Buying Guide
Bose Frames Smart Glasses
Michael Torneau, SmartGlassesOn
Published 13:57, Thu, June 27, 2024
PRO's
- Cool powerful design
- Flawless Bose speakers
- Mirrored lenses available
CON's
- Can feel tight near the ears due to the thick temples
PRO's
- Cat -style feminine design
- Flawless Bose speakers
CON's
- Can feel tight near the ears due to the thick temples
Bose released their first smart glasses early on
In late 2018 Bose anounced their “Bose Frames” and this was the starting point made by the company into the digital eyewear market indicating that Bose have been closely watching the potential growth in the smart glasses industry. Meta, which is the brand that works together with Ray-Ban, released their first smart glasses in 2021 being the Ray-Ban Stories. The original Bose Frames managed to make Time Magazine best inventions of 2019 lists and now the sequels have landed being the “Bose Soprano” and “Bose Tenor“. These polarized lenses deliver music with Bose’s open ear technology which allows you to enjoy your music straight out of these sunglasses.
Soprano's Cat-Eye frames
I never thought that Bose would beat Ray-Ban in terms of design but I think they do, both the Tenor and Soprano have smooth stylish design. They are quite different compared to each other. The Soprano’s cat-eye looking glasses are according to me more feminine due to the rounder corners, the glasses look similar to something taken out of an old classic movie, I would say these glasses are designed for luxury, thoughtfully refined and strikingly elegant. Bose’s Sopranos are available in one color and that is high gloss black. Cat-eye sunglasses are becoming increasingly popular and you can see similar style eyeglasses worn by models on different fashion shows around the world.
Tenor's powerful look
The Bose Tenor’s offer a cool strong design and comparing these with the Soprano’s. I would say that these are definately more masculine with their thick. Wearing the Tenor’s makes you feel confident, the strong black high gloss rectangular frames would look super cool on anyone. The length of the temples are slightly longer compared to the Sopranos, but in terms of weight, bridge width, temple width and lens width they’re very similar.
What's in the package?
After opening the package by ripping the cord design the boxes open up really easily. On the top there is a safety-guide and user manual, a cleaning cloth, a little quick start, a nicely gold plated charging cable. The glasses are placed in a nice hard case. Opening the cases I immediately noticed their nice sweet glossy kind of piano black.
Features
Both smart glasses feature the bose open-ear technology that we saw in the first gen, just further in this new generation which makes them excellent for being able to hear your music on the go while still being interactive with the outside world, they really do produce an interesting sound signature for what is a sunglass essentially with miniaturized speakers built in and the first time you hear them it really is quite something to behold. Bose is a leading company in audio systems and having their own speakers in these glasses speaks for itself, it gives you not only a high quality pair of sunglasses that have actual UV protective and polarized lenses, but a listening experience that will truly surprise you.
On these second generation frames that whole acoustic package built into each arm of the sunglass is a further improvement upon what we found in the first generation. With the new shapes, new design and new lok, also expect performance that produces a sound that is fuller and more lifelike than the first gen.
Going hand in hand with this being a fully functioning bluetooth product there is also an array of beam-forming microphones, they’re designed to very clearly pick up your voice and deliver excellent call quality to whoever it is that you are calling, giving you the added bonus of also being a hands-free call device.
You can watch videos on your phone and listening to the audio straight from your glasses with the Bluetooth 5.1 protocol, allowing smooth and virtually no lag between video and audio.
How long will the battery last?
If you listen to moderate high volume most of the time you will get five hours out of these smart glasses. If you listen to lower volume you will probably get 5,5 hours of battery life and charge time is an hour for both models.
Voice assistance
Slide your finger across the right temple to adjust your volume, double tap to access your phone’s voice assistance. Placing the smart glasses upside down on the table turns them off, this implementation works very well preserving battery life and it applies to both models.
Design
The Soprano and Tenor are made form the same high gloss material, stainless steel and excellent durable polarized lenses. It also continues throughout with the lightweight durable smoothest silk nylon frame. Both models featuring swipe for volume and double tap for voice assistance control on the side. The glasses don’t feel uncomfortable on the face, they definately feel acceptable and lightweight.
The case
Looking from the top down or from the front the case has this round shape to it, but if you flip it over or look at the back it takes on a sharper look to it. The shape looks really cool and is functional, being rounded at the top and soft for easy access and flattening at the bottom to make the smart glasses fit well within and stay secured. On the inside it has a soft and smooth surface to keep your lenses and frames from getting scratched. The space inside is big enough to easily fit your USB cable, cleaning cloth and basically everything that comes with the glasses.
Lenses and prescriptions
On the Tenor’s you also have the option of interchangable lenses, for these your secondary choices are “Mirrored Silver” and “Mirrored Blue“. Same applies to the Sopranos where I’ve seen “Mirrored Rose Gold” and “Purple Fade“.
All frames are prescription ready and do work with correction and can be made to fit you perfectly, this applies to both the Soprano and the Tenor.
Drip and sweat resistant
These smart glasses are IPx2 classified, meaning that they are drip and sweat resistant. It’s not the highest IPx classification you can achieve. To put this into context:
The IPX2 classification is part of the IP (Ingress Protection) rating system, which indicates the level of protection an electrical enclosure provides against various environmental conditions. The IP rating system is defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard 60529.
The IP rating is typically composed of two digits:
- The first digit denotes the level of protection against solid objects and dust.
- The second digit denotes the level of protection against water.
In the case of IPX2:
- The “X” indicates that the protection against solid objects (dust, etc.) is not specified.
- The “2” indicates the level of protection against water.
For water protection level 2 (IPX2), the device is protected against dripping water when tilted up to 15 degrees from its normal position. This means:
- Vertically dripping water shall have no harmful effect when the enclosure is tilted at any angle up to 15 degrees from its normal position.
- Test duration: 10 minutes.
- Water equivalent to 3 mm rainfall per minute.
This rating ensures that the device can withstand light rain or water spray from specific angles without being damaged.
Conclusion
Bose have done an excellent job with these smart glasses, as stated earlier Bose were early into the smart glasses game and clearly they have some extremely well qualified designers in their team. These are the most beatuiful smart glasses I’ve come across, especially the Tenors. Both the Soprano and Tenor are awesome smart glasses and feature wise they are not very different. Material, functions and more are pretty much the same, so it’s not like choosing between an Iphone or Samsung. The only differences are the available secondary lens alternatives, dimensions and weight. Instead try to focus on which design out of these two smart glasses suits your best. They currently retail for about $270 USD and I’ve seen them sometimes on sale for $199 USD.
PRO's
- Cool powerful design
- Flawless Bose speakers
- Mirrored lenses available
CON's
- Can feel tight near the ears due to the thick temples
PRO's
- Cat -style feminine design
- Flawless Bose speakers
CON's
- Can feel tight near the ears due to the thick temples