10 Best Smart Glasses 2021 – Frames With Speakers, Cameras, AR – Esquire

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Ray-Ban won the 2021 title for best fashion-meets-gadget when it coded both audio and camera into its trademark Wayfarer sunglasses, as well as its Round and Meteor frames. Not only can you enjoy music and take phone calls from these open-ear speakers while emulating the timeless panache of celebrities like Jack Nicholson, you can also take HD pictures and videos via the single-touch pad or voice control, then share your images directly to social media from the trapezoidal frames. They’re powered by Facebook, if that’s something you’re into.

Bose knows how to manufacture an exceptional speaker. But can it make killer eyewear? Yes, as it turns out—and smart eyewear, too. You’re not wrong to assume these smart specs probably boast the best audio in the market. And it’s not just the audio, but the position as well: The speakers are tucked just behind the ears for an immersive listening experience that doesn’t leak. For the shopper who’s fussy about their fit, Bose also provides styles beyond the original cat-eyed Alto, like the athletic Tempo, the square Tenor, and the retro Soprano.

No type of shades makes a more badass, edgier statement than the aviator, popularized onto a menswear style throne by Tom Cruise in Top Gun. So when a pair of aviator shades touts open-ear, surround-sound audio with four speakers, dual mics for phone call clarity, voice commands, and automatic privacy mode, who are you to refuse? To take it further, these specs feature a detachable front frame so you can swap and experiment with varying styles.

The Echo Frames are a lightweight pair of shades equipped with the splendor of Amazon’s virtual assistant, Alexa. These frames look a little too no-frills, stylistically speaking, but their access to Alexa’s vast smart home library undoubtedly makes them the smartest opticals here for Amazon-using folks: making calls, tuning into podcasts and audible books, setting reminders, getting notifications, managing to-do lists, and controlling your smart home hands-free, in “total” privacy. They’ll automatically adjust volume based on your ambient sound surroundings in real-time, too, to top the smartness off. 

Spectacles are smart camera sunglasses designed for Snapchat—if anyone still uses it. They feature a camera lens to capture exactly what your eyes see, in photos and short video clips, and they can be synced with a smartphone to export content to social media accounts (beyond Snapchat, thankfully). Moreover, their water resistance even allows any seafaring traveler or pool-party goer to eternalize content in shallow water. As if the runway-worthy frames weren’t captivating enough.

Merging open-ear smart audio, integrated AI voice control, phone calls, navigation, waterproofing, and polarized lens in one pair of frames under a price tag of $100 is quite a feat, and many might well query the quality of Gelete’s affordable smart glasses. But they have all the key features while looking à la mode enough to be worn out of doors. And given their cost and functions, it’s a good deal if you’re just warming up to smart eyewear and need a sensible pair to get the feel. 

Augmented reality is just a derivative of prescription lenses, as both help your limited eyesight decipher the threads of the physical world around us. So one might think AR glasses are superfluous, but Vuzix’s AR spectacles with an autofocus 8-megapixel camera, noise-canceling mics, speakers, and voice control dispel that notion. The see-through right lens can overlay full-color HD graphics onto the analog world, and its head-tracking adapts to your movement for a mesmerizing AR experience (very much like Iron Man’s helmet). These features allow you to access digital information and remote support hands-free while your hands are actually busy tackling tasks in the real world.

We’ll try our best to convince you that you need Lenovo smart glasses that cost a whopping $1,500. First, you’ll need them for work, because they’re packed with the taxonomy and performance of a laptop, and enable you to create and customize a workspace via augmented reality. For the office worker, you’ll get to enjoy 3D visualization via the virtual monitors on the lenses. For the C-suiter, you’ll get to securely read data during a busy phone call. For the project manager, you’ll get to view immersive workflows anywhere. And that’s all the reason we can give, if the 8-megapixel RGB camera and motion tracking do not speak to you loudly enough.

If wearing shades while using smart tech isn’t your thing—because you just can’t see sh*t—then consider WGP’s smart glasses with clear lenses. Take in the sounds as well as the sights while reading, gaming, working, or driving. To boot, the real standout with these is the debonair look: black, stainless steel bridges with hints of gold at the nose and frames give off such a classic air. These are the smart specs you will find atop your snout all day.

Razer is known for gaming hardware, but its Anzu smart glasses are surprisingly workplace-compatible. They don’t possess too much bling, just the basic starter pack for all quality smart glasses. But with a five-hour battery life and a seamless Bluetooth connection, one can’t help but associate Razer’s Anzu with long WFH or gaming sessions. And this pair is quite stylish: round frames with a chunky bridge. What a looker.