Bose Frames Audio Sunglasses, Alto (S/M), Black

Product Information

They’re both IPX2 water-resistance rated which, for a product meant for outdoor use, is lower than we’d like. They’ll be able to take a few drops of rain, but you’ll likely need to keep them out of a downpour. Then again, wearing sunglasses in the rain is a whole new world of looking like a fool. Our reglazing service is an easy and convenient way to get prescription lenses for your Bose frames, at a fraction of the price of high street opticians.

Bose Lenses | Replacement Bose Sunglasses Lenses | Lensology Bose Lenses | Replacement Bose Sunglasses Lenses | Lensology

The USB cable comes in a small microfibre bag lose in the case with the Frames, which makes getting them out a bit clumsy There’s no microfibre bag for the Frames included, which would make using them and keeping them clean while out and about a bit easier Sensors are hidden in the frames that can detect your head position and interactions such as taps to the side of the glasses. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian You may want to add your prescription to your Bose audio sunglasses, or you may want to turn them into your everyday prescription glasses. Whatever you choose, Lensology can help. Offering the highest quality lenses in all the tints and gradients you can imagine, along with the most advanced prescription lenses, we are passionate about offering choice, quality and flexibility to our customers. The Bose Frames’ headline feature is that they're also a pair of wireless headphones, and for speakers that don’t actually sit in or on your ears, these sunglasses are rather impressive. Sound quality is surprisingly good, albeit not as full or bassy as you’ll get from a dedicated pair of cans.

Along with the glasses you get a carry case, which doesn’t feel particularly high-end considering how much the glasses cost. It also doesn’t charge up the product in a similar way to how wireless earbuds like Apple AirPods or Samsung Galaxy Buds work. We were recommended another app called Komrad AR, which is a game that lets you chat with a 'Soviet AI' from 1985, and we’re hoping to test that out further for future updates to this review.

Bose Frames (Tempo, Tenor and Soprano) review | TechRadar Bose Frames (Tempo, Tenor and Soprano) review | TechRadar

Once you ditch the idea that ‘augmented reality’ must equate to ‘augmented vision’ you start to understand the Frames’ potential – and it really is the AR features that make the Frames an impressive piece of hardware. No matter what your prescription needs are, whether it’s single vision, transition, bifocal, or varifocal (to name a few), Lensology can provide lenses for your Bose frames along with any sunglass lens you choose. The Bose Rondo’s arms are 154mm long while the front of the glasses comes in at 142mm. The Alto are quite a bit bigger at 162mm arm length and 148mm across the front. In the real world if you have the volume below 50% people sitting right next to you won’t hear it. In fact I took delight in the look of surprise on people’s faces when I gave them the Frames and they suddenly heard my tunes blasting out as they put them on. It’s really very impressive. There’s also considerable audio leakage at volume levels higher than 60%, so if you’re sitting near someone, they’ll be able to hear tinny sounds emanating from your sunglasses and, unfortunately, you'll need them at full volume to enjoy them over the sounds of public transport.

Pitch imperfect

There’s also no great way of monitoring the battery life on the glasses. When you turn them on and off, you’ll be greeted with the battery amount in audio form, but it doesn’t offer a way to monitor how much charge is left over visually from the glasses themselves. That would have been a handy addition, but instead the glasses are charged via a proprietary cable that connects to a part inside the right arm of the product. Audio quality Where we did genuinely enjoy using the Frames Tenor was poolside. It’s great to be able to have music chiming in your ears while wearing sunglasses and not having to balance headphones as well. Mind you, the Frames Tenor and Soprano are only rated as IPX2 water resistant, so while they’ll survive a light splash, don’t let them fall into water. Polarised lenses have an odd tendency to distort the pavement, making it look less flat than it really is Bose had to design tiny speakers to fit into the arms of the Frames from scratch, along with some proprietary tech that, Bose promises, directs 99% of the sound to the wearer’s ears, with only 1% leaked.Though if you’re listening at full volume, you’ll find the leakage seems much worse than that.

Bose Frames 2020 review: These audio sunglasses rock - CNET Bose Frames 2020 review: These audio sunglasses rock - CNET

A single button under the arm takes care of power and play controls. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian Clearly this is a massive advantage for cyclists or pedestrians, but it also means you’re subjected to the noise of the world around you. For anyone who always walks around with earbuds in, as I do, this can be quite overwhelming when you first start out.On the other hand, the Tenor and Soprano have 16mm drivers, and the sound is still quite enjoyable. These two models aren't quite as loud as the Tempo – at 50% volume, the Tempo was more than sufficient on a riverside walk with squawking birds and chatting strollers, while we needed to up the volume on the Soprano to about 65% to enjoy our tunes. It’s worth noting how much bigger the Alto glasses are than the Rondo. Some people we handed them to with smaller heads found they wouldn’t sit on their face, so the size difference is something to consider here if you buy some. The Frames know which way you’re facing and your location from the GPS on your phone, so you can use audio to feed information about the real world into your ears. We've tried two different apps with the glasses, and these are currently only available when connected to iOS devices. We've been told by Bose that support for Android devices is coming in July 2019, but there's no specific date yet. There's a major difference in sound quality and loudness between the Tempo and the two everyday sunnies. Again, given the Tempo has been designed for athletes, they benefit from 22mm drivers in each arm and the sound is surprisingly bassy. Mind you, it's not like listening to music on dedicated headphones or earphones, but it's still quite impressive.