The product development team at Razer must be working overtime! The company, which recently revealed their reusable straw has also released a pair of eyewear, and while a stainless steel straw seems like a rather odd product for a gaming-tech company to launch, the Razer Ansu glasses fit more into their wheelhouse.
The Razer Ansu is a little more than your average pair of glasses. Styled rather fashionably (and available in wayfarer-style round and rectangular frames), these glasses are designed to be lightweight, comfortable, and perfect for wearing in front of screens or out in the sun. Armed with interchangeable lenses, the frames let you swap in and swap out eyepieces, choosing between blue-light filtering lenses (for excessive screen-time) or polarized UV-blocking lenses (for wearing outdoors)… but that isn’t all. The frames come outfitted with ope-ear audio drivers too, which lets them double as earphones when you wear them. 16mm drivers carefully located within the temple stems fire audio directly into your ears, creating a personal, earphone-like listening experience without needing to wear earphones. The Ansu pair with devices via Bluetooth 5.1, letting you listen to music or podcasts from your phone, or even wear them while gaming (instead of slipping on those thick headsets). Sure, there are microphones built into the Ansu too, and a touch-sensitive area on the spectacles let you do stuff like control playback or activate your phone’s voice assistant. The Ansu comes with 5 hours of battery (and it powers off when you ‘close’ the glasses), and is even built to be IPX4 water-resistant, so a little rain shouldn’t really deter you from wearing the specs outdoors. The Ansu come in two shapes (rounded and rectangular) across two sizes, and ship with a chic leather carrying case. Additionally, Razer has partnered with Lensabl to extend 15% off prescription lenses for Anzu buyers who require corrective lenses.
Glasses that can double as headphones are an increasingly popular category. After Bose unveiled its version in 2019 and Amazon launched the Echo Frames in 2020, the next big company to jump on this trend is Razer. It's officially announcing the A...
Lenovo has launched a new ThinkReality device for CES 2021, and the company says it’s “one of the most advanced and versatile” smart glasses for enterprise customers. The manufacturer is presenting the ThinkReality A3 as a pair of smart glasses that...
The WGP isn’t exactly what you’d first think of when you hear the term Smart Glasses, but that’s almost purely on Google for creating that definition. The WGP, on the other hand, are smart in the sense that they put your Truly Wireless Smart (TWS) earphones right into your spectacles’ temple-stems. Designed to be entirely modular and seamless, the stems can easily detach from the frame of the glasses and re-attach onto another pair, essentially allowing you to switch out styles without losing functionality. The WGP comes with a pretty exhaustive catalog of frame styles, from sunglasses to reading glasses, and from acetate to metal frames. Just like all glasses, they can be optimized for optical power, have the option of polarized lenses, and even anti-scratch, anti-glare, and blue-light blocking coatings. On the audio front, the WGP Smart Audio Glasses are quite like any pair of TWS earphones you’ve used. They feature a touch-sensitive surface that lets you tap to control playback, answer and reject calls, and even summon your phone’s voice assistant. There’s even a dedicated gesture to trigger WGP’s game mode, which brings audio-video latency down to as little as 50 milliseconds.
The WGP Smart Audio Glasses don’t rely on bone-conduction. Instead, they feature audio drivers that throw sound right into your ear (sort of like how your phone’s earpiece delivers audio to you when kept near your ear). This open-ear design means you can listen to audio without tuning the world out – a feature that’s pretty useful when you’re driving or even if you’re a passer-by trying to cross the road. The open-ear design means audio does tend to leak out (someone sitting right beside you on the subway might just be able to faintly hear your music), so the WGP ships with privacy pads too, that let you block sound from traveling out for a more private listening session.
Perhaps the WGP’s biggest feature is its expansive catalog. When you buy the WGP, you’re really buying into an aesthetic rather than audio-gear. The lenses help define your style, and if you’re one of the 75% of adults who wear powered spectacles, the WGP frames let you easily get powered lenses fitted right in at your local optical store. Moreover, the modular design means you can easily switch from regular glasses to sunglasses in a matter of seconds, just by swapping the frame module out. The frames come across a variety of classic and chic styles, from aviators and wayfarers to more hipster square frames and the hybrid clubmasters. One immediate concern is how the thick temple-stems would affect the style of the glasses, but designer Mark Zhu factored that in while designing the WGP. The stems aren’t that thick, to begin with (AirPods are pretty small too, right?) and even boast of being IP67 water and dust-resistant. On the inside, the WGP houses two AAC speakers, a Bluetooth 5.0 module (with a 10m range), a MEMS microphone, and a battery that delivers 7 hours of playback on a full battery. The smart-audio spectacles even have an integrated body-induction sensor that allows the glasses to know when they’ve been worn, powering the device only when you’re wearing them. When you take them off, contact points on the inside let you magnetically connect the WGP’s charger, which fully juices the battery in just about 2 hours! Sure, the very notion of smart glasses is bound to have you thinking about mixed reality displays and whatnot, but the WGP’s approach is much more sensible on multiple grounds. Not only are they cheaper than buying multiple luxury spectacles and TWS earbuds separately, they’re also more robust, less likely to fall off while you run or exercise (I’m looking at you, AirPods), and hey, no thief steals spectacles!
The WGP are smart glasses with True Wireless Stereo (TWS) technology and a magnetic modular release design tailored to your daily wear and style.
The WGP integrates all the audio and control tech parts neatly into the temples; Now, you can invest in just one pair of smart audio temples and match it with different frames per your needs.
Embedded with advanced AAC audio speakers and body induction sensor system in the temples, these glasses can do – Auto Power Up, Sync Music/Navigation/Calls, and Engage Virtual Assistant. They are ergonomically built with IP67 Water Resistance, and lenses that are Anti-fouling and Impact-, Scratch-, and Shatter-resistant.
WGP Reviews
Review from TechnoMinute.
Review from Techtonic.
Features & Benefits
Open Ear Audio – The exclusive audio algorithm, combined with a unique soundproof cavity, significantly reduces sound leakage, producing a pure and authentic audio experience that gets you immersed while staying aware of your surroundings.
Voice Assistant: With WGP’s built-in MEMS microphones, you can interact directly with your phone. Set up and hear navigation or make calls on the go.
Ultra-low Audio Latency for Gamers: The Game Mode comes with an ultra-low latency down to 50ms-60ms. Untether your gaming experience now, while a pair of bluelight blocking glasses protect your eyes from harmful screen light.
Never Miss a Beat: With advanced Bluetooth 5.0, the eyewear ensures a reliable audio communication range up to 33 feet. Whether you’re in the office or in the field, WGP glasses let you enjoy all the fun and flexibility in audio seamlessly.
Built to Last – Ergonomically designed with IP67 water resistance, WGP glasses are made durable and comfortable to wear. Their sport frame uses TAC polarized lenses to give you a superior visual experience and the best eye protection. It comes along with an anti-drop strap that lets you worry less about the eyewear and focus more on conditions around you.
Speaker Pads for Private Listening – Each standard package comes with 2 pairs of speaker pads for more comfortable wearing and private listening. These are made especially for those occasions where even a tiny sound seems louder than usual.
7h Playback & 5h Call – Tested 120 hours (5 days) for standby, 2 hours for a full charge, and 7 hours runtime for continuous music playing; we’ve got you covered for all-day use. The specially designed magnetic ports on the temples allow fast and easy charging with no hassles.
It’s been more than a year since Amazon introduced the Echo Frames to the world, and this month, the connected glasses finally became widely available for purchase. For $250, you get hands-free access to Alexa wherever you go. Plus, you can take call...
What does a product designer do in their downtime during a pandemic in which most leisure activities are verboten? If you’re Samson “smarchbme” March, then you build a pair of smart sunglasses as an accessory to the homemade smartwatch you’ve already...
In 2016, Vue debuted its first pair of smart glasses on Kickstarter, where it raised over $2 million. But unlike AR glasses such as North’s Focals, the Vue Pro ($299) were regular frames with built-in speakers. It featured bone conduction technology,...
North only made its smart glasses widely available in September, but it's already thinking of the future. The Canadian wearable tech maker has revealed that it's releasing its next-gen eyewear, Focals 2.0, sometime in 2020. It's not saying much abo...
Operant conditioning is a well known psychology principle -- in which "good" behavior is rewarded and "bad" behavior is punished. While positive reinforcement has found its way into everyday life, formal operant conditioning is usually left to profes...
The drum beat for an Apple augmented reality headset is growing louder. Bloomberg claims Apple has "targeted" a 2020 release for its AR eyewear, echoing analyst Ming-Chi Kuo's expectations based on his own sources. The publication also shares a belie...
North only made its smart glasses widely available in September, but it's already thinking of the future. The Canadian wearable tech maker has revealed that it's releasing its next-gen eyewear, Focals 2.0, sometime in 2020. It's not saying much abo...
Operant conditioning is a well known psychology principle -- in which "good" behavior is rewarded and "bad" behavior is punished. While positive reinforcement has found its way into everyday life, formal operant conditioning is usually left to profes...
The drum beat for an Apple augmented reality headset is growing louder. Bloomberg claims Apple has "targeted" a 2020 release for its AR eyewear, echoing analyst Ming-Chi Kuo's expectations based on his own sources. The publication also shares a belie...