The last thing I need is a new Amazon Echo smart speaker. As The Verge’s Smart home reviewer, currently has a dozen scattered around my house for testing. But when Amazon’s Echo Frames smart glasses came on sale for $115, down from $300 for Cyber Monday, it was an offer my husband couldn’t refuse.
They chose the prescription-ready model (instead of the blue-light-filtering option), which meant they also got the Echo Spot, Amazon’s $80 smart speaker/smart alarm clock, for free. That’s a total savings for me of $265 and about 13 smart speakers.
The Echo Spot, which normally costs $80, is my top pick for an Amazon Alexa smart speaker to use as a smart alarm clock. This is a great way to add smart features to your bedside table, like playing music and controlling devices like smart lights with your voice.
But undoubtedly, the real attraction here were the smart glasses. My husband has had his eye on my Echo Frames ever since I bought them for $115 during Amazon’s last Prime Day sale. They love the idea of hands-free calling and listening to music without earbuds, so seeing them come back at the same price sealed the deal.
As a full-time glasses wearer, I’ve been considering smart glasses for some time. I thought the technology was good enough to finally make a smart pair my daily driver. I was leaning toward the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses – especially after the launch of the second generation with longer battery life – and almost pulled the trigger. Then Echo Frames reached its lowest price ever. At $115, they’re $250 cheaper than the second-generation Metas, and while Amazon’s frames are a few years older, the much lower cost made them a far safer choice for my first foray into smart glasses.
Another big factor: I’m not ready to wear a camera on my face all day. I’m more interested in the voice assistant and the speaker/mic combo. I love listening to podcasts and music while walking my dog or potting in the garden, but I hate wearing headphones. And, since I use Alexa in my smart home, it made more sense to have the same assistant on my face that I use on my kitchen counter.
Echo Frames now also support Amazon’s more capable LLM-powered voice assistant Alexa Plus, making them useful for quick queries as well as smart home control. They also look and feel like normal glasses, which makes sense to me since I plan on wearing them every day.
I picked up my devices from the opticians last week and I’m thoroughly enjoying them, although forgetting to charge them one night reminded me how annoying it is to add another device to a nightly charging routine. A tip if you’re considering a pair at this excellent price: If you have a larger head, choose the gray rectangular model. It is the only wide-fit frame in the lineup.
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