The 26-year-old Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, calls the video-sharing sunglasses “a toy” but sees an upside to freeing his app from smartphone cameras. The sudden appearance of a Snapchat pop-up store in Manhattan on Monday created a stir of epic proportions amongst New York's technorati, with lines snaking around the block as early as 4 a.m. "The future is here," wrote one social media consultant after snagging a pair of Snapchat's recording-enabled sunglasses.
Snapchat Spectacles, The New Smart Sunglasses
The $130 glasses worth is called Sanapchat Spectacles. It is equipped with a 115-degree-angle-lens-camera that is able to record up to 10 seconds of circular video and post it to the user's Snapchat account. "I actually stopped using Snapchat months ago, but my new Spectacles brought me back," said Nick Abouzeid, a student at Babson College, on NBC News. "They're perfect to capture fun moments with friends. But I feel odd wearing them at night or insid.
According to Technology Review, the styling is undeniably youthful, and it’s easy enough to imagine a teenager lusting after a pair. But earlier this year, Snapchat’s vice president of content, Nick Bell, pointed out in an interview that two-thirds of its users are over 18, and 50 percent of new daily users are over 25. Those people are more attractive to advertise to, because unlike teens, they tend to have money. But it’s not clear if Snapchat Spectacles are the product to drive that adoption.
Snapchat Spectacles Review
As reviewed by CNET, here are the things that you might like and don't like when you get the Snapchat Spectacles.
What I like
1. They feel like regular sunglasses and they look pretty good on just about everyone.
2. Video quality is great for Snapchat. If the light is good you're getting a pretty decent picture.
3. Spectacles record circular video. You can rotate your phone to see more of the image.
4. Filters, emojis and text. Once the video's in Snapchat, it's just like editing a regular snap.
5. They don't need to be connected to a phone to work, only when you want to view and post snaps.
6. They won't fall off your face if you jump around or play sport.
What I don't like
1. You look like an idiot wearing them indoors, at night or with prescription glasses underneath.
2. Spectacles only work with Snapchat.
3. No face filters allowed. Sorry, those funny Snapchat face swaps and Bambi ears won't happen here.
4. The audio is good, but not great. It picks up sound pretty well from the wearer so narrating the action is what you'll end up doing most of the time.
5. Mirror selfies. Unless you take off the glasses or have a friend wear them to film you, selfies are hard.
6. Spectacles take video only. No still images.
