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There\u2019s no option to be discreet wearing the Specs. Perhaps that\u2019s good from a public privacy perspective \u2014 you\u2019ll be able to see someone wearing Specs a mile away. But it\u2019s also one major reason why self-conscious folks won\u2019t<\/em> ever pick these up. (The other is the fact that these are $2,195.) The other problem is that we humans are vain creatures. These devices sit directly on your face and obscure your eyes, the so-called windows to the soul. If you even suspect you\u2019ll look goofy in these, you\u2019re just never going to buy them, even if they\u2019re the most miraculous tech product in the world. If there\u2019s even the off chance that wearing these on a first date won\u2019t get you a second, why would you risk it?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
There are other practical reasons why these glasses fail the most important wearable design rules. For starters, the 47mm version weighs 132 grams, while the 52mm version weighs 136g. I found the Meta Ray-Ban Display started hurting my face after a few hours, and those weighed 69g. As a lifelong glasses wearer, I\u2019ve grilled opticians about ideal eyewear weight over the past three decades. (When you have garbage eyeballs and extremely strong prescriptions, lightweight frames are a must<\/em> to prevent headaches.) Most have told me the ideal weight for lightweight glasses is somewhere between 15 and 25g. Acetate frames (think classic Brooklyn hipster glasses) typically weigh 20 to 35g. Smart glasses typically range from 40 to 70g, and you can definitely feel it after a few hours. At about double<\/em> that weight, I can\u2019t imagine the Specs are comfortable enough to wear for more than a few hours at a time. Meaning for those of us who need prescriptions, they cannot be your primary pair, and that means you\u2019re spending $2,195 for a secondary pair of glasses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I find it impossible to believe Snap isn\u2019t fully aware of this. Which is probably why it\u2019s leaning into the haute couture, high-fashion aesthetic. They know that at this price point and at this weight, the Specs aren\u2019t a device that can be a true mainstream hit. It was always going to be for the early adopters, and that\u2019s a crowd that\u2019s maybe more amenable to bolder looks and standing out. And, momentum in the consumer smart glasses space is heating up. If Snap doesn\u2019t want to miss the boat, perhaps the idea is to strike while the iron is hot and hope enough people tag along for the ride for a second- or third-gen model that hews closer to what the average person actually wants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Look, some people are going to look cool in these. The Meisel pictures are evidence enough of that. But the cold, hard fact is that most of us will look more like Spiegel \u2014 kinda dorky, partly goofy, and incredibly conspicuous.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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