JBL Soundgear Frames Review: Wearable speakers for your… eyes? 

When I saw the Soundgear Frames at a JBL roadshow, I was instantly drawn in. Here were a pair of sunglasses standing out in an array of headphones, earbuds, soundbars, and speakers. Their secret? Each arm holds one of JBL’s ultra-thin high amplitude speakers and enough tech to make them a decent pair of earbuds.

I’ve always preferred open-ear devices for the situational awareness and the lack of that stuffy feeling you get from earbuds and (to a lesser extent) headphones. If my tummy is making grumbling sounds, I need to be able to hear it.

So are the Soundgear Frames a novelty or can these “audio glasses” actually be a practical product? Here are my thoughts – no tea, all shade.

How do the JBL Soundgear Frames sound? Surprisingly good for sunglasses

The speakers on the Frames are tiny, measuring only 25mm X 9mm. But next to your ears, they sound full enough to push the music through anything but the noisiest of environments. I heard them just fine amidst the hustle and bustle of a marathon, and they were still audible next to a busy highway.

Because they don’t block your ears, you can still hear what’s going on and have conversations. The best way I can describe it is that it sounds like background music around you at low to mid levels, and being next to a soundbar at high levels.

Sound-wise, the Frames manage to maintain a decent soundstage with directionality and separation. You can clearly hear Ozzy Osbourne maniacally laughing around your head in Crazy Train, and which members of Steam Powered Giraffe are to the left and right of you in their cover of Icona Pop’s I Love it.

However, I listen to a lot of country, and I’ve noticed that the Frames are tuned out-of-the-box to have a higher treble – presumably to make it more audible. This leads to a sharper country twang, especially in a song like Buck Owens’ Made in Japan. Oddly enough, this is a benefit for female and higher-pitched vocals like June Carter’s Juke Box Blues or Sparks’ This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us. This can be adjusted in the equalizer settings within the JBL App.

The biggest compromise, though, is the bass. While there is bass, it comes out muddy with little to no distinction between the lows and mids. You also will not get the deep bass rumbling deep into your soul on tracks like The Knife’s Silent Shout.

And yes, you can take calls on the Frames. Call quality is good in places with low to mid-level noise. At higher noise levels, your recipient will hear you just fine… you might have trouble hearing them. I tried making a call next to a busy highway, and unknowingly spoke so loudly that the people at the bus stop turned to look.

All of this doesn’t sound particularly impressive, and especially not for the RM888 selling price. But remember that we’re talking about the sound quality from a pair of sunglasses. While they might not sound as good as a decent pair of headphones or earbuds, I am pretty darn sure they sound much better than your sunglasses.

On that note, uh…. guess we’re doing a sunglasses review now.

The Frames are trendy sunglasses with replaceable lenses

The Soundgear Frames come in a rounded or squared frame, with each having three color options – onyx, amber, and pearl.

The temple (frame holding the lenses) are made of translucent polycarbonate while the arms are made from TR90, a flexible plastic commonly used to make eyeglasses. The arms are also translucent, showing off the electronics housed within. The materials lend to a surprisingly lightweight feel at 500 grams, and I’ve worn these for a couple of hours straight with no discomfort.

Now, the lenses.

The stock UV-blocking lenses are good quality. They don’t warp your vision or produce that oil slick effect on tinted windows and phones. You’ll be perfectly happy with them…. if you have perfect vision. With my tiny molerat eyes, I’ll either need to wear contacts or change the lenses.

Although the Frames are designed to have optician-replaceable lenses, this will add to the cost of using them. A good pair of corrective lenses will cost a very blind me around RM750, while transition lenses are about RM1,400. Add that to the RM888 cost of the Soundgear Frames and you’ve got a very expensive pair of sunglasses.

The JBL Soundgear Frames are TOO easy to turn off

The Frames don’t have a power on/off button. Instead, they automatically turn on when you fold the arms out, and turn off when you fold them back in. On paper, this is the most intuitive way since that’s how you use glasses.

In practice though, the weight of the components in the arms cause them to fold inwards faster than an introvert forced to give an opinion in a roomful of strangers. This is my only gripe with the Frames – they turn off way too easily. I wish the hinges can be a little stiffer to avoid the arms closing the moment I lift them off my face.

Speaking of faces, I recommend trying these on in a store. Although JBL has a virtual try-on feature, it’s not so much about the look, but the fit. Everyone that’s tried the Frames didn’t have a problem with them, except for my girlfriend. With a smaller face, the glasses had trouble staying on and – most crucially – she couldn’t hear the music as well as she should.

Other than that, the capacitive buttons work about as well as capacitive buttons on any pair of earbuds, where you’ll mess up the touch location until it’s been committed to muscle memory. The buttons, along with equalizer and power settings, are customizable via the JBL app.

Yes, you have to charge your sunglasses

Battery life on the Soundgear Frames are advertised as 8 hours, with a 10-minute charge giving you an additional 2 hours. I think this is about right, but I can’t get a precise gauge with the auto-off feature and not wearing sunglasses all the time. Either way, I’ve only charged them twice in the month that I’ve had them.

Charging the Frames is the most unexpected hilarity I’ve encountered. Let me build it up for you.

So imagine you walk into a cafe, a confident strut, your sunglasses pumping you up with your ultimate rizz song of choice as (imaginary) heads turn to look at you. Your date’s already there, she’s impressed. You wink as you lower your sunglasses. You even let her try them on. And then you say “‘scuse me babe, I gotta charge my sunglasses”. You set your Frames down on the table and plug it in. And plug it in again:

Yea, each arm houses its own battery and electronics so they have to be charged individually. JBL provides a Y-split USB-C cable to charge both at the same time. It may look goofy to some people, but I find that it adds to the character of the Frames.

You can charge it using a regular USB-C cable, but it means you’ll have to charge each arm individually.

The JBL Soundgear Frames are the best alternative to bone conduction headphones

While it’s tempting to write the Soundgear Frames off as a novelty product, I see it as a practical alternative for people who are in the market for open-ear devices. My best frame of reference are bone conduction headphones, which are preferred for outdoor activities like cycling or jogging; where situational awareness is crucial for safety.

Bone conduction headphones work by vibrating sound through your cranium to your eardrums, leaving your ears unobstructed. However, this process dampens the sound, removing many musical nuances. Also, heavy bass ends up tickling your ear (because, vibrations) rather than letting your hear it. In terms of sound, the Frames win by a jogging mile.

The IP54 rating means that the Frames can take a light rain shower, so if you’re just a casual jogger, hiker, or city cyclist; it’s likely that the Frames would suit you just fine. However, you’d want to stick to bone conduction headphones for anything more extreme.

As for me, I’m happy walking around and having both my sunglasses and my earbuds in a single device.