Today, we’re taking a look at the Best Smart Sunglasses, comparing 5 different models including
Ray-Ban Stories, Bose Frames, Amazon Echo Frames, Ampere Dusk and even a cheap $39 pair
from Amazon.
Smart Sunglasses are great for listening to music or podcasts while keeping your ears
open, which is safer for commuting and perfect for walks and hikes or running if you don’t
want to keep headphones in your ears.
We’ll be reviewing the styles of each and testing the key components like speakers,
microphones, and some of the unique features like tint control on the Ampere Dusk.
We even do a full audio speaker test of all the glasses side by side along with a microphone
test with phone calls, so be sure to stick around until the end of the video to hear
those.
We’ll also put links in the description below to all of these smart sunglasses, along
with deals and coupon codes available to save you money.
Alright, first up- looking at the Ray-Ban Stories.
They are priced at $300 on Amazon, and we got ours in the black frames, picking the
Matte black color.
For size, they have Standard or Large, and we got the standard size with a 50 millimeters
lens width.
They also offer 6 different color options including different lenses on each, with prescription
lenses being an add-on option as well.
The Ray Ban Stories have a sleek look that's almost identical to the regular Wayfarer sunglasses.
But these have dual 5 megapixel cameras on the front, along with speakers and microphones.
And you might be wondering: why have cameras on your glasses?
We did a poll on our Instagram and found 67% thought the RayBan’s looked sleek, and when
we asked about the cameras, it was an even 50% that found the Cameras creepy, while the
other half thought they could be useful.
Testing them in the real world, they definitely can be useful in situations that aren’t
creepy- like going on a skateboard ride with your friends, or on a hike with your dog.
It can also be useful for safety in case you want to record something happening while on
your commute or walk.
You can quickly capture 30 second clips of your experiences in the moment, hands free.
Being able to capture it a lot quicker than the time it takes to whip out your phone.
The resolution of the videos comes out in square format, because it’s intended for
posting on social media.
But, you do have the ability to crop in for landscape with a 16:9 ratio.
The image quality isn’t bad, but it definitely won’t be as good as your phone or most other
cameras out there.
To download the photos and videos, you use an app called Facebook View, where you can
do quick adjustments to the video and either share them directly to Instagram or Facebook,
or download them to your device.
Controlling the audio, the Ray-Ban’s have a touch sensitive control on the right arm,
so you can swipe to change volume, tap to play, pause and answer calls or skip tracks.
For the carrying case, the Ray-Ban’s were the only glasses we tested that come in a
sleek leather case that doubles as charging the glasses with a built-in battery and USB-C
plug.
The built-in battery of the case can fully re-charge your glasses up to 3 times on a
single charge.
For the glasses battery life, they can last up to 6 hours of moderate usage, and 3 hours
with continuous audio streaming.
Next up, the Bose Frames.
They are available for $250 on Amazon, and we bought the Tenor style, which is the more
squared style out of the 3.
They have other styles like the Soprano and the Tempo, and the Tenor’s we picked are
only available in the shiny finish.
We would’ve preferred a matte option like the RayBan’s, however, you can customize
the lenses and you also have the option for prescription lenses as well.
Right away you’ll notice the Bose Frames look way thicker in the side arms.
This is because they feature bigger speakers in the arms and that’s where they make a
difference.
We found that the Bose Frames had the best audio quality out of all 5 of the smart sunglasses
we tested by far.
They have plenty of bass and the audio sounds clean and is well directed towards the ears,
while being isolated so people around you can barely hear any of the audio that’s
playing, especially at lower volumes.
Controlling the audio, the Bose has a touch sensitive control on the right arm, so you
can swipe to change volume, tap to play, pause and answer calls or skip tracks.
For carrying cases, the Bose Frames come in a simple case that doesn’t feature any charging,
so to charge them you need to use the included magnet charger.
But the upside is the battery life for the Frames lasts up to 5.5 hours, which is significantly
more than the Ray-Ban’s.
You can also buy the 1st generation Bose Frames which are still available and be found for
$150 on Amazon.
They have a slightly different design, with a matte smoke gray color.
While the sound quality isn’t quite as good as the new Tenor, they still sound really
good and very similar to the Tenors.
Next up, the Amazon Echo Frames 2nd generation.
We bought them from Amazon for $270 in the Classic Black color with the polarized frames.
They only come in one style which is a narrower and wide design.
We found that these look good on wider faces, but might not be your style if you have a
narrow face.
But while they lack in style choices, there’s also plenty of color options to choose from.
The build quality of these glasses is great- they are light and also have good flex to
them, making them easy to put on and feel great while wearing.
The side arms of the glasses aren’t as thick as the Bose, but also thicker than the Ray-Ban
Stories.
Looking at the specs, they have speakers and microphones in the side arms, with Alexa built-in.
You can either keep it on and use it for many Alexa functions like announcing messages,
reminders, playing a song and even controlling lights.
But you can also mute the microphones quickly using a button on the bottom of the right
arm if you prefer.
For the sound quality of the Echo Frames, we found them to be pretty good.
While they aren’t as good as the Bose Frames, they come in 2nd place for audio and still
have good sound quality, with decent bass.
There’s also 2 small LED lights on the inside front of the glasses, so you can see when
the microphones are muted.
Looking at the carrying case, the Echo Frames come with a simple hard shell case for storage.
For battery life, you can expect the frames to last up to 4 hours of continuous audio
playback at 80% volume.
Next up, looking at the Ampere Dusk smart glasses.
They are priced at $295, and these glasses have one feature that the others don’t - tint
control of the darkness of the sunglasses.
It uses electrochromic technology, and they are the world’s first smart sunglasses using
this tech.
You can control the tint on the glasses using either the dedicated button on the glasses,
which quickly lets you change from 4 different presets.
Or you can control the tint from the App, which allows you to change the tint control
from 1-100%, choose your presets, and show the battery life of the glasses.
The darkest tint level they get to is 4%, while the lightest is 38%.
We also like that you can change the tint using the dedicated side button, even while
the glasses are disconnected from your phone with the Bluetooth off.
Being able to change the tint level of the sunglasses can be super useful, especially
while driving a car when the conditions can change throughout the day.
The Dusk smart sunglasses also have microphones and speakers built-in.
For the sound quality of the speakers, it’s not bad— but not as good as other Smart
sunglasses.
The speakers on the Ampere Dusk lack bass, and also don’t have very good isolation,
so others around you might hear your music or calls coming from your glasses.
But Ampere does sell a Lite version of the glasses for $195 which don’t have speakers
and microphones, while still having the smart tint capability.
The Dusks comes with a basic soft carrying case, but you can upgrade your order and add
the Charging and travel case, which has a built-in battery to wirelessly charge the
glasses while in the case.
It has a USB-C input, and even has a built-in space for an AirTag, to make sure you won’t
misplace your new sunglasses.
Now taking a look at the cheapest pair of Smart Sunglasses we bought on Amazon from
a brand called GELETE.
These were only $39, but we wanted to see if they were any good since they had lots
of reviews.
The design looks good, and they feel like a traditional pair of cheap sunglasses.
They have speakers and microphones, but testing the audio we found it to be the worst out
of all the glasses we tested, which is not surprising given they cost 8 times less than
the others.
The speakers aren’t well directed towards the ears very well, and the sound comes out
from all directions so people around you can hear what’s playing.
It also lacks bass and the overall sound is pretty bad.
However, the microphone for phone calls was pretty decent, but the person on the other
end did say they could hear an echo when the volume was high.
Overall, while the audio isn’t that great, for the price of only $39 bucks they are only
a bit more expensive than a regular pair of cheap sunglasses.
So, if you’re not looking to spend much, these might be a good buy.
Finally, for the audio test.
We compared all 5 of the glasses with both the Speakers and the Microphones.
We played the same song on all of them and recorded it using a professional microphone,
so you can hear how they sound.
Alright, that’s it for now.
Next, be sure to watch more Smart sunglasses reviews and other tech gadgets we reviewed.