MusicMan sound sunglasses, BT-X59, reviewed

We look at an interesting new product from the German Technaxx team, audio soundglasses for sports – BT-X59

MusicMan sound sunglasses, BT-X59, reviewed

In many ways the fact that it is not clear where to find this item via the company’s products section illustrates the challenge. They are not listed under smart wearables (which they are surely?) nor sport / personal care (and yet the product image has the model on a bike) nor bicycle accessories (again see bike in model shot) nor audio (they deliver music, so surely they qualify for the audio section too?) In many ways this is a good way to highlight the challenge faced by this product. Where do you pitch it, and who is it aimed at.

First up perhaps some of the positive elements. As sun glasses they work fine, a prerequisite you would imagine and they do that successfully. Some of the team felt they looked and felt a bit chunky, but to wear them they are not so obtrusive as to be a problem. The connectivity process is fine, not too tricky, BUT does require you linking it up to a computer first, and then a phone to power and supply the music. At this stage, with the market awash with earbuds of many shapes and sizes you then begin to wonder why have the music coming from the sunglasses if you still need to curate and change tracks from your phone. Ie if you still need to have your phone around, then you might also be tempted to also have phone related headphones nearby too. What problem are the. sunglasses solving?

They are cool and fun for sure, but if you wanted to go kayaking then you would still need to have the phone somewhere nearby. Are the sunglasses waterproof? In our naivety perhaps we had thought the music was solely stored and played via the sunglasses. This would be cool surely, so that you would then use the sunglasses, with tune, instead of bringing the phone out with you. That would be a cool wearable device.

These sunglasses don’t offer that option yet. Therefore we like the look and feel of this product, but it feels like a half way house product on the road to a truly independent sunglasses based smart device. We all know how Google’s ‘glassholes’ went down, but it is good to see new innovation in this space. We like the company, we’re not completely convinced about this product, but it is a space still worth watching.

More about the product and see their website here

The German Technaxx announces launch of MusicMan new audio soundglasses for sports – BT-X59. The product combines the protection and style of premium sunglasses, as well as functionality and performance of wireless headphones with some smart features – all in one gadget for an affordable price.

A perfect combination of Bluetooth headphones and soundglasses transforms an accessory which plays mostly a decorative role to a multifunctional face gadget. The audio glasses made of high-quality materials go with polarized lenses and open speakers that do not interfere with the hearing of the environment. Implemented 2-way sound system ensures crystal stereo sound.

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