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In the past, glasses were used by humans as a tool to protect or assist in eye observation. We resisted sunlight and we have sunglasses; /span>Clear things, we have myopia, reading glasses.

And today, glasses have been given the power of smart wearables, like Siri, Google in AirPods Assistants in Glass, they are gradually becoming the smart assistants closest to the human brain, an “invisible brain.”

Recently, we received two products that combine traditional glasses with smart audio – Eyewear and Huawei and Gentle MonsterBose Frame. The former is the smart glasses that Huawei released in the first half of the year and has only recently sold. The latter is the Bose “quasi-AR” product that has been heard for a long time.

Although from the outside, their form is almost indistinguishable from traditional glasses, but after the experience, I found that they can’t Our traditionally recognized glasses are equated.

Next, let me wear sunglasses at Starbucks, open a Sia Titanium, and share this time with everyone. The experience of using it.

I have always liked highly integrated devices, and smart glasses are no exception< /h3>

In fact, as early as the first half of Huawei’s P30 series conference, Eyewear has already surprised me.

Although on the surface, they just put the parts of the smart sound into the temples on both sides, through the openings on both sides Play sound. But I personally have been interested in high-integration, full-featured technology products.

▲ Huawei Eyewear internal parts

AirPods such as headphones, Sony “noise reduction beans”, microcomputer raspberry pie, Google Glass as the smart glasses leader …they condense the original huge electronic parts into the space of the thumb size and maintain a strong functionality, which makes people feel like “the sparrows do big things.”

Gentle Monster offers a total of five design glasses for Eyewear, including one-round sunglasses and three different Style myopia.

But no matter which frame, their design is neutral, for example, the round frame I experienced this time, in fact, boys and girls can wear, choose the style is mainly to look at the face and match.

Bose Frame is designed to be slightly more conservative than Eyewear, so you won’t see it in this glasses. Exposed metal joints like the Gentle Monster don’t see high-contrast marks on either side of the glasses.

▲ Huawei Eyewear and Bose Frame

▲ Huawei Eyewear inside

▲Bose Frame Side

The surface of the Bose Frame is a matte-finish plastic material that feels light on the handle but slightly weaker than Eyewear. In a nutshell, it’s a bit like 3D glasses from high-end cinemas.

In terms of style, Bose also offers both box and round frame options (Alto / Rondo), but Bose does not provide a version of myopia, so myopiaThe user has to take off the glasses before using it, or attach it to the lens.

If Eyewear is “glasses that can play music,” then Bose Frame is what I think is functional, like a “Bose sound in the form of glasses.”

In other words, I think Frame still has a strong Bose headphone flavor and a strong functional design; Gentle Monster How to say it is also a fashion single product, the natural Eyewear design is also more stylish with the edge.

Although both glasses add a lot of sensors and components, they are actually no heavier than ordinary plate glasses. many.

On the parameters, Eyewear and Bose Frame are 45.6 grams and 45 grams, respectively, and they are only 10 times heavier than the plate glasses I wear everyday. About grams, so don’t worry that these smart glasses will press the bridge and ears.

Of course, because of the weight of the temples, after I watched them for a 2-hour “Godfather” I think that playing for a long time is more comfortable with traditional headphones.

▲Comparative glasses case for two glasses

The glasses case that comes with the mirror is completely different in style and function, and the Bose Frame glasses case is only as big as my palm. The function is also the same as that of the ordinary glasses case, and the design and function are not too special.

But Eyewear’s glasses case is the same as the AirPods headset, except that it’s bigger than the Bose Frame. It is an inseparable part of glasses. In everyday situations, this box can charge the headset, and since the glasses themselves do not have any interfaces and buttons, tasks such as pairing and charging are handed over to the box.

Of course, during this time, I feel that the shortcomings of this box are still there. First, the white leather outer layer is elegant, But it is also easy to dirty. In addition, because the box is large, it is also desirable to put it in the pocket.

Oh, yes, when it comes to glasses cases, you have to mention the battery life and charging methods. I mentioned earlier that Eyewear’s glasses case can charge the glasses. To charge the glasses case, you need to do it through the Type-C interface on the bottom.

▲ Contact charging port

As for Bose Frame, a separate magnetic charging cable is required to charge the glasses, although the charging time only takes 30 minutes to 1 hour. However, this requires the user to remember to bring the contact cable when going out, otherwise it will be the same as ordinary sunglasses after the end of 2.5 hours of battery life.

Obviously, for people who often lose contact with small items for no reason, I prefer the charging of Eyewear. the way.

They are smart sounds worn on the ears

As you can see above, the key parts of the two smart glasses are hidden in the glasses, so they are more common. The glasses have two “thick thighs”.

Bose Frame is like this:

Huawei Eyewear is like this:

Eyewear’s parts are mainly concentrated on the front and the end of the temples. According to the officially published profile, it contains double A series of parts such as microphones, earpieces, batteries, charging units, and touch sensors.

In addition, the left and right sides of the glasses can support touch control and wear sensing, double-click glasses to change songs, pause, call out smart assistant … can be solved by the touch of two glasses.

Like this:

In addition to touch interaction, in this pair of glasses, I can actually see a lot of headphones, the most intuitive One thing is the “wear detection” feature: when you take off your glasses while playing music, and then place the glasses horizontally, the music will automatically pause; when you put on the glasses again, the music will play automatically.

The other two details that surprise me are the device pop-ups and smart assistants.

If you use the EMUI10 device to pair with Eyewear, the remaining charge of the glasses case and glasses will pop up when connected. At the same time, we can also use the “EYEWEAR” app to view device status, adjust touch functions, change the broadcast language, and more.

In addition, when each connection is successful and worn, the glasses will automatically play the female art assistant, which makes me I thought of Iron Man’s other AI assistant, “Friday.”

With the help of the smart assistant, we can also send instructions to the mobile phone through glasses. Of course, the premise of using small art is also A device that needs to connect to the EMUI10 system.

But it’s because of the first version of firmwareThe App currently only offers a few regular items to choose from. And this app only supports Android for the time being, and the iOS system version is not yet available.

As for Bose Frame, its parts are concentrated at 2/3 of the front of the temple, compared to Eyewear, it will People have a feeling of being more like a pair of glasses that focus on a certain function.

Compared with Eyewear’s touch interaction, Bose Frame’s controls are integrated into this golden button on the temples, such as Pause playback, call out Google Assistant, and Siri Assistant give this button to complete.

Although it’s not seenTouch interaction is so elegant and refined, but in terms of efficiency, physical buttons seem to have a bit of an advantage.

Based on the previous experience of a fairly large number of wireless headset products, Bose did not independently develop an App for Frame, but in the original Add this new device section to “Bose Connect”, whether it is iOS or Android, you can adjust the glasses function through this app, no need to download dedicated client.

Wonderful sound effects

As a pair of smart glasses with headphones, it’s natural whether it’s Gentle Monster or Bose.The home product has been optimized for maximum sound quality.

The speakers of both pairs of glasses are hidden on the side of the temples facing down, that is, the position close to our head, if not Turning the glasses over is basically not seeing the speaker opening.

Because the two pairs of glasses use speakers instead of earbuds, when I play the audio with two glasses Has a wonderful surround sound effect.

I can hear the sound of the phone being played very clearly, but the sound is coming from above the ear, and Not from the ear canal, just like someone is talking next to it.

However, the open-designed earpiece also introduces another problem – when you walk on the street or other with glasses When the scene is noisy, the surrounding noise can easily overwhelm the music or the call. At this time, I have to increase the volume, but when I increase the volume to 70%, the sound can make people within half a meter can hear me. “Share music.”

So in the past few days, I have come up with an experience:

When you see the little brother next door watching you have a rhythmic nod, you should know Your glasses are missing.

Fortunately, in an indoor environment, I can clearly hear the content as long as 50%-60% of the volume, so this The situation of the species is still a minority.

The following are the sounds of the glasses and headphones I recorded in three distances, the reference distance is 20 cm, 1 Meter, 1.5 meters, mobile phone playback volume 90%, you can simply compare:

As for the sound quality of the two pairs of glasses, to be honest, the sound quality of the two pairs of glasses is not what I am most looking forward to.

Although in terms of sound playback, both glasses are able to play the sound clearly, but because of the small unit design, it is playing When Meltdown, Redbone, and Radioactive are playing strong music, the low frequencies of the two glasses are not good enough.

But like the Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, the vocal music, the performance of both glasses can be passed. In the gym, cooking at home is completely ok.

This is a new starting point for future glasses

Although limited by configuration and battery life, the functions of the two smart glasses are mainly based on playing sound, and the human-computer interaction is Auxiliary, but I don’t think this is the final form of smart glasses. On the contrary, if we strip the manufacturer’s ideas, you will find that the manufacturer’s ideas are much more complicated than the current “Let glasses play sounds.”

Bose Frame The current feature is not really the final experience that Bose wants to bring to the user, because Bose’s idea is Through this form of device that is closest to the human body, the user is provided with a smart product that is more powerful than the earphone, and has a completely different interaction and earphone.

For exampleBose has published the action interaction and voice of concept: AR:

Users can respond to the Smart Assistant by shaking their heads and nodding their heads, making it easier for people with disabilities to use the AI ​​Assistant while avoiding The impact of noise on the response system in noisy environments;

The AR voice system is intelligently broadcasted as a voice assistant, when you walk to an unfamiliar intersection, The voice assistant can guide you to choose the right route. When you have a restaurant in front of you, the voice assistant will automatically broadcast the restaurant information and online review scores.

The above two functions are actually in the development schedule of Bose. Although I can’t experience these functions in Frame for a while, at least we can know the future firmware of Frame or The next generation of products will inevitably move toward this goal.

If Frame is Bose’s new attempt to introduce new forms and interactions in smart audio, then Eyewear will come out with Huawei. The IoT layout is closely related.

In fact, as early as the HDC 2019 released by Eyewear, Huawei announced the “1+8+N” 5G full-scenario strategy. Eight category modules including smart glasses have been covered. As the 5G network supports Huawei’s IoT ecosystem, headsets, watches, and glasses will become the smart wearable devices closest to users. Controlling smart home appliances will not only be heard in the ear, but will also extend into the eye vision.

So, whether it’s Bose Frame or Huawei Eyewear, they’re actually the first step for manufacturers to enter new wearable smart devices. You can think of them as a bold attempt by two vendors, or a new test.

But obviously, these two glasses are not in my opinion the end of the development of smart glasses, but more like the future The prototype of the AR glasses, as well as the rethinking of the manufacturers in the “post-Google Glass era”.

This makes me look forward to the next generation of smart glasses with more features, wider usage scenarios, and support for the web and AR. .