3 Reviews for Echo Frames Gen 2

1. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   N. McLeish – November 20, 2020

   For the most part I love my Echo Frames. I think they are a little overpriced and the Alexa functionality of them still needs some work, but in terms of them being like a Bluetooth headset they are amazing.Pros:1. Battery Life – During normal everyday use they last almost 18 hours. They also nicely tell you when they are at 20% and 10% battery left. Playing music through them does greatly diminish the life span, but compared to the Bluetooth headphones I have I’d say the echo frames are noticeably better.2. Sound – The sound quality coming from the frames is awesome. It is very clear and easy to hear without the discomfort of in or on ear headphones.3. Discretion – The directed sound from the speakers makes it very easy to hear while wearing them, but a person standing next to you can only tell that they are making noise if you have the volume cranked. Set the volume just loud enough for you to adequately hear it, and those around you won’t even know your listening to something.4. Comfort – These are one of the most comfortable pairs of glasses I have ever worn. In the 18 years that I’ve been wearing glasses all day everyday, every pair has had something that bugged me initially that I had to get used to. These were comfortable straight out f the box.5. VIP Filter – The ability to set the VIP filter and have Alexa automatically read the messages to you is awesome. The people I text all the time can text me and she will read the message to me without me having to stop what I’m doing or look at my phone. It still needs some work , but the concept is awesome and I can’t wait for them to perfect it.6. Notifies when silenced – Even with my phone silenced, Alexa will still alert me to notifications. This way I can still get a nice audible alert to notifications without having to disturb those around me.Cons:1. Volume control – The push button volume control is bulky like all push button volume control. When moving from one environment to the next I typically have to adjust the volume by more then one point which requires pressing the button multiple times or telling Alexa a number (which I never get right the first time). I find myself constantly having to adjust the volume as I move from home to car to store etc… It would be nice if they could introduce some form of adaptive volume that auto adjust to the noise level around you. similar to the screen brightness auto adjust on our smart phones.2. Charging and included Case – I don’t think they gave near enough thought to these two aspects. the charge cable magnetically attaches to the bottom of the right arm. Thus in order to charge the glasses they have to be left our and laid down side up. I typically like to keep my glasses in a case at night while I sleep so that my cats can’t mess with them, but with the echo frames I can’t do that. I need them to charge while I sleep since I wear them all day, and having them charge in the case means the case pinches the charge cord. It would have been really cool if they could have made the case like a wireless charger, then I could leave the case plugged in and just put the glasses in it when they need to charge.3. Alexa – I primarily use google home products throughout my house so I was a little hesitant on getting an Alexa device. These glasses have not improved my opinion on Alexa any. She has a tendency to be very inconsistent through the frames. Especially with phone notifications and the VIP filter, some times she tells me sometimes she doesn’t. I also don’t like how the phone notification tone still plays right before she tells me the notification. I have custom notification tones on my phone, so if I hear the tone I know what the notification is and thus I no longer need her to tell me. Her method of reading the notifications is also long and drawn out, she takes to long to read it and gives to much information. I.e. “Stephanie Anderson on messages app, Stephanie Anderson says how are you?” that could greatly be reduced for efficiency. She also tells me when a notification is dismissed before she can read it. I don’t need her to tell me that, I’m the one who dismissed it.4. Sensitivity – Alexa hears everything!!! she is constantly being set off randomly for no apparent reason because she thought she heard her name. She can also be set off by anyone. They need to make it so that she only listens to the wearer. Like my google assistant on my phone, It will only respond it if recognizes the wake word as having come from my voice, thus I am the only one who can wake the google assistant no my phone. Given that the frames are a personal device Amazon needs to implement a similar feature. I have a friend with echo devices in her house, and I have to be quick with the mute so that when shes tells her Alexa to do something it doesn’t trigger mine.5. Bluetooth conflicts – Because the frames use Bluetooth things get interesting with other Bluetooth devices. My phone auto connects to my truck via Bluetooth and everything works great until a notification comes through. Alexa will read the notification to me, but it will not come through the frames it will come through the truck. It’s not a big deal, but it is a little annoying, and If i use the VIP filter not only does it notify me, but it reads the whole message, which is not always what I want when there are other people in the truck. I have to remember to turn off notifications every time I get in the truck, and then I have to remember to turn them back on when I get out.6. Overheat after 10 min – I live in Arizona, it’s hot in the summer. One day in October we were hanging out outside in the sun, it wasn’t super hot. After about ten minutes Alexa tells me she is turning off the frames because they are too warm. I’m kinda curious how things are going to work this summer when it really gets hot outside.I like them, but I think I would like them more if they removed Alexa, lowered the price, and just marketed them as a Bluetooth headset. Either that or fix Alexa. In all reality Amazon and Google just need to team up because they both could fix each others problems LOL.

2. 

   Rated 3 out of 5

   Ambyr – November 30, 2020

   I am very proud to have been one of the first to get the Echo Frames, but I am disappointed due to lack of quality and use, I feel like they were not ready for market and I was scammed a bit.First, you have to buy your own lenses, which I knew going in. I got them right before the pandemic which made it very difficult to go to a physical location to purchases lenses. I have Warby Parker glasses, which are awesome, but they don’t do lenses only. I had to wait about 6 months until things opened up in Dallas. Then, there were finally enough review and info on finding the lenses by online retailer Lensesrx which produced perfect lenses that I was able to easily pop in. There was just little direction provided by Amazon as to where to get the lenses, as Amazon is not in that biz.The sound from the speakers is really bad. It sounds like early AM radio, but in stereo. No mids or bass. They will not replace headphone or even poor quality ear buds which at least give you some bass. I’ve heard folks sao that they are great for listening to audiobooks… not really, unless you like really shallow, tiny voices in your head. You would want the Bose eyeglasses for better sound. I use them to listen to radio and control Alexa, but thats about it because…The battery life is not that great, maybe 2.5 – 3 hours… that’s it. They constantly have to be charged. I plug them into my computer via usb, but when I think they have been charging, they haven’t because turning on your computer as they are plugged in turns on the Echo Frames. You are using up power as you try to charge, so they never charge fully that way, really inconvenient. Having to always keep another set of glasses available defeats the purpose of having these.The connectivity is an issue, worse that other Alexa devices. I knew that I would have to have my phone with me as I wear them in order for them to work, but they don’t remain connected well. I dream of the day when glasses help you see, but also contain everything that a smart watch has so I can leave my phone behind. It is on the way, but the Echo Frames are not them unfortunately.I recently discovered that they are releasing the 2nd generation of these. As a beta tester of sorts, it really is disappointing that Amazon has never reached out to be for feedback on my use of them, or offered to fix or upgrade me to the 2nd generation. There are no reviews for them since at the time of this writing they are not available until mid-December. The whole point in my mind was to receive some feedback of user, but they don’t seem interested. Give a bad impression of a multi-billion corporation that takes advantage of us to simply increase their own wealth. I guess that is just “business” these days.I like the idea, and they are kinda cool, I wish I had had a choice of different colors, like the blue tinted ons going on sale in December, but alas, I’m stuck with the Mr Magoo version. Keep trying Amazon, I support your initiative and I’ll continue to use Amazon for many business and personal purchases. But, Its ok to be honest with your consumers, its ok to be transparent, and I think its your turn to be a little more helpful to all of us, as we support you monetarily as a bit of a monopoly in online product creation, marketing and distribution. I give it 3 stars.

3. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   N. McLeish – January 29, 2021

   Chances are, if you are looking at these, you already have some form of Alexa product… phone app, dot, echo, something. And let me tell you, they have no idea who you’re talking to when you use the keyword.I have an echo in my room, on my phone, in the media room, the kid’s room, and the kitchen. I had to change the name of all of them because i couldn’t change the name of my glasses, and I got tired of my eyewear playing white noise for the kid’s nap-time, or setting a cooking alarm when I wanted “kitchen b*tch” to do it.And they listen for ANYONE to say anything remotely like Alexa. The tv triggers them, my husband triggers them, my kids trigger them.and the worst is how LOUD they are when you take them off the charger. You wake up, put your glasses on before you get out of bed, listen to the Maxelle/jet engine level telling you your glasses are fully charged, and freak out a bit.Biggest pet peeve, though, is how if you’re listening to music via blutooth (speaker, tablet, computer), randomly the glasses will steal the stream and start playing on the glasses, instead. Sucks when others are watching or listening to something with you.Having said all that, I do love my glasses. I love the ease of having all that info and ability right at my … eartips. It’s perfect for watching or listening to stuff when in public (like dr. offices), and they are stylish.

4. 

   Ambyr – March 28, 2023

   I am very proud to have been one of the first to get the Echo Frames, but I am disappointed due to lack of quality and use, I feel like they were not ready for market and I was scammed a bit.First, you have to buy your own lenses, which I knew going in. I got them right before the pandemic which made it very difficult to go to a physical location to purchases lenses. I have Warby Parker glasses, which are awesome, but they don’t do lenses only. I had to wait about 6 months until things opened up in Dallas. Then, there were finally enough review and info on finding the lenses by online retailer Lensesrx which produced perfect lenses that I was able to easily pop in. There was just little direction provided by Amazon as to where to get the lenses, as Amazon is not in that biz.The sound from the speakers is really bad. It sounds like early AM radio, but in stereo. No mids or bass. They will not replace headphone or even poor quality ear buds which at least give you some bass. I’ve heard folks sao that they are great for listening to audiobooks… not really, unless you like really shallow, tiny voices in your head. You would want the Bose eyeglasses for better sound. I use them to listen to radio and control Alexa, but thats about it because…The battery life is not that great, maybe 2.5 – 3 hours… that’s it. They constantly have to be charged. I plug them into my computer via usb, but when I think they have been charging, they haven’t because turning on your computer as they are plugged in turns on the Echo Frames. You are using up power as you try to charge, so they never charge fully that way, really inconvenient. Having to always keep another set of glasses available defeats the purpose of having these.The connectivity is an issue, worse that other Alexa devices. I knew that I would have to have my phone with me as I wear them in order for them to work, but they don’t remain connected well. I dream of the day when glasses help you see, but also contain everything that a smart watch has so I can leave my phone behind. It is on the way, but the Echo Frames are not them unfortunately.I recently discovered that they are releasing the 2nd generation of these. As a beta tester of sorts, it really is disappointing that Amazon has never reached out to be for feedback on my use of them, or offered to fix or upgrade me to the 2nd generation. There are no reviews for them since at the time of this writing they are not available until mid-December. The whole point in my mind was to receive some feedback of user, but they don’t seem interested. Give a bad impression of a multi-billion corporation that takes advantage of us to simply increase their own wealth. I guess that is just “business” these days.I like the idea, and they are kinda cool, I wish I had had a choice of different colors, like the blue tinted ons going on sale in December, but alas, I’m stuck with the Mr Magoo version. Keep trying Amazon, I support your initiative and I’ll continue to use Amazon for many business and personal purchases. But, Its ok to be honest with your consumers, its ok to be transparent, and I think its your turn to be a little more helpful to all of us, as we support you monetarily as a bit of a monopoly in online product creation, marketing and distribution. I give it 3 stars.