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If you love walking outside while listening to music or your favorite podcast but don’t like the feeling of earbuds or over-ear headphones, there’s a cool new option for you to try.
Lucyd Lyte Bluetooth sunglasses combine your usual stylish pair of sunglasses with the tech used by wireless speakers so you can listen to your sounds or even make a phone call while wearing them. These Bluetooth sunglasses also let you send texts, make calls, pause music, change a song and control the volume using voice controls. The glasses make it safer to go for a walk or run while listening to music since headphones can severely limit your awareness.
The Lucyd Lyte Bluetooth sunglasses are priced at $150 a pair on Amazon, but there’s a $30 coupon available to clip as of this writing. They come in several unisex colors and styles, can support prescription lenses and boast up to eight hours of battery life on a charge. They can also support prescription lenses.
I tried a pair of these high-tech shades out for review with a pair provided by Lucyd. I opted for the Sunbeam style. I walk outside often and have what have been described by doctors as tiny ear canals, so I can never keep earbuds in my ears — which made these glasses a welcome alternative.
Putting Lucyd Lyte Bluetooth Sunglasses to the Test
The glasses were nicely packaged and came with a handful of extras, like cleaning wipes, a case and anti-slip nose pads. They look just like a normal pair sunglasses and you’d never be able to tell they have speakers inside just from a glance. I was worried they would feel heavy on my ears because the temples are thicker than what I’m used to, but they felt great and I didn’t have any discomfort, even after wearing the Lucyds for an hour.
They connected to my phone instantly via Bluetooth and I tested them by listening to music, a podcast and making a phone call. The audio was clear and the person on the other end of my call said they could hear me well. I wouldn’t call the audio quality of the built-in speakers exceptional, but they get plenty loud — some might say too loud.
In my opinion, the major pro to these Bluetooth sunglasses is that they made me feel much safer while listening to music or podcasts outside than I do with headphones. You can easily hear if a vehicle is approaching or if someone is near you from behind, while still hearing your audio. They made my walk more enjoyable, as I didn’t feel like I had to keep looking behind me at the traffic and could just focus on my walk and my listening.
I did find a few drawbacks to the Lucyd Lytes, but none that would make me not purchase them, as I found the pros definitely outweighed the cons.
Charging the glasses is a bit odd, as you have to charge both sides, which means you can’t use a standard charging cable. It’s not a dealbreaker but just means another dedicated charger you’ll have to keep around and remember what it’s used for. And if the charger breaks, it’s not easy to replace it quickly. You also have to turn on both sides separately, and if you forget to do that, you’ll only have sound on one side and may think your pricey Bluetooth sunglasses aren’t working properly.
Some of the negative reviews at Amazon have complained that other people can hear what you’re listening to if they’re near you. I found this to be true, as my husband said he could hear them when he was walking next to me outside. While that should be expected, given that these are not headphones but are more like speakers, it could be annoying for others if you’re wearing them on public transportation or simply don’t want others hearing your phone calls while you’re out.
What Are Amazon Users Saying?
While some Amazon users have written that the sunglasses fit too tightly, I found that they actually slid off my face a bit when I looked down. I have that problem with most sunglasses, however, so it’s not a specific issue to the Lucyd Lytes. Adding the included anti-slip nose pads did help with the slipping issue. It’s likely going to be a matter of the size of your face, nose and ears as to whether this is an issue for you.
Around 300 people have graded them so far on Amazon, with the overall rating of 3.7 stars out of 5 being a little soft. Nearly half of all reviewers have given them a five-star grade though.
A few of the reviews have mentioned that the audio function stopped working after a few weeks. I reached out to Lucyd to ask about this, and the company said those issues were related to a batch of defective chargers that it has since remedied. If ordered directly from the Lucyd online store, you will get a seven-day refund policy and one-year manufacturer warranty. The sunglasses also qualify for Amazon’s holiday return policy, which means you — or the person you buy them for — can return them until Jan. 31.
If you’d like to try a different pair of glasses, you’ll find a few similar products on Amazon as well, like Amazon’s own Echo Frames with Alexa, which list for $270 and have an average rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars from more than 5,200 reviewers, or OhO’s sunshine glasses, which are a much cheaper alternative at just $32. More than 1,400 Amazon reviewers have given these an average of 4.1 out of 5 stars.
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