There are two ways per listen to music. You can worship melodies and analyze every note, isolating yourself in noise-cancelling headphones or in rooms with perfect acoustics. Or you can live the social aspect of music: Listen to songs together, make them the centerpiece of a party. The Bluetooth speaker Urbanista Malibuwhich we tell you about in this review, was created to make you dance and sing together with your friends – especially in the open air.
In fact, like other products in the Urbanista line, this portable speaker has solar charging capabilities, thanks to the integration of the material Powerfoyle, which allows it to self-recharge in both sunlight and internal light. And with certified resistance IP67 to water and splashes, you can make the most of it this spring and summer. But to understand if it's the right speaker for you, you need to ask yourself what you intend to use it for.
Our review of Urbanista Malibu
After reviewing the solar charging earphones Phoenix by Urbanista, we were very curious to try Malibu, which we saw in Berlin for IFA 2023, where it swept up the awards. It seemed like a winning idea to us. If solar charging is a welcome novelty in the earphone case, in one portable Bluetooth speaker can become a winning element.
This type of product can have many different uses. But the greatest joys are the portable speakers they give outdoors — when you are away from an electrical outlet. Easter barbecues (given the period), trips to the lake, parties in the park or on the beach: all situations in which exploit solar energy for a few more hours of autonomy it can extend the fun.
Simple, yet durable design
Urbanista did not indulge in frills in the design of Malibu. A simple parallelepiped with rounded corners, which is minimalist especially in its color Midnight Black (there is also the liveliest one Desert Gray).
The black version “camouflages” the Powerfoyle block on the top part of the speaker, with a plastic profile where we also find the buttons to raise and lower the volume, stop or play a track. We appreciated the profile covered by a fabric mesh, with the Urbanista writing in relief.
But Urbanista didn't design this speaker to distract us with design, but to resist the elements, the Malibu boasts protection IP67, making it waterproof and resistant to sand, dust and dirt. This makes it particularly suitable for outdoor use, such as during pool parties or days at the beach. Don't submerge it: but it should easily resist splashes of water.
Urbanista also thought about sustainability: the Malibu is built with a percentage of recycled plastic and fabrics, which is always appreciated. The case is also equipped with a integrated strap and a portable design, making it easy to transport and use on the go.
Audio quality: a speaker designed for the outdoors
Sound-wise, the Malibu features a dual speaker system, powered by two 10 watt high efficiency drivers e double passive radiators. They are quite powerful speakers, especially if you consider the small format: it is less than seven centimeters high and weighs just over a kilo. You can also listen to music outdoors and even in a fairly large group. Among speakers of this size and in this price range, it seems to us that it holds its own very well in terms of volume.
The transmission of the audio track passes from tecnologia Bluetooth 5.2, which we found solid even at decent distances (especially without walls as an obstacle). The Malibu supports i codec audio SBC e AAC, but it doesn't have high resolution codecs like aptX HD. This causes the details that bind the various tones together to be missing, creating a richer sound. Despite this, the result seems more than good to us, especially for a speaker designed mainly for the outdoors. For listening to “social” music we were talking about, it's fine: during a garden party, we don't feel the need to be audiophiles.
Even without the ability to play lossless audio, during the tests for this review we appreciated the audio qualities of the Urbanista Malibu. The bass is particularly strong and distinct, although it lacks the enveloping sub-bass you might find in larger products. The speaker also handles mid and high tones well, which are really very clear.
In the app you will find a equalizer to adjust the frequencies as you prefer. We ended up creating a custom one, because there's no preset option that boosts the bass without sacrificing the treble. The difference isn't huge, but it's an extra option to adjust the audio as you prefer.
Urbanista Malibu review: great autonomy, increased by solar charging
While the IP67 resistance and strong, bass-rich audio make it ideal for outdoor music, the secret weapon remains solar charging. We found that the speaker reaches and in many cases exceeds the declared autonomy of 20 ore, already quite good in itself. Even if you intend to keep it indoors and charge only with the USB-C cable, that's fine.
Solar charging, however, gives it an edge. On a full sunny day, you can recover an average of 50-60 minutes of battery life every four hours outdoors, according to our average. The Urbanista app shows the charging efficiency and with intuitive graphs helps us understand how the sun influences autonomy.
This is not a high-performance charge in absolute terms, also because a speaker with a double speaker at 10 watts can only consume more than the Powerfoyle can accumulate. So, it would take you several days to go from 0 to 100%. But that's not the goal: the sun serves to extend the autonomy during a sunny afternoon spent listening to music, or a morning sunbathing in the garden listening to a podcast.
About this: the energy saving mode is basically only good for listening to podcasts. It flattens the sound a lot and we don't recommend it except in extreme urgency. But realistically, with this autonomy and a little help from the sun, you shouldn't need it.
Urbanista Malibu review: worth it
With an official price from 169 euro (which however we have seen drop by around thirty euros in some online stores, even without promotions), the Urbanista Malibu are an interesting product. Solar charging alone probably wouldn't justify the price: there are already several Bluetooth speakers with great autonomy. But if you combine those listening hours gained thanks to the sun to certification IP67has a good volume and audio that makes you feel bassiit seems like a very attractive package to us.
Audiophiles will want high definition codecs and speakers that are a little more dynamic in reproducing sonic details. But on the other hand, they will probably prefer to listen to music at home, away from loud noises. To listen to music with friends outdoorsOn the other hand, Urbanista Malibu is a great option at a competitive price.
