Smart tech that doesn't make you look like a geek
Huawei Eyewear II.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks to wearable tech is often how geeky it can look. Thankfully, not all wearables have to come with a public health warning and some, even look stylish like the Huawei Eyewear II glasses.
The Eyewear II are the second generation of audio glasses from Huawei and were designed in collaboration with Gentle Monster, a designer brand. The South Korean company design and manufacture sunglasses and optical glasses.
Unless you look very closely, you won’t see any ‘tech’ on the Eyewear IIs. To the casual onlooker, these are stylish sunglasses. The ones I received for testing were the Smart Lang, which features an all-black frame and titanium alloy elastic hinges which are also available in Myma style.
In silver on the left side frame is ‘Huawei’ and on the right ‘Gentle Monster’. On the outside of each frame is a dark red dash which identifies the touch area of the sunglasses. The frames are ergonomically arched and I never felt any discomfort even when I wore them for hours at a time.
The carry case is rectangular and offers excellent protection. On the lid is ‘Gentle Monster — Huawei’ branding and it closes with a stylish dual zipper with the letter G embossed on each zip.
Around the back is a USB-C port for fast charging, a button to initiate Bluetooth pairing mode and an LED status light.
The case is sturdy and provides good protection for the glasses but its size and shape restrict it to being carried in a large coat pocket or bag.
Despite the size of the case, it doesn’t have any internal battery, so you can only charge the glasses in the case when it’s connected to power.
The sunglass fit well on my head and never felt uncomfortable. The frames are slightly bulky as this is where all the tech is housed but at 47.9 grams they don’t feel heavy.
I loved using these while walking with others because I was able to hear all around me, join in conversations while quietly, listening to music.
I also used them while cycling and I didn’t hear any wind noise which is impressive. Call quality is excellent while cycling too. The person on the other end of the phone could hear me clearly and I had no problem hearing them. However, the sunglasses don’t wraparound like sports glasses, so I wouldn’t suggest using them for anything other than casual activities.
Sound quality is far better than I was expecting and although not as good as you’d get from the Huawei FreeBuds Pro, the overall convenience makes up for this. At this time of year, I often wear beanie hats while out and about and pulling the hat down over the frames made a big difference to the loudness and bass coming from the speakers.
Even without the aid of a hat, the sound is still good enough to offer an enjoyable listening experience during any outdoor activity. The sound is clear and bright with a really big soundstage with good positioning.
The speakers are external on each frame and those sitting beside you in a quiet environment will hear what you are listening to. This isn’t such a big deal when you’re out walking with others or doing other activities outside. Being able to hear everything around is a massive bonus but it’s also a downside because if you’re in a noisy place you won’t be able to hear your music playing.
You can also use the mics to record HD sound. Huawei touts this as a feature for hands-free vlogging but in my testing, I found the audio quality was better from the mic on the P40 Pro+. Also, this feature is only available on phones that have Huawei EMUI 11. You also need the latter to use the Find My Glasses feature.
The controls are touch-based. Double-tap for pause/play or to wake the voice assistant and swipe to adjust the volume or skip back/forward a track. They also feature wear detection so audio will pause when you take them off and play again when you put them back on. They will go to sleep after three minutes if you leave them off.
You can turn off wear detection which is on by default but you’ll need to download the Huawei AI Life app from the Huawei App Gallery. The app is available for iOS but Eyewear II isn’t supported on it yet. However, I had no problem using them with the default settings on my iPhone. The app is limited but is necessary to update the firmware.
Huawei says the sunglass have five hours of playback time and I never had an issue with them running out of juice. They charge very quickly with a full charge taking up to 90 minutes but it is disappointing the case doesn’t have a built-in battery to extend the overall battery life.
The Huawei Eyewear II are stylish although probably not ideal for those with a small head as they look pretty big. The sound quality and features are excellent, although not as good as you’re going to get from regular earphones. Unlike regular sunglasses were you have a massive range of designs and prices, the Eyewear II has limited styles and an expensive price tag but you’ve got to give it to Huawei for innovating with wearable tech that doesn’t look geeky.
€349 from Carphone Warehouse or see Huawei.com
