Josh Hendrickson
Do you know what’s rare for a Razer product? Not finding the gadget covered in green LED strips that light up the night. That’s the most surprising thing about Razer’s new Anzu smart glasses. Fashionably, they’re surprisingly subtle. Other than the thick temples that house batteries, these $200 audio glasses don’t stand out. Add in five-hour battery life and voice assistant controls, and they seem surprisingly appealing.
Audio glasses aren’t new, of course, Bose and Amazon are already in on that game. But Razer’s entry do differ on some key fronts. Most audio glasses connect the two speakers at the temples through a wire across the frames. Razer’s Anzu glasses are true wireless and don’t run a wire through the frame to the speakers. Razer says that makes the glasses more flexible and comfortable, but it also means charging both temples on the glasses instead of just one.
Beyond that, the glasses come with “35% blue light filtering lenses” preinstalled, though the science on the benefit to blocking blue light is still pretty mixed. Razer also included 99% UVA/UVB protective polarized sunglasses lenses you can swap in instead. And you can have the lenses swapped out for prescriptions that that’s what you need.
In terms of audio, don’t expect much bass due to the open nature of the speakers. But Razer promises a Bluetooth 5.1 connection with 60ms latency, which is very low and should avoid some of the glitches wireless audio often creates. When fully charged, the glasses will get “over five hours” of audio playback, though, as always, that estimate depends on your usage.
The glasses will connect to your smartphone and give you access to your smart assistant of choice. You can interact with the assistant or your music tracks with touch controls on the temple. If you dig into the Android or iOS app, you’ll get access to EQ, latency settings, battery status, and firmware updates.
Audio glasses push sound to your ears without blocking them up, so you can use them while exercising or commuting. The Anzu glasses are IPX4 resistant, which is enough to stand up to splashes and light sweating. Just don’t expect them to overpower loud local sounds, like a subway train.
The glasses come in two styles, round and rectangular, and two sizes. They come with the blue light lenses, sunglass lenses, a case, and a charger. You can order them from Razer’s site today.
Razer Anzu Smart Glasses
The Razer Anzu Smart glasses pump out audio while still letting you hear the world around you. They’re IPX4 resistant, so should work well enough for exercise. They come with two sets of lenses, a carrying case, and charger.
