There’s no microfibre bag for the Frames included, which would make using them and keeping them clean while out and about a bit easier Sensors are hidden in the frames that can detect your head position and interactions such as taps to the side of the glasses. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian The smart bit of the Frames is support for the firm’s audio augmented reality platform, Bose AR, which is also available on the Bose’s popular QC35 II headphones, and on the upcoming Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700.

The Bose Alto is best suited for music and audio content that makes little use of bass frequencies. Acoustic recordings, smaller ensembles, instrumental recordings, audiobooks and podcasts should all do well with these. In addition, this device delivers an amazingly wide stereo field, with the feeling that the audio is playing around you, rather than funnelled into your ear. In Practice

But between the two of them, the Bose Frames really demonstrate that augmented reality can go beyond vision, and we hope to see more apps take advantage of this. It should be easy to find compatible AR apps when more are added, as the Bose Connect app highlights them almost instantly. Battery life It’s unlikely you’ll be listening to these in too many loud locations, but when your ears are free to hear roadworks, vehicles, and even other people’s voices, it can make listening to any sort of audio too difficult to work with. AR Features The Frames know which way you’re facing and your location from the GPS on your phone, so you can use audio to feed information about the real world into your ears. While neat however, even this doesn’t really show the true joy of using the device. A very robotic voice telling you it’s “220 meters to the green” is handy, but not especially fun. The Bose Frames are delightful – a set of premium sunglasses that also act as your personal music system. Kept to 50% or lower those next to you can’t hear your music, but because your ears are open you can hear the world around you.

Designed with your active lifestyle in mind, our audio sunglasses provide a comfortable, lightweight fit for all-day wear. They feel like a natural extension of yourself, staying in place no matter your activity level. Whether you're out for a run or relaxing in the sun, these speaker sunglasses are designed to move with you. Featuring UVA/UVB protection and polarized lenses, these sunglasses not only deliver exceptional audio but also shield your eyes from the sun's harmful rays. They're not just accessories; they're an essential part of your active lifestyle. So the Frames will never be the only set of headphones you need, and they could do with a battery in the case, volume controls and a few more styles, not to mention prescription lenses and some killer Bose AR apps. These are the kind of innovations Bose clearly had in mind when it decided to combine designer quality sunglasses with audio capabilities. In the case of these beauties, the relevant electronics and speakers are worked into the temple part of the frame, ensuring that sound emitted is within close enough range of the listener’s ears. The concept, simply called “Bose Frames”, has hit the market with an initial pair of models. There’s the “Alto”, which takes its aesthetic influences from the signature Wayfarer style of brands like Ray-Ban, as well as the ‘Rondo”, which offers a more rounded frame style. It’s the first model variant, the Alto, that’ll be testing here in this review. Integrated technology and functionality is identical across both models, as is the RRP. However, there’s a noticeable size difference between the two. The Alto, with its key frame measurements of 51mm/18mm/162mm, is the larger of the two versions. The slightly smaller Rondo’s measurements come in at 49.5mm/15.5mm/154mm.We've tried two different apps with the glasses, and these are currently only available when connected to iOS devices. We've been told by Bose that support for Android devices is coming in July 2019, but there's no specific date yet. Crank them up beyond 85% volume and you start to hear distortion, but they pretty loud by that point. Most of my listening was about at 60% on the street or about 30% in quieter spots. We were recommended another app called Komrad AR, which is a game that lets you chat with a 'Soviet AI' from 1985, and we’re hoping to test that out further for future updates to this review. Once you ditch the idea that ‘augmented reality’ must equate to ‘augmented vision’ you start to understand the Frames’ potential – and it really is the AR features that make the Frames an impressive piece of hardware.