Razer just got into the smart glasses market with their latest launch, the Razer Anzu. The glass is available in two different shape, size and lens options. The Anzu also has built-in audio functionality. The Razer Anzu has an open-ear speaker design which can project the sound to our ears from the temples. The Bose audio sunglasses also has a similar open-ear speaker system. Music can be streamed to the glasses for listening and calls can also be taken using the built-in microphone. We will have to wait to get it tested for the call audio quality.
The touch controls on the temples can be used to control playback and also be used for a variety of functions. Both the temples are equipped with these touch control so that you can use them regardless of your dominant hand. The Razer Anzu is available in two shapes, round and rectangle. An option for small or large frames is also available. We get two types of lenses in the box, one for indoor usage and another one for outdoor usage. The preinstalled one is the indoor one which can be used while using computers as it has the ability to block 35% of blue light emitted by the monitors. The outdoor one also has the ability to block 99% UVA/UVB rays.
There is also an option provided by Razer to install custom prescription lenses. Lensabl is a company which Razer collaborated for installing prescription glasses. You can even get a 15% discount by using the code RAZER15 when you buy prescription glasses for your Razer Anzu from Lensabl. The Razer Anzu is IPX4 water resistant. It has a 5 hour listening time with two weeks of standby time. There is a dedicated game mode in which the audio latency is very minimal at 60ms. The Razer Anzu is priced at $200 and replacement lenses for $30.
We will have to see how the consumers react to this new wearable audio glasses category. Google has a failed attempt with their Google Glass, but that was a different category with much more privacy issues than audio glasses because it had a camera pointing up front. Bose has also come up with a similar audio sunglasses and the sales are not much compelling. Seems like the consumers are not ready to leave the comfort and audio quality that wireless headsets can offer today. We will have to wait and see if the Razer Anzu makes any difference.
