As much as we all love our Bluetooth earbuds and our slick sunglasses, wouldn’t it be easier if there was a way to combine them both into a single package? Your prayers have been answered, as brands have started to find new ways to incorporate the latest and greatest audio technology into sunglasses. Today, the best Bluetooth sunglasses (also called smart glasses) let you listen to music, stay connected to your phone and even record video.*
Now you can take your tunes with you without having to fuss about whether or not your headphones will stay in place with Bluetooth sunglasses. No need to worry about broadcasting your music for everyone to hear either, as the speakers in most of these shades are located directly above your ears where they’ll gently radiate the music for your ears only — without disturbing others around you.
Over the last two years, SPY’s editors and reviewers have tested all of the major Bluetooth sunglasses from brands like Ray-Ban, Anker, Bose and Razer. At first, this technology seemed like it could be a fad, but after testing out the top options for SPY readers, we’re convinced this technology is here to stay.
To help you choose the right pair of smart glasses, we put together a guide to the best Bluetooth sunglasses of 2022. Keep reading to see the top products from brands such as Ray-Ban, Anker and Bose.
1. Ray-Ban Stories
BEST OVERALL
Ray-Ban Stories smart sunglasses were an easy choice for the best Bluetooth sunglasses of 2022. Thanks to the Ray-Ban influence, these sunglasses have a more stylish design than the competition, and they’re available in multiple colors. The technology is powered by Facebook, aka Meta, and these are one of the coolest new products tested by SPY.com so far this year. Our Tech Editor John Velasco found that these shades are great for creators producing content for TikTok, YouTube and other social media apps, though they do have a steep price tag.
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After testing these out, we were impressed by the audio quality both in terms of the speakers and the microphone. With these smart Bluetooth sunglasses, you can easily record hands-free video in 1184 x 1184 resolution (you can also take photographs). Finally, we appreciate the compact design, as these sunglasses aren’t as bulky and clunky as the first generation of Bluetooth glasses.
Best Features: Stylish, timeless frame design; surprisingly good audio; record video on the go and hands-free.
Battery Life: 6 Hours
Full Review: Ray-Ban Stories
2. Bose Frames Audio Sunglasses
RUNNER UP
Bose is one of the best audio manufacturers in the world, so it makes complete sense that they’re the ones to beat when it comes to audio quality in Bluetooth sunglasses. Until recently, we rated these as the “Best Overall” smart sunglasses, so why have they been demoted to “Runner Up” status? Bose’s Bluetooth sunglasses were first released in 2019, and the new Ray-Ban Stories simply offer a more impressive feature set, not to mention design backed by Ray-Ban. However, Bose Frames are still mighty impressive.
What we love about this design is that the audio produced is barely audible to anyone other than the wearer. As mentioned, tiny speakers are included in the back stems of the glasses closest to your ears for subtlety. As with all of their products, the audio quality is great, but we’re also really happy with the quality of the sunglasses too; they’re shatter- and scratch-resistant, which is a better level of protection than most fashion-oriented frames. Furthermore, the shades themselves come in both a wayfarer and rounded style, so there’s something to fit a majority of face shapes. Discreet, stylish and quality? That’s a triple threat if we’ve ever heard of one.
Best Features: Multiple frame styles available; excellent audio quality.
Battery Life: Up To 5.5 Hours
Full Review: Bose Frames Audio Sunglasses
3. Anker Soundcore Frames
CUSTOMIZABLE DESIGN
The problem with most smart sunglasses is that you’re stuck with one particular style. If you want to wear another style, you’ll have to buy a totally different version. That’s why we were stoked to try the Anker Soundcore Frames. What makes these Bluetooth-enabled sunglasses unique is that they feature a detachable front frame, giving users the ability to mix and match for a wide range of styles. Besides that unique quality, the Anker Soundcore Frames feature an open ear audio design that allows you to listen to music and conduct phone calls — all while still being able to hear your surroundings.
We were shocked by how good these sunglasses sound, with audio quality comparable to average wireless earbuds (without drowning out ambient noise). They’re a great option for driving, as you can stay alert to your surroundings. While testing these on the road, our reviewer was able to hear notifications and access Siri for hands-free control. Finally, touch-sensitive controls on the arms make it easy to adjust volume, media playback and voice assistant access.
Best Features: Superb audio; interchangeable frames; customized touch controls via Soundcore app; IPX4 sweatproof design.
Battery Life: 5.5 Hours
Full Review: Soundcore Frames
4. Razer Anzu Smart Glasses
BEST ENTRY-LEVEL
A recent entrant into the Bluetooth glasses space, the Razer Anzu smart glasses offer much of the same functionality as the Bose Frames, but at a lower price. While this first-generation tech has its promises, it still has a few kinks to smooth over, such as being more comfortable to wear over a long period of time. But all in all, these are a solid first effort and a worthy pair of Bluetooth glasses on their own, as well as being a promising look at things to come from Razer.
Our product reviewer found that you can easily pair the Anzu glasses with your phone or computer, and as you would expect from Razer, they work great for gaming, too. The included low latency gaming mode made it easy to hear video game audio without any hiccups. On the flip side, thanks to the IPX4 sweatproof design, you can even wear these sunglasses on a run.
Finally, we want to point out that these Bluetooth sunglasses have undergone a major price drop, and you can now buy them for as little as $69, making them a perfect entry-level pair.
Best Features: Built-in microphone and speakers; auto shut-off feature.
Battery Life: 5 hours
Full Review: Razer Anzu Smart Glasses
5. Ampere Dusk
ADJUSTABLE SHADE
Ampere’s known for its wide array of accessories for smartphones and smart home devices, but the company brought its expertise to the outdoors with the Ampere Dusk. It’s the only pair that features electrochromic lenses that can be adjusted for any situation. Whether it’s a bright sunny day or cloudy, you can adjust the shade intensity of the lenses, either by pressing a button on the frame or through the mobile app, all to achieve that perfect comfort level. This pair of Bluetooth sunglasses are also water resistant and can play music.
Best Features: You can adjust the shade level of the lenses with a push of a button
Battery Life: 7 days of paired tint adjustment, 4 hours of listening
Full Review: Ampere Dusk
6. Amazon Echo Frames
GREAT FOR ALEXA
When you think of smart glasses, you might have the idea of futuristic frames with lenses doubling as screens. The Echo Frames aren’t that. Instead, the glasses look, well, like normal glasses. The two arms that go around your ears are a bit thicker to hold the microphones and speakers to talk to and listen to Alexa. The lenses are just lenses — no crazy screens or cameras with facial recognition technology. You activate the glasses by pressing the button on the top of the right arm and double-tapping the button will deactivate the microphone. Once activated, you have Alexa with you wherever you are. It’s a little more convenient than the Echo Loop, since the glasses are on your ears, you can hear Alexa’s response to your inquiries without having to bring your hand to your ear, like the Loop. The glasses connect to your phone via Bluetooth and last roughly 4 hours on a single charge.
Best Features: Available with sunglasses, prescription or blue light lenses; works great with Alexa and other Amazon devices.
Battery Life: 4 Hours
7. OhO Sunshines Bluetooth Audio Sunglasses
BEST SPORT FRAMES
With a frame that’s similar to the classic Oakley shades that were ubiquitous in the 90s, the OhO Sunshine Bluetooth audio sunglasses are a sportier look than the other frames we’ve featured thus far. The wraparound style lends itself well to running and cycling, as well as other high-octane activities. As with other shades we’ve featured, there’s a built-in microphone to let you take calls or activate a voice assistant. The polarized lens protection will help if you’re out hitting the pavement hard and will sit comfortably on your face for extended use.
Best Features: Polarized lenses; affordable Bluetooth sunglasses for listening to music.
Battery Life: 4-5 Hours
8. Snapchat Spectacles 2 Bluetooth Video Sunglasses
BEST FOR VIDEO
Made for more than just sharing videos to Snapchat, the new and improved version of the Spectacles look significantly less garish than the previous edition. All the great features that made the initial Spectacles such a hot ticket item are still present here, albeit in a more subtle — and stylish — package: high-quality video recording is ready at the touch of a button (along with photos, too!). From there, they’ll sync over Bluetooth where you can share the videos in an instant to a variety of platforms including YouTube, Twitter, iMessage and yes, even Snapchat. With polarized lenses and water resistance, they’re certainly built for the elements. It’s a compelling package, made even better.
If you primarily want Bluetooth sunglasses to listen to music or stay connected, these aren’t a great option. However, for video recording (especially around water), the Spectacles 2 Nico frames are still a worthy pair to consider.
Best Features: Record up to 70 videos on a single charge; water-resistant.
Battery Life: n/a
9. Inventiv Bluetooth Audio Sunglasses
MOST COLORFUL
These black and orange Bluetooth audio sunglasses from Inventiv are as striking as a warm summer’s day, which will make them a perfect companion for jaunts down to the beach to soak up the sun. While the three-hour battery life isn’t as long-lasting as we’d like, the Bluetooth 4.0 output allows you to be up to 30 feet away from your audio device without losing playback. Additionally, the lenses are fully polarized to provide high-quality protection from the sun’s rays.
Best Features: Polarized lenses; hands-free calling.
Battery Life: 3 Hours
10. Solos Argon 3
LONGEST BATTERY LIFE
Sure, it can play music and accept phone calls, but the Solos Argon 3 goes beyond that by doubling as a step tracker to monitor your fitness level. Furthermore, these smart sunglasses can detect your posture and even remind you to sit up properly. However, it beats a lot of the competition in the battery life department where it can put up 11 hours of music listening, or about 8 hours of call time.
Best Features: Built-in step tracker and posture correction
Battery life: 11 Hours
Coming Soon: Human Capable Norm Bluetooth Audio and Video Sunglasses
Fresh off a successful crowdfunding campaign and an award at CES, Human Capable’s Norm Bluetooth sunglasses are described as a “fully functioning microcomputer in your glasses.” Unfortunately, like a lot of Kickstarter projects, there have been some delays in shipping these smart glasses to customers, and the expected price has increased quite a bit. Still, these Bluetooth sunglasses have the potential to be the most advanced product in this category yet. Capable of making phone calls, taking photos and video, visual navigation, watching movies and listening to audio, the Norm is basically an extremely stylish upgrade over the much-bemoaned Google Glass.
We can’t wait to get our hands on a pair to see if they’re as promising and exciting as they seem to be; they’re not quite for sale yet, but you can pre-order them at Norm’s website right now if you’re as excited about them as we are. According to a recent update posted to Indiegogo, the first units should ship in late 2022.
How We Chose the Best Bluetooth Sunglasses
As we explained above, we were initially very skeptical about this product category, and so we approached testing carefully. The first Bluetooth sunglasses worth buying came out in 2019, and in the years since, we’ve seen major new releases in this market. We’ve had the chance to test all of the top options at this point.
When reviewing Bluetooth sunglasses, we consider the following criteria:
Setup and Installation: How easy is it to get these sunglasses out of the box and onto your face? When rating Bluetooth sunglasses on setup, we also consider how easily they pair to your devices via Bluetooth and how reliable that connection proves to be.
Design: This is a criterion that’s partly subjective. Ultimately, we expect the best Bluetooth sunglasses of 2022 to look cool, and if they don’t, that’s a problem. However, design also includes special features, such as automatically shutting off when the arms are folded. When selecting the top products in this category, we considered how many unique design features are present with each particular product.
Audio Quality: Ultimately, this is one of the most important factors in our Bluetooth sunglasses reviews. When wearing these sunglasses, can you clearly hear music and phone calls? In addition, how noticeable is the sound to people around you? Microphone quality also plays a role in this part of the review.
Camera Performance: Not all Bluetooth sunglasses have cameras, but for those that do, we considered both overall video quality (resolution, field of view) and how easy it was to record video.
Battery Life: How long does the battery life compared to the manufacturer’s promises?
Privacy Features: Unfortunately, we’re usually disappointed when it comes to privacy features. For new Bluetooth sunglasses in 2022, there are some improved privacy features, and we always consider this when reviewing smart products.
App Quality: Do the sunglasses come with their own app? If so, we ask our product reviewers to download the app to their smartphones and test out the various customization features. This isn’t a huge factor in our final ranking of the best Bluetooth sunglasses, but it is something we consider.
When selecting the best Bluetooth sunglasses of 2022, we balanced all of the criteria listed here, with audio quality, design and camera quality being the biggest factors in our ranking.
Why Invest in Bluetooth Sunglasses?
We know that the best Bluetooth sunglasses are expensive, and you might be reluctant to drop $200 or more on these frames. We understand your skepticism, especially since this is still a new type of product. However, we think there are three very good reasons to invest in a pair.
Fewer Distractions From Your Device
One of the major reasons to own a pair of Bluetooth sunglasses is that they help to sever that need to constantly look at your phone. Most of them do this through voice control and notifications with their respective speaker technologies. Therefore, you won’t have to take your phone out of your pocket to read an email notification or something else — you’ll be notified right by your sunglasses. Many of them can also initiate connections to virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, by simply speaking the keyword.
Record Life Moments
But Bluetooth sunglasses aren’t just for audio; there are plenty of great video options as well for when you want to ensure you can record that really cool moment or experience from a first-person perspective. Perfect for any outdoor activity (visiting the beach, hiking, exercising outdoors), we have a feeling you’ll soon be reaching for these time and time again, wondering how you lived without them.
A Mashup Between Style and Tech
Today’s Bluetooth sunglasses are nothing like earlier versions that were often bulky and ugly-looking. Instead, they’re designed to blend in with your sense of style, which is why some of them are available in many different frame styles. Looking good is one part of the recipe, while the other relates to the tech behind them. Considering how the majority of them pack in speakers, microphones, batteries, and many other components; it’s amazing how they can remain sleek and seamless when worn.
Updates: This article was last updated on Friday, June 3, 2022, at which time we added the Ampere Dusk in the #5 position. Previously, this article was updated on Thursday, May 22, at which time we added the Solo Argan 3-in-1 Bluetooth Sunglasses. Before that, we added in-depth information about our testing and review process. In addition, after further testing of the Anker Souncore Frames, Razer’s Anzu Smart Glasses and Ray-Ban Stories, we updated our reviews and overall product ranking. We selected the Ray-Ban Stories as our new “Best Overall” pick and the Anker Souncore Frames as our new #3 selection. We removed the Gelete Smart Bluetooth Sunglasses, which do not meet our new standards for this category. Finally, we added additional information about the Norm Bluetooth Sunglasses, which are subject to ongoing shipping delays.
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