’re washable!
Sound quality is excellent. Not too bass heavy, not too bright. It’s a good balanced sound. I’m not an audiophile, but I have no complaints. Other features: there’s an Adidas app you can download that allows you to basically map the little button on the backside of one of the earcups. You can set it to long press to get to your voice assistant or launch a specific app. There’s a square toggle style button on the other earcup that lets you adjust volume, skip tracks, answer calls, etc. It’s great – kinda moves like a joystick and is sooo much better than trying to do those things by tapping the side of headphones (hello Sony). It’s fantastic and makes for a great user experience. I don’t know why so many headphones make it challenging to just turn up the volume. Not a problem here. Lastly, yes – if you want to use it for phone calls you can. No complaints on the other end of the calls I’ve done.
Overall, total thumbs up. If you like over the ear phones and need some that you can be active in and are simply different from the rest of the flock… this is a great option!
joecaffe –
I don’t normally associate the Adidas brand with electronics, which is why I didn’t really have high expectations of these RPT-02 SOL on-ear headphones. The main reason to get them was to check out this new high powered solar panel called Powerfoyle that supposedly charges the battery using any light source. Unboxing revealed a missing charge cable, this was deliberately done to suggest it doesn’t need one. They feel sturdy though light, considering it’s made using 87% post-consumer plastic, adding to the earth-conscious attitude they’re going for. There’s even a light absorption indicator above the inner left speaker, whereby pressing the dedicated round button on said speaker housing will illuminate the bullseye displaying the quality of light available.
I downloaded the app and connected the headphones with no problems, just make sure not to connect using the (LE) Bluetooth selection. The square peg on the right speaker is reminiscent of other neo-classical headphones I have, though the shape is more reassuring than the usual round joysticks. The app allows you to control a selection of EQ presets and gives the ability to customize your own settings. Even the round, left speaker button can be programmed by double tapping or triple tapping to launch Google Assistant or access the Adidas run app, for example. I like that the charge ring is prominently displayed around a picture of the headphones telling you both how much milli-amps you’re consuming while simultaneously showing the state of charge coming from the Powerfoyle panel carefully hidden in the headband.
With all of these gee-wiz features, I expected the sound quality to likely be mediocre especially considering the outrageous 80-hour play time; it must be feeding the drivers with an anorexic level of power. I’m happy to be wrong on that; the speakers deliver clear, rich sound with crisp highs and tight bass indicative of high-end headphones in the same or higher price range. They feel quite comfortable on my head and the sock-like earphone covers appear to have a moisture-wicking property that, although warming, prevents sweating. Both the covers and headband insert can be removed and washed if you’re planning an intensive workout. My indoor lighting was apparently only good for 2mA charge, though in front of a window in full sun, I was able to achieve 7mA. I haven’t ventured outside with them yet as the weather this time of year isn’t the best.
The only thing I would’ve liked to perfect the package would’ve been a way to fold them for easy carrying. These headphones are made by Zound Industries, which makes a couple of other successful brands of audio equipment. The Powerfoyle solar tech is made by Exeger and does an amazing job of being both useful and aesthetically pleasing. If you’re in the market for audiophile quality sport headphones and want to save the planet at the same time, these Adidas RPT-02 SOL are for you.
Kris1973 –
I decided to give these headphones five stars despite one or two minor issues because they are such a joy to use. Up front, I want to be clear that unless you are standing literally all day in intense, direct sunlight and not listening for more than a few minutes a day do not expect these headphones to keep themselves charged indefinitely without a cable and charger (not included). I also had a brief problem with the app not reporting the recharging current at all even being outside on a bright sunny day. Removing and re-pairing the headset fixed the problem quickly and it hasn’t happened again.
What the recharging band does do is significantly extend an already impressive battery life even longer, especially if you do spend a lot of time outside in the sun. There’s no need to rush to a charger, but you will need to dig out a USB-C cable eventually from somewhere.
The headphones themselves are very comfortable, very sturdy without being too heavy and I love that the ear cushions and inside of the band are removable and washable. The controls are responsive and feel indestructible. I am very fond of the “joystick” button for nearly all controls, pushing forward and back for skip, up and down for volume and pushing for play/pause/answer. It’s all immediately and effortlessly intuitive. The sole other button lights up a little ring on the inside of the band that shows you how much light is hitting the band and can be programmed with (a limited set of) double- and triple-press options including activating your favorite voice assistant. They don’t fold flat in any way if that matters to you. It’s not a problem for me. They’re not so huge that they don’t just fit in my backpack.
Sound quality is excellent and the microphone is very good. I had no complaints about voice clarity and noise isolation on any call I took with these headphones. The in-app equalizer works and has several good presets as well as a custom option.
The bottom line is: these are my new favorite headphones and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them.
aarondr –
Adidas’s RPT-02 SOL headphones are an extraordinarily interesting product. In a simple pair of exercise focused headphones, you have some of the most interesting construction, and features wrapping above average sound quality.
For Adidas, the RPT-02 SOL represents a headphone that can provide an active individual a sustainable piece of hardware that is maintainable and may not even need to be charged. Combining Exeger’s Powerfoyle solar technology with a set of headphones is an interesting choice – potentially removing the need to charge via USB-C. The convenience for those of us that exercise outdoors is a huge plus. Removable and washable touchpoints is also a great feature that frankly keeps the headphones healthier and potentially a lot less smelly.
The first thing you’ll notice about Adidas’s RPT-02 SOL is that there is a clear focus on sustainability. From the packaging, which is made from all recycled content and avoids any disposable plastic, to the actual headphones themselves, made from a decent portion of recycled plastics (87%), there is a focus on making less of an environmental impact. Given that headphones are almost universally disposable goods, this is a great focus.
The hallmark feature of the RPT-02 is the Exeger Powerfoyle solar panel. Located on the top of the headband, its claim to fame is to be able to charge the headphones on nearly any form of light. Exeger’s technology is quite integrated, and any person I handed the headphones to had no clue that the headband was a solar panel. While claiming to charge on any form of light, you really won’t gain any power unless you’re outside – especially if you rely on LED light bulbs. I found my headphones had to be extremely close to very bright LED bulbs to gain any power; the case is probably different with incandescent light bulbs, but I don’t have any anymore! Truthfully the big bright ball in the sky is the best, seeing a significant input of power via the sun.
And yes, you can see the charge. Downloading the app for this pair of headphones is an absolute necessity. If you have an iPhone or Android device, you’ll be presented not only with EQ controls, and general information, but also an extremely interesting (and nerdy) charge chart with realtime charge information. In this way, you can see exactly what best light sources will charge the headphones. Obviously outdoors on a sunny day, you can nearly get to +20 mA (a typical drain is 10mA), so you can see a net positive charge while in use. But you don’t even need to use the app to see charge, there is a handy LED indicator on the inside of the left side of the headband that after pressing the round button on the left earcup will display one of 3 levels to show charge efficiency.
Obviously the Powerfoyle is the hallmark feature of this pair of headphones, but what about the actual headphones. Well surprisingly these headphones didn’t get lost in feature focus. The 40mm drivers sound excellent. Given the product page doesn’t mention sound quality, they sound like a decent pair of $200 class headphones. Bass is powerful and deep. Highs are clear and defined. This is definitely a pair of headphones tuned to a normal power curve, but the EQ does a fair job of allowing you to correct it however you want.
These are super-aural headphones, which sit on your ears. Compared to cans, they offer better air circulation – better for exercise. Construction wise they feel solid. Again, the plastics are made from 87% recycled material, but I don’t see that directly affecting lifetime. Time can only tell how durable the headphones will be but initial quality and strength seem high. The headband is minimally flexible, and may clamp a bit hard on those of us with larger heads. I did find that these are not very comfortable for me to listen to longer than a couple hours due to my head size. That said, given their target of being exercise focused, the clamping force means they’re less likely to fall off my head during activity.
Speaking of exercise, the removable and washable touchpoints are great. The earcups come off with a slight rotation and the headband simply snaps out. These parts are machine washable, but you may just want to hand wash them. The headphones themselves are IPX4 water resistance; which only makes them splash resistant. Avoiding pressurized water is probably wise. Their simple construction means less nooks and crannies to worry about cleaning long term.
The phones have 1 button (left side) and one 5 way jog button (right side). The app lets you customize what the light button can do, which is a nice touch. The jog button lets you adjust volume, track, play/pause, and of course power on/off. The headphones boast bluetooth 5.2. Overall the controls are intuitive and simple. There is a USB-C port if you desire to charge your headphones up before a trip and not have to rely on the sun. Battery life is excellent btw, even without a lot of input charge from light, there are scores of hours to be had from the built in battery. I saw a drop of only about 10% over 6h of usage.
The Adidas RPT-02 SOL is a set of headphones that won’t leave you SOL. In fact, the built in charging Powerfoyle means you might never even need to plug in these headphones, which is amazing. The quality and sound are top notch, and the focus on sustainability (down to the very packaging) is admirable and praiseworthy. While not comfortable for all day use for some, these exercise focused super-aural headphones will prove indispensable to some. I highly recommend giving these a shot.
Netta –
These headphones have a pretty good quality with sound. They aren’t the usual plastic type of material over the ear so it does help when using them while doing workouts that you naturally sweat alot. The setup was super quick and easy. I had the app downloaded and the headphones in use within 3 mins. Once i turned them on they asked to connect to my phone and found the app at the same time. I did NOT search with my bluetooth. They have a tight firm fit which works for me and my youngest however my oldest isn’t a fan of the feel. I can’t say how well they hold a charge because they are charging by simply being in the light. In days of use the most I’ve noticed was a 2% drain. YES 2% drain only in about a week with use of a few hours daily. There is no charger to keep up with and always ready to use. I connected them to my laptop just as easily without the app. So it isnt necessary to have it but does give the opportunity change the quality of sound. I wouldn’t say they’re noise canceling but they’re great canceling out any extra noises I don’t want to hear.
TechEnthusiast –
I’m not usually a fan of over the ear headphones, I generally prefer earbuds, but I will admit to liking this pair quite a bit.
Sound quality is great. They do an excellent job of blocking out ambient noise (be careful jogging along the street with these). The battery seems to last a little bit of forever. I’ve charged them exactly once since getting them, and I’ve used them for several hours with the battery only dipping down a little bit.
Pairing with my phone was a little tricky.
It took several attempts to get these to connect, and they only want to reconnect when I have the Adidas app open.
I’m also not a huge fan of the button setup.
These headphones only have two buttons. The action button triggers a light meter that flashes circles and rings to show you how adequate the ambient light level is for charging. It can also be programmed within the app to do things like open your phone’s digital assistant or open Spotify. The other button / switch is on the other ear piece and functions as a power button, play/pause button, call control and volume control.
I’m not thrilled that they crammed this many functions into a single button / switch. I personally would have preferred dedicated volume buttons.
The headphones are comfortable and fit well. I’d recommend them for anyone who spends a lot of time outdoors and can’t easily charge on the go.
btb2k –
First off, wow, I was a little bit skeptical of these but having tried them I’m impressed with not only the sound and comfort but gone are the days of recharging headphones. There’s so far only one thing that I can say that I wish they did and that would be to give the ability to change out the materials on the ear cups. That said, here’s a brief summary of what I liked and thought could be better:
Likes:
-Overall good comfort and design.
-Environmentally friendly designed packaging, and no wasted extra cables/chargers that aren’t needed and made from recycled materials.
-Audio clarity/fidelity, excellent bass, mids and highs .. for me it was a nice balance and not overly processed.
-They seem very durable and feel high quality/well built so far!
-Super easy to pair, phone recognized them without any hassle.
-Battery life is excellent overall.
-Solar/ambient light charging DOES work amazingly well! It doesn’t necessarily charge fast, so if you let them run down and you’re indoors, you might need to plug them in to top them off but other than that, with normal use these so far seem to stay charged, especially when I leave them out in the room where the ambient light is bright. Obviously, if you throw them in a drawer, keep them in a bag and don’t have them out except for when you wear them then they won’t charge!
-If you need a cable to charge (though like me, I only had to do that once right when I unboxed them) you can request one and there was a note in the box about that, which was a super nice touch if you don’t have one. I have many so this was nice to see, no waste and packaging was all paper/easily recyclable cardboard material. More companies need to do this, PLEASE support those like this that do over those that don’t – that’s how we all do our part individually after all.
What could be improved:
– I wish Adidas would have designed a special clip/holder so you could safely/easily attach them to your backpack or bag when not in use without worry of damaging the solar charging head band.
-Charge status without them being turned on.. would be nice to see how much they are/are not charging without turning them on.
Overall, I really like these and they will replace my other headphones. I’d absolutely recommend them, and think they’d make an excellent gift or purchase if you’re getting them for yourself.
DaveW –
The Adidas RPT-02 SOL are a pair of Bluetooth wireless headphones aimed at those with an active lifestyle. The big differentiator that sets these headphones apart from its peers – it’s solar powered. I lead a fairly active lifestyle – gym time, yardwork, walking the dog, and riding my bike, so I was really interested in giving these headphones a try. The SOL’s utilize Bluetooth 5.2 for connection, uses USB-C for charging, and comes with an impressive 80hr battery life. They are rated IPX4, so sweat and splash proof meaning you can use them in the gym without much worry.
The first thing I noticed is Adidas’s efforts to showcase the reduced environmental footprint of these headphones. The packaging utilizes plain cardboard with minimal printing and is 100% recyclable. There’s zero single use plastic used, which is great to see. You will also notice that there is no charging cable included. This shouldn’t be an issue for anyone since you can charge it with the sun, but also everyone should have a couple of these cables laying around already. The construction of the headphones is 51% plastic, and 87% of that plastic comes from recycled sources (translates to roughly 44% of the headphones comes from a recycled source). I really appreciate this effort and I feel it should be commended. This all meshes well with the use of the Powerfoyle solar band, and how these headphones represent a sustainable image.
Design of the headphones is well done. The earcups slight up and down for adjustment on a metal frame. The frame is made of round metal rod that is powdercoated black. The earcup frame feels very robust. This metal rod extends up into the headband, but only about ½”. From there the headband is made from a fairly flexible plastic – it does not creak at all when stretching it around your head. Within the headband is the Powerfoyle solar panel, which doesn’t stand out at all and looks like a regular headband. The pad of the headband, while thin, is pretty comfortable. Its also removable and machine washable. The same goes for the earcups which are removable with a counterclockwise twist. The earcups are a padded mesh fabric that does a really nice job of absorbing/wicking/dissipating sweat.
For my uses I spent my time wearing the SOL’s around the house, walking the dog, raking leaves, and at the gym. Most of my time was spent indoors in well-lit rooms. I’ve worn the headphones for a total of 8-10 hours, and I would estimate about 1-2 of those hours was out in the sunshine, and another hour out in a cloudy day. Across those 8-10 hours of wear I dropped about 13% battery life. While in the sunshine I picked up a couple % while they were on, and on the cloudy day I roughly broke even. The headphones have a button on the left earcup that lights up an indicator that shows the charging strength of the ambient light. With the companion app you can see the charging/discharging rate in real time. To passively charge the headphones I tossed them in the windowsill by my desk as it gets direct sunlight for several hours. Even in direct sunlight, the indicator shows I’m roughly receiving light at the same level as being outdoors on a cloudy day. It would take quite awhile to fully charge these indoors, but that is offset by how long you can stretch the battery life. Overall, I am impressed by the longevity of the battery, and the usefulness of the solar charging system.
Within the companion app you can adjust the various EQ settings to find the one that fits you best. There’s Rock, Pop, Hip Hop, Electronic, Vocal Boost, Adidas (default), and Custom. I went with Hip Hop as it provided a little more bass and matched well with most of my music. You can also customize the function of the button on the left earcup. A single press/hold activates the light condition check. You can also assign functions for a double or triple press to launch your voice assistant, or turn on Spotify (and maybe other music apps, but I only have Spotify on my phone). I wish it gave me the option to launch my built in music app since I have a huge music library on my phone that I listen to, and make playlists from.
Sound quality was actually really good out of the headphones. The bass is very punchy and vocals are clear and crisp. I was more than a little surprised since these are over-the-ear style headphones. I am used to similar performances out of circumaural because of the sound isolation you get from them. The SOL’s actually do a good job of providing some passive noise cancelling so you can get a decent amount of isolation – I needed to be more aware when walking my dog around my neighborhood because I couldn’t hear approaching cars. They also get plenty loud if you need them to, but can handle producing clear audio at low volumes as well. Taking calls worked well and conversations were clear – the SOL’s seem to have a really good mic setup because it wasn’t really bothered by any wind or background noise. They definitely performed better than my various earbuds and headphones without mic booms.
Controls for the headphones are more or less all completed with the button on the right earcup. This button is more of a joystick that you can click, and move up/down/left/right. Left/right changes the song either forward or back. Up/down adjusts the volume. Clicking the button plays/pauses or for a call it answers/hangs up. While on a call if you double-click it will mute your mic. The controls are probably the most intuitive I have ever used on a pair of earbuds/headphones. My only gripe is I wish I could flip around the function for left/right pushes. Because the location of the button (it is close to the earcup mesh) it is a little awkward to bump the stick to the right. There isn’t much space to get you fingertip next to it to push it right, and trying to do so while running (tough) or wearing gloves (very difficult) just makes it frustrating. I say I’d like to swap it around because I find myself skipping to the next song almost exclusively, and rarely (if ever) do I go back a song.
Comfort of the headset is a toss up. The headband has a really tight grasp on your head which helps them stay on during fairly vigorous activity. I was able to wear them for a half hour run without any signs of them falling off. I also had them on for weight lifting, pushups, and sit ups without issue. The only exercise that shook them loose was doing ball slams, which has a tendency to shake loose even my earbuds, so I didn’t expect them to stay on well. The downside to that tighter grasp is it can become uncomfortable on my ears after an hour or less, and I find myself adjusting them a bit to ease the pressure. Things get worse when I wear them with my glasses (I wear contacts at the gym). Comfort plummets with my glasses on, and I even have thinner frames. I would not be able to wear these all day with my glasses on. I’d be tapping out after an hour or 2. Without glasses I could easily go a half day before I’d feel too much pressure fatigue on my ears. I did not experience any comfort issues with the headband though, so that’s a positive. The SOL’s are also kind of hefty at 256g, which is almost as heavy as some of my wireless circumaural gaming headsets with full boom mics. The weight and the squeeze add up to make these a lot less comfortable than expected. I did find that wearing them with a hat on greatly improved comfort and even made wearing them with glasses for a longer period tolerable. The fabric and on-ear design were pretty nice for workout comfort. I didn’t feel like my ears were on fire from trapped heat, which is why I refuse to use circumaural headphones for workouts.
Overall, the Adidas RPT-02 SOL’s are a solid pair of headphones. They have great sound, the battery life is awesome, solar charging is a nice addition, and the built quality is excellent. I liked wearing them for my workouts and felt they had a leg up on my earbuds in several areas. I had a minor gripe with the otherwise great control setup, but I felt the biggest let down was the diminished comfort. I should be able to wear these for hours without issue, but I found myself taking breaks to get some relief.
Aaronxx7 –
I have used these headphones for probably close to 100 hours, mostly indoors. Right now I’m at 7 percent charge, but have been for the past 2 hours. According to the Adidas Headphones app I am at a negative power consumption, but I typically don’t keep my house very bright. I have not used a cable to charge these yet, and don’t plan to. Of course I will have to venture outside tomorrow, for a good charge. Indoor lighting is ok when it’s mixed with light coming in from a window, otherwise you would have to have several high lumen bulbs in the room.
Most artificial lighting will help sustain the headphones, but show as a constant negative on the charge vs usage meter (in the app). The app displays real time data, so you can move around the room or different areas to find the highest power of light sources. The app takes just a couple of seconds to update the data, so get into the habit of pausing a bit before moving on to the next area when trying to find the best light source and position.
The light powered feature that Adidas uses is actually made by Exeger and it’s called Powerfoyle. Powerfoyle is a very flexible light-cell material that can be screen-printed onto plastics, making it very versatile for many different types of applications. It can even simulate wood, leather, fabric, metal and more, actually there are 100 different textures. With Powerfoyle’s DSC cell type, the headphones can still charge even if part of the foil is shaded.
DSC or dye-sensitized solar cells are low-cost thin film solar cells. This technology is just starting to become popular within its own improvements and availability of low power consumption electronics.
Kudos to Adidas for coming out with such a green product. Technically this headphone could generate its own power for an endless amount of time, and 87% of the plastics used in the construction of these comes from recycled materials.
The inner headband and ear cushions are removable and washable, so if they get a little dirty, sweaty or wet from a splash, no worries. The headphones are IPX4 rated, they can take it, and then be easily cleaned.
The headphones are a little heavier than one would think, but they have a very sturdy build and somewhat compact design. It is a little disappointing that the ear cuffs don’t swivel, nor does this fold down at all. It might be part of their tactic to keep the Powerfoyle exposed to light. These ear cuffs match the size of my ears, so it’s a little different from what I am used to with other headphones, especially since the cuffs are so firm. The firmness and size of the cuffs add a bit of extra pressure to the back part of my ears when wearing my glasses. Just a little bit uncomfortable but something I think I will hardly notice once I get used to these.
The 40mm drivers put out an incredible sound and volume. The app comes with an EQ which can be adjusted to your liking. The bass feels very heavy and is very pronounced. Actually all of the audio tones sound very rich and clear. The driver impedance is 32Ω +/- 15% and the sensitivity is 105±3dB @1KHz 179mV 10mm. The overall sound quality from this headset is exceptional.
The mic works great for calls or requests to your virtual assistant.
There are two functional buttons on the headset. Actually one of these is more of a joystick or control knob. It can be pressed in like a button, or moved up/down and even right to left for different features, it’s on the right ear cuff. On the left cuff is the action button, which offers three functions based on the number of presses. The left button actions can be changed in the app as needed.
Overall these headphones are pretty impressive with the sound quality alone, let alone adding the ability of light charging and never needing to find a cable or be tethered to a wall outlet again. Just as an FYI the headphones do have a USB-C port which can be used for charging if needed. Once fully charged these can go for 80 hours without needing a light source or power outlet again. It takes about 2 hours to fully charge via USB. There is also a small series of rings inside the left portion of the headband, when you single press the action button the rings light up based on the amount of light available for charging. Low light will get 1 ring, and solar light will get all three lit up.
CTmom –
The Adidas RPT-02 SOL self charging headphones have deep tones. You really feel the bass when listening to music or movies. I connected them quickly to my TV and laptop. They pair fairly quickly. Push the “toggle” until the light flashes blue and then it is ready for pairing.
They have decent range. I can connect to my TV and then go to the kitchen to make dinner and hear the TV show without any issues.
I am someone who recycles everything I can and tries to reuse and upcycle whenever possible. The specs say that 87% of the plastic components are made from recycled plastics. It also charges in the sun. I place them on the window sill for the day and have plenty of energy for listening all night.
Certainly useful for those that exercise outside, you could conceivably never run out of energy!
The only issue that kept me from giving them 5 stars is that after a wearing them for a while, they are uncomfortable. In their defense, I do wear glasses and what happens is the headphones push on the ear pieces and they hurt my head after a while. Just something to keep in mind if you wear glasses.
Overall, these have great sound and range from the device to which they are connected.
BIGASN –
I love these headphones. They’re not perfect, but the sound and build quality are outstanding, with all-day battery life, comfort, and excellent looks to boot. I honestly wasn’t expecting headphones of this high quality from Adidas, but I guess the RPT-02 SOL is a bit of a statement piece for sports, sound, and sustainability. The Powerfoyle solar charging tech works well with a solar panel integrated into the headband that slowly, yet surely will recharge your battery, even with artificial indoor light. Using the Action button will activate a hidden light that will show how strong the light source is for charging, but connecting to the Adidas Headphones app offers more details such as live recharge and discharge rates. Solar charging is almost always going to be slow, but I have yet to ever plug these in to charge them. They came with a 30% charge, and all I’ve done to recharge them is leave them by the window when I’m not using them. So far it stays at about a 40% charge, which is awesome, because again, I’ve never plugged these in. I use them for a couple hours a day and whatever power drain occurs usually seems to recover by the next day. I think I’ll plug it in once to finally give the battery a 100% charge, but the solar tech really works and it’s pretty cool to have a set of wireless headphones that you genuinely don’t ever have to plug in.
The sound quality is loud and clear with surprisingly strong low end bass. By default, I think they’re a little bass heavy, but they respond well to EQ tuning in the Adidas Headphones app. The app offers a few preset EQ settings including a 5 band user customizable one, and also lets you customize the Action button, but it only gives you a few options and none of them I find practical. I wish it would let me program it to cycle through EQ settings, but hopefully they enable that in a future software update. For sound quality heads, you’ll be happy to see that the higher fidelity aptX bluetooth connection is available. Overall, the sound is excellent with clear and natural sounding vocals, good imaging, and strong low end bass. However, while the bass is strong, it’s not as melodic as I’d like, with the low end bass notes seemingly overpowering the mids at times. Maybe I need to fiddle with the EQ more, but don’t get me wrong, this is just picking it apart from sound perfection. They sound great and most anyone would love them.
I also want to remark on how well built the RPT-02 SOL headphones are. The materials are fine yet rugged, I love the mix of resin and cloth, and I appreciate the fine details such as left and right being printed on the wires. I do wonder how the cloth will hold up in the long run, but it seems like the same Adidas Primeknit fabric that they use for their shoes, so it should hold up well. All of the materials feel high quality, and despite not being the lightest headphones, they stay planted on the head well and are comfortable to get lost in for hours. Adidas markets these as “sport” headphones, but I’m not sure I’d wear them for anything more aggressive than walking and jogging. For more practical day to day wearing though, these are perfect.
Overall, if you’re looking for high end on-the-ear headphones with strong bass that you might never have to charge, I highly recommend the Adidas RPT-02. They look great, sound great, and the solar tech makes it an excellent conversation piece. Highly recommended!
PROS
– Excellent sound quality
– Strong bass
– aptX bluetooth connection
– Amazing battery life
– All day comfort
– Well built
– Great looks
– Powered by the sun!
– Stays on head well
– Responds to EQ adjustments well
CONS
– Strong bass, but low end can overpower midbass at times.
– Action button has limited customization options
TechnicallyCorrect –
I tried really hard to see the point for the Adidas rpt-02 Sol headphones. Adidas has plenty of marketing fluff – “Built in part from recycled plastics” ( no one cares,) “sweat-proof and splash-proof IPX 4 ( really the minimum it should have in this price range,) powered by light ( not quite,) 80 hour battery life ( excellent.) In the end, this is a mediocre headphone that Adidas is going to have a hard time in finding a niche customer. This does not mean it is all bad, Let’s look at the pros and cons –
Built in part from recycled plastics
Built in part from recycled plastics, adidas RPT-02 SOL headphones are designed to be lightweight but durable. I am only mentioning this as a pro because there may be that 1 in 100,000 people that care . I certainly do not.
IPX4-rated
I am stretching to have the IPX4-rated design as pro since there are competitors with an ear bud design that have a better rating. For headphones in this price range, there are few that have a IPX rating at all.
Long battery life –
Adidas claims 80 hours of battery life and I believe it. Putting aside the “charging by light,” I charged the unit to 100% and could not exhaust the battery after a week of using.
Intuitive controls –
The controls is a button placed near one ear piece. At first I found it cumbersome but it does work well after you get used to it. It is easy to find and is large enough that you will always hit it on the first try. I find competitors controls hit and miss.
Sound quality –
Crisp and clear after some tuning in the app. However, the quality quickly degrades in moderately noisy environments.
Cons
Lack of active noise cancelation –
For a headphone in this price range, there should be some type of noise cancellation. You definetlye pick up your share of ambient sound.
Head band pressure –
A bit uncomfortable for long wear times. They oddly transmit extraneous sounds to the headphones.
Solar/ light charging –
Terribly ineffective. I left under inside light for days and two full days in my in my window during day time. The charge level barely changed a few percentage points. Complete nonsense.
Practicality –
Over the ear headphones are not as good for workouts as earbuds. The shift all over the placed and quickly become annoying.
Build quality –
The nearly all plastic build makes it feel cheap compared to competitors in the same price range.
Overpriced –
At the time of writing this review, the regular price is way too high for what you get. I would have expected the retail price to be 30 to 40% les expensive.
In conclusions, the Adidas rpt-02 Sol does not feel ready for prime time. There are way better options in this price range and do what they are advertised to do. For me, the charging by light did virtually nothing indoors and that would have been the only saving grace. It does nothing well and the whole idea felt a bit gimmicky. Sorry Adidas, this is dead on arrival – time to rework the design.
FlightMedic –
When it comes to headphones there is no shortage of options. Wired, wireless, true wireless, in-ear, over-the-ear, and on and on. So how do you set yourself apart in such a saturated market? Solar charging, of course.
The obvious distinct feature of the RPT-02 by Adidas is the ability to charge with not only sunlight, but natural light as well. Now let’s be clear, this is FAR from fast charging. We’re not going from 0% to 50% in 15 minutes, but the good news is, you’re not likely to reach 0%. In case you do though, there is a traditional charging port (USB-C), although you’ll need to provide the cable and brick. The associated app provides the ability to see the current discharge / charge status.
Battery life is quite good. Of course the drain is increased with use, but the ability to charge virtually anywhere, and while in use, helps negate the drain speed. Unless you’re listening non-stop for days on end in complete darkness you’re not likely to completely deplete the battery.
The overall design and build is solid. These are quality headphones that provide enough durability to withstand their intended use, standing height drops, and occasional bumps. Adidas put some thought into the cup and band design as well, offering removal and washable liners on both, and cup disassembly for further cleaning and care. The joystick toggle control is intuitive, easy to reach, and easy to use.
Sound quality isn’t going to impress the audiophiles among us. However, once you adjust the levels using the equalizer in the associated app, you will find your listening experience much more pleasing. Out of the box the RPT-02 has quite a lot of bass which degrades the overall sound quality.
The on ear design and adjustable band length make for a decently comfortable and secure fit. I had no issues with the cups shifting or the band sliding.
Overall these are rather nice headphones, providing comfort, above average sound quality, and nearly endless battery life. The associated app provides the basics of what you would expect from a headphone app. I would have no problem recommending these to family or friends.
UnkinB –
I received the Adidas RPT -02 Sol and have really enjoyed the sound quality, I am still getting used to sinking them with my computer, but that is just confusing the action button and the power button. The sound is great and having the built-in equalizer in the app is a great feature when you like multiple genres of music or use it for listening to podcasts or books on tape.
The big difference for these headphones is the solar charging. You can charge your headphones from all types of light, Sunlight, full sun or overcast and artificial light sources. The app shows your real time power information, gives you a negative if you are using more power than the light source or a positive if you have enough light for charging. There is a failsafe plan also, you can charge the headphones thru a usb-c connection the battery has a hefty 80-hour runtime if fully charged.
These are great for training outside, I find they wiggle around when running, but are great for biking, hiking or walking. They have an IPX4 rating, not so great in the rain, but are sweat and splash resistant.
RacineTechie –
I usually wear over the ear headphones but when exercising or working out doors, those can slip around and need adjustment. These fit great and are a huge improvement when working or exercising; the snug fit on the ear rather than over took some getting used to, but I really like these now especially on trail walks. Another bonus is how breathable these are, no issues with sweaty ears or ear aches post long or repeated use.
The sound is good quality and clarity of an on-the ear, probably the best I’ve experienced in quite awhile, bass is sufficient and the mid/high range is great for listening to sport broadcast out doors. They also look pretty sporty and I’ve gotten comments on them as they do stand out a bit with the textured over-head strap and the triangle pattern.
Of course, the main thing that sets these apart is the solar charging feature built in. They actually keep themselves charged if you are using them out side or if you leave them near a window or on a table in the sun. I have only used a cable once, when I first got them and have not intentionally charged them since.
CaneDOC –
I was really excited to get my hands on these. Self charging devices is the next generation, in my opinion, but these just don’t seem to perform like I want a pair of headphones to perform. Out of the box, they are an attractive pair of headphones. They really have a unique look and feel to them and I couldn’t wait to give them a try. Putting them on my ear, I found the softness to be just fine, but the texture of the fabric a little off putting. It was weird in the sense that while comfortable, they were scratchy, if that makes any sense.
Performance wise, the sound, while adequate, was disappointing for me. These headphones just do not get loud enough when you really want them to. When you are working out and that song comes on that starts to get you pumped up, you try to turn up the volume, and you just cannot get the sound level you want. Major disappointment. Another issue is the charge time. I imagine they thought that the self-charging feature would allow them to reduce the battery capacity, but they failed. There is no problem if you are outside in the sun or in a bright office, but when it is not so bright the charge does not last long at all. I am taking a star for the weird texture of the ear muffs, 1 for the lack of loudness, and 1 for the short battery life.
Andyj –
I’d like to start off my review by mentioning that the entire packaging, from the outer box to the wrapping paper material the headphones come in is all paper recyclable. Considering that the Headphones themselves are built with post-consumer recycled plastics and other ecofriendly materials.
Unlike many other headphones these can be charged with light because they are solar powered. The entire top of the headband is where the light is absorbed, and the app can tell you how much light they are getting and whether it’s enough to charge them or not. The app also controls some EQ presets or lets you customize your own sound to your liking. These headphones feel like they can take a drop and not really break.
The underside of the headband is and the earpads are fabric, which feel quite comfortable after wearing them for long periods of time. The controls that are built in are quite simple too. On the left side, there is a button to check the light levels to charge them. On the right side is a combo button/joystick to power on the RPT-02 SOLs as well as adjust volume and I thin you can skip tracks too.
Oh, and if you don’t get a lot of direct sunlight every day, then yes, you can charge them with a USB Type C cable (not included, but available if requested). I’ve only charged them once to full capacity this way and have yet to have the battery drop under 90%.
Last but not least, these actually sound good for sport headphones. Form and functionality are found in these Bluetooth headphones that can run for up to 80 hours and should rarely need to actually charge them. I was thrilled to hear about these, and I like the entire concept. I have a solar powered watch that has served me well for more than a decade, so I appreciate a good solar powered product like this.
VasquezJ –
Supreme sound in a little size, i was honestly surprised with how good they functioned
Tiredofsleepingonthefloor –
I love everything about this headset, i just wish the multidirectional toggle switch had lasted longer than 2 days before losing the ability to change songs, or pause, etc. But otherwise the solar charge function is cool and handy, and the sound is great. Also didnt find them to be as uncomfortable as other reviews made me fear, and i dont even prefer this style headphones normally.
Cosmic –
Really great headphones for working out, they don’t slip off my ears and have amazing sound quality.
TheGrover –
I’m all about solar stuff and charging on the go, so I had to try these out. Being able to charge via solar while listening is awesome. The app showing the charging and discharging is really cool, and the graph to show the history is neat.
They sound pretty good. I don’t have any complaints about sound quality, though I didn’t see that they were on-ear headphones rather than over-ear. I prefer over-ear for the noise isolation and comfort, but these headphones aren’t too uncomfortable, they fit fine and the fabric design looks good.
The way you control it is with a kind of knob or joystick, it’s a clever way to give more uses to a single button. The other button can tell you how much charge it’s getting from the current environment or activate the voice assistant.
One other bonus is being able to connect to multiple devices and switch between them without reconnecting them. I can connect to my phone and my laptop and play audio on either and they’ll switch over.
They don’t come with a cable for charging, but it does use USB C for when you don’t have any light available, though I also expect the battery life to be good, and the solar charging to extend it a lot.
Vamsi –
I recommend this to anyone who loves working out outside. Don’t have to worry about charging anymore.
Unknown –
These are some pretty cool Headphones & Not just a gimmick. They really do charge by-way a light-source & I’ve only charged these once upon opening them (had them about a month now). The sound quality is also pretty good despite not having any ANC etc..but the app gives you the ability to customize the EQ. So far this is was a good purchase & they were caught on sale!
FranciscoR –
Had these for a little over 3 months. Charged them once to a full charge and I haven’t changed them again. Sounds great (as long as your not expecting beats audio), comfortable fit really no complaints I’ve enjoyed them and would recommend them.
LeonelR –
Awesome headset. Honestly I gotta say better than beats!
samj –
good for gym. amazing price and very interesting concept
HateChargingThings –
The headphones sound fine, but are really tight on my head. I might keep them, the solar feature is the best thing about them, which is why i chose them (only sounded static-y once. If Bose had solar headphones i would’ve gotten them instead for more comfort.
Neel –
Just stopped working for no reason one day. Contacted adidas support and couldn’t help since warranty expired and told to try repair shop. Not worth it. Great when it worked. If you are going to buy, definitely get it from Bestbuy with the extended geek squad warranty. Btw, adidas headphones delete low star reviews on their site (pretty much tells you all you need to know)