Review
Razer Anzu Smart Glasses
Michael Torneau, SmartGlassesOn
Published 12:49, Fri June 07, 2024
Razer Anzu Smart Glasses - A Mixed Bag Of Innovation and Frustration
When you think of Razer, smart glasses probably aren’t the first product that comes to mind. The brand is well-known for its high-performance gaming laptops, keyboards, and headsets, often adorned with RGB lights and a distinctive snake logo. Razer’s foray into smart glasses with the Anzu is a bit of a departure from its usual gamer-centric designs, lacking the typical flashy aesthetics. Instead, the Anzu offers a more subdued look with features such as blue light filtering, open-ear audio, and low-latency Bluetooth connectivity.
Having tested the Razer Anzu, I found that while the glasses perform their advertised functions adequately, they fall short in several areas. The design, resembling knock-off Ray-Ban sunglasses, is familiar and non-intrusive, available in both rectangular and round frames. This approach likely aims to make the glasses more universally appealing. However, the glossy plastic finish collects fingerprints easily, detracting from their overall appearance.
Blue light filtering, good or bad?
Razer provides blue light or polarized lenses with the Anzu, claiming to filter 35% of blue light from screens. Despite this, I didn’t notice a significant reduction in eye strain during extended gaming sessions. The glasses are compatible with Lensabl’s replacement lenses, allowing for prescription lenses to be fitted. However, the process of swapping lenses is cumbersome and risks smudging or breaking them.
Comfortable glasses and decent Audio
Comfort-wise, the Anzu fares well. The flexible hinges ensure a snug fit for various head sizes without digging into the temples. The glasses are lightweight and their IPX4 water resistance rating adds durability, making them suitable for different environments.
The Anzu’s audio performance is decent but not groundbreaking. The open-ear speakers provide clear sound at lower volumes, but the quality diminishes at higher levels, with noticeable sound leakage. The glasses feature three EQ settings—default, Enhanced Clarity, and Treble Boost—but none enhance the bass significantly. The Gaming Mode, touted to reduce audio latency to 60ms, does make a slight difference, though it’s not substantial enough to impact gaming performance significantly.
Touch controls can be frustrating
One of the most frustrating aspects of the Anzu is its touch controls. The glasses are supposed to recognize various gestures, including single, double, and triple taps, along with long presses. However, in practice, the touch sensors are unreliable. Simple actions like adjusting volume or switching tracks often required multiple attempts, and accidental touches frequently triggered unwanted commands.
A Mixed Experience
Despite some frustrations with the gaming features and touch controls, I found the Razer Anzu enjoyable for daily use. Similar to the Echo Frames, the open-ear speaker design made it easy to listen to video chats and YouTube streams. However, the audio quality was lacking; music sounded hollow and lacked bass, though it did reach a decent volume. At over 50% volume, people around six feet away could hear the sound leakage. Lowering the volume reduced the leakage but also made the audio harder to hear.
The Razer app offers three EQ presets—default, Enhanced Clarity, and Treble Boost. These settings slightly enhanced high and mid tones, making them more suitable for podcasts or calls than music. Unfortunately, there’s no bass boost or custom EQ option, which limits the audio experience.
Battery life and Charging
Razer claims the Anzu has a longer battery life compared to Amazon’s Echo Frames. While the Echo Frames last around two hours with mixed use, the Anzu promises over five hours, supposedly enough to endure long gaming sessions. In my experience, the Anzu lasted a few hours but dropped to 10% battery after an hour of continuous news streaming and then shut off automatically.
One odd aspect of the Anzu is its charging setup, which requires both arms to be connected to a stethoscope-like cable. This setup is somewhat cumbersome and doesn’t seem to charge the device significantly faster, leaving its benefit unclear.
Connecting to the glasses
Setting up the Anzu can be done directly via Bluetooth or through the Razer app. The app setup, however, is not as straightforward as one might hope. Despite following the pairing process, I often had to manually connect the glasses through my device’s Bluetooth settings for audio to work.
Wrap up
In conclusion, the Razer Anzu smart glasses are an ambitious attempt to blend eyewear with smart technology. They offer some useful features like blue light filtering and low-latency audio, but they are hindered by inconsistent touch controls, average audio quality, and a cumbersome charging process. While they might appeal to those looking for a combination of style and functionality, the Anzu falls short of being a must-have accessory, especially for serious gamers or audiophiles. Razer could have pushed the envelope further, rather than delivering a product that feels more like a proof of concept than a polished final product.
