This April marked: Tenth One year since Google released the first generation of Glass. It may be hard to believe in retrospect 10 years later, but the limited release Explorer’s Edition was a coveted item. They felt like the future, at least for a while. But the past decade for smart glasses has been a very mixed bag. There have been more misses than hits, and it seems like it will be years before we can reach any kind of agreement on form or function. Google Glass has never reached the critical mass needed to launch a commercial product, but the company seems content to try again every few years.
Meanwhile, AR’s success has been largely confined to smartphone screens, but it’s not for lack of trying. Magic Leap, Microsoft, and Meta have all introduced their AR products to varying degrees of success, but next year’s Apple Vision Pro release is sure to shake things up. However, technical limitations limit these solutions to significantly larger form factors. Shrinking this kind of technology down to the size of regular glasses is a great goal, but it’s still a long way off.
It’s telling that at Meta’s recent hardware event he released two head-mounted devices. The first was the Quest 3, a VR headset that offers an AR experience thanks to pass-through technology. The other Ray-Ban Meta makes no pretense of offering augmented reality, but fits nicely into a standard glasses form factor. Image credits: brian heater Like Snapchat Spectacles before it, Ray-Ban Meta is all about capturing content. A camera built into the frame allows wearers to shoot quick videos for social media or livestream. When it comes to content consumption, there are speakers built into the temples that direct music and podcast audio into the wearer’s ears.
However, unlike the Ray-Ban, Amazon’s Echo Frames 3 don’t do video capture (you can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from privacy advocates around the world). However, it offers similar audio settings. The speaker is located just in front of the tip of the temple. The company didn’t opt for bone conduction here, which is probably for the best (though neat, the technology is generally a passing grade at best). Unlike most headphones and earbuds, they do not cover the entrance to your ear canal. This is great for situational awareness, but not so great for immersive sound.
This is not a bad option if you want to focus on the world around you while walking down the street or riding a bike while listening to music. Image credits: brian heater They’re pretty loud when held close to your ear, and their directional nature means they’re hard to hear when you’re not wearing them (though they’re not completely silent to others). On the other hand, the actual audio quality still leaves a lot of room for improvement. They can help in a pinch for music, but I’d rather not rely on them as a daily driver of any kind.
However, as the name suggests, the real highlight here is the Echo feature. Frames are yet another form factor for invoking Alexa. This makes a lot of sense at first glance, being a hands-free voice assistant that you can take with you anywhere as long as your phone is properly connected. First, you can play/pause, make calls, and set reminders. All of these things can be done in your earbuds using a connected voice assistant. Image credits: brian heater There are five styles: black square, black rectangle, blue circle, brown cat’s eye, and gray rectangle. The first ones Amazon sent were similar to your typical Buddy Holly/Elvis Costello glasses, but with electronics inside, a plastic-like design, and large temples.
They fit me well enough, and while they’re not something I would choose over, say, a Warby Parker, I don’t feel embarrassed wearing them in public. You can further customize your frames with prescription lenses, blue light filtering, or sunglasses. Sure, there are all great options. Battery life is listed at 14 hours with “moderate” usage. One charge should get him through the day if he listens to a standard amount of music. This is especially great considering that the charging dock is larger and more unwieldy than the glasses themselves. Charging instructions are included in the package (along with some short Braille instructions, a nice accessibility consideration). This is necessary because the design is not intuitive.
When the glasses are folded and the lenses are facing up, the charging points on the temples make contact with the charger. It’s very different from the Ray-Ban Meta’s extremely convenient and well-designed charging case. Amazon’s case, on the other hand, is collapsible. It’s not great, but it does have the convenience of being able to fold it flat while wearing your glasses. If I hadn’t recently tested the Ray-Ban Meta, my thoughts on the latest Echo Frame might have been different. The price is $270, which is $30 cheaper than Metagras. If you’re having trouble deciding between the two, I think you should take the plunge and spend the extra $30. Of course, it’s also worth considering that as of this writing, Amazon is currently offering new Echo Frames for a heavily discounted $200.
Source: techcrunch.com
