Bose Frames Audio Sunglasses, Alto (S/M), Black

Product Information

Don't expect the big bass you get from a standard set of headphones and they can distort a bit at higher volumes. But the Bose Frames are delightful and leaving your ears free of buds or headphones has a clear and obvious case. The Bose Connect app is free on both Android and iOS platforms and contains settings for the Frames such as adjusting the standby timer, turning voice prompts on or off, and updating the firmware. Along with the glasses you get a carry case, which doesn’t feel particularly high-end considering how much the glasses cost. The sturdy plastic arms of the sunglasses have smooth contoured bulges that conceal the gadgetry inside.

When you turn them on and off, you’ll be greeted with the battery amount in audio form, but it doesn’t offer a way to monitor how much charge is left over visually from the glasses themselves. When in audio playback mode, the multi-function button allows you to play (single press), pause (single press), skip forwards (double press) and skip backwards (triple press). After connecting the Frames, announced by a lady robot, and pressing play on my Spotify test playlist to unleash Radiohead’s Burn the Witch, I was completely taken aback by how good it sounded.The Tempo model is the best of the bunch -- and for that reason, we're awarding that model an Editors' Choice.

hours (or less) of playback time per charge and, unfortunately, they can’t charge in their case to supplement that limitation like so many fully wireless earphones.Receiving such an award is the prerequisite to becoming eligible for our annual Product of the Year awards, awarded only to the finest designs in their respective categories.

We like the versatility of these products, and they generally offer much better battery life, though in my experience bone conduction doesn’t offer sound as vibrant as Bose’s Frames. Still, the sound is significantly better than what you get from even the best bone-conduction headphones like those from AfterShokz, which developed a pair of audio sunglasses but never shipped it.

For 2020, the line has been updated and expanded to include three new models: The Tempo sports model, which offers better performance, joins the more traditional-looking Tenor and Soprano. That’s what makes Bose’s Frames — headphones/sunglasses you might actually want to wear — so special. The smart bit of the Frames is support for the firm’s audio augmented reality platform, Bose AR, which is also available on the Bose’s popular QC35 II headphones, and on the upcoming Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700.