So I finally caved and bought a pair of Snapchat Spectacles.

They’re way too easy to buy 😜 I blame Apple for that as on Mobile Safari it’s as easy as “Add to Cart” then “Scan fingerprint” to buy. No typing in address or credit card or anything. Delivered in a bit over a week (9 days for me). Not the worst experience but not great in the world of Amazon Prime and getting everything the same day in NYC. My immediate excitement of purchase wore off and only reignited when they were finally delivered. The build quality is better than expected. I expected them to feel like cheap-o kids sunglasses from their look but they feel rather solid. I got the black ones and the arms that go over my ears (is there a technical term for those?) weren’t solid black plastic but rather a nice marbled acrylic. Think Warby Parker frame quality.

The Spectacles are less bulky than expected. The symmetry is nice. While there’s only a camera in one side, it looks from afar like there could be in the other. Glad they did this and it looks less Google Glass-esque this way. In the other side are the battery, logic chip, and lights that indicate its filming. Pairing was a breeze — just look at your Snapcode in Snapchat and it pairs. I didn’t know it at the time but it actually records this too so you have it for later. I recorded a couple test vids and was concerned because they looked really skewed and crooked when importing from the Spectacles. Turns out this is because the camera is on one side of the glasses so the video is recorded slanted/skewed and then straightened in software after importing them to Snapchat. So at first I thought my pair was defective but that’s by design. By default, Snapchat automatically download low resolution versions of the videos over Bluetooth. In order to download high resolution versions, the Spectacles create a local wifi network you have to have your phone connect to. This is similar to a GoPro and some other IoT devices. Once your phone is connected to the Spectacles via wifi it downloads the full res videos. Not ideal but I can’t think of a better solution technically on iOS. Speaking of the high resolution videos, even though they’re downloaded to Snapchat, the low resolution versions are posted to your Snap story or when sent to friends from within Snapchat which was a disappointment. The case they come with is very bulky, not sleek at all and triangular in shape That said, the case seamlessly charges the Spectacles when they’re put into it which is super cool. According to the docs, from a full charge the case will last for 400 Snaps with the Spectacles which is a ton! The case has a nice USB charger which snaps on via magnets and a charging indicator with a button you can press to see the current charge. The glasses, when put in the case start charging immediately (no need to press a button or anything) and the Spectacles stay on and attached to your phone via Bluetooth. You can also switch to wifi to download the HD vid while they’re in the case which is very nice. The operation of the Spectacles is a breeze. There’s just one button, press it and you’re recording a video. Dead simple. You can only shoot videos with them, no stills. When you record a video there is a ring of LEDs on front that let others know it’s happening. I found this ring to be really pleasing while shooting as they light up in a circle. Because they’re sunglasses, they’re only reasonably used outdoors. This is good due to the privacy factor (people aren’t likely to use them indoors) but not great where you’d like to use them in low light conditions. There is also a really subtle light which points inside the Spectacles you can see while wearing them to let you know it’s still recording. This LED blinks when recording is nearing the end to give you a heads up. It records 10 seconds by default. You can press and hold the one button to stop it early. You can press the one button to extend to 20 seconds. However, it records two 10 second Snaps rather than one 20 second Snap. They’re great as sunglasses on their own (sans recording) That said, they aren’t polarized which was a shift for me They aren’t 4K GoPro quality That said they are decent fish eye quality It’s uncanny to see videos you’ve taken from the first person view Snaps taken with the Spectacles aren’t sent to Snapchat automatically, you have to select which ones are sent. This is nice to prevent accidental embarrassing Snaps.

Overall I recommend them for anyone with disposable income that want their memories recorded first person, but beware they are not the greatest quality (a GoPro beats it but is 4x more pricy)