Amazon Echo Frames (3rd Gen) Review: Looking For The Right Fit

(Amazon Echo Frames (3rd Gen) Review) Amazon has risen to become the world’s largest e-commerce site since it began extending beyond selling books online and into an online retailer of general products. Since then, it has released products that integrate Amazon services into our daily lives, and its Alexa AI delivers seamless integration via Amazon Echo devices. The number of devices that support Alexa is always growing, and it includes a number of genuinely helpful tools for automating and monitoring your home and life in general.

Amazon developed Echo Frames, eyewear with built-in Bluetooth connectivity and audio, in an effort to further incorporate Alexa into your day. The first generation of Echo Frames was released in 2020, and the third generation was just released. With everything being so interconnected these days, determining which AI-powered product is best for you, if any, can be difficult. As a result, we’ve got a pair of the latest third-generation Echo Frames — provided by Amazon for this review — to put through their paces and provide some honest feedback to help you determine if they’re a good fit for you.

Overview

Amazon refers the Echo Frames as smart spectacles. They are currently available in a number of styles directly from Amazon.com. Amazon sells Echo Frames as well as Carrera Smart Glasses, which are made in collaboration with Carrera Eyewear and are not featured in this review. Echo Frames come with five various colors and finishes: black, conventional brown tortoiseshell, blue tortoiseshell, and a translucent charcoal gray frame. Prescription-ready lenses, which are essentially clear lenses ready to be replaced with corrective lenses, blue light filtering, or polarized sunglasses are among the lens alternatives.

Echo Frames are composed of acetate and have spring-loaded hinges. The electrical elements are entirely contained within the temples, or arms, making them slightly thicker than standard spectacles but not so much that they are invasive or awkward. An LED indication is discretely situated on the inner side of the right temple, hidden from those around you yet visible out of the corner of your eye. The general feel of these spectacles is characteristic of high-quality prescription frames, and the electronics add little weight. Despite the extra weight of the electronics, Echo Frames feel like any other pair of glasses. Except for the thick temples.

Functional

The Echo Frames used in this review are the black Rectangle design with blue light blocking lenses. Because our tester does not normally wear prescription glasses, he tried them on as if they were our prescription glasses and tried to keep them on throughout the day for a full inspection.

The Echo Frames arrive in sturdy packaging with Amazon’s signature minimalist designs, and within the box are the glasses, a stand that also serves as a charger, and a distinctive collapsible carrying bag. When not in use, the case folds flat and forms a triangle to hold the glasses. The Echo Frames required basic setup, which included downloading the Alexa app and pairing the glasses using Bluetooth. Because these are used to make and receive phone calls, rights for audio recording and a contact list had to be allowed — our tester did this with a Google Pixel 6 running Android 14, but it is available for all the current Android and iPhone devices.

Operation and features

Once connected, Echo Frames perform similarly to any other Bluetooth headphones or earbuds, but with the added capability of Alexa and the ability to connect to any automated devices in your home or business. For example, if you have Alexa-enabled smart lighting, Ring security, or a thermostat, you can issue commands and check the status from anywhere you wear Echo Frames and have an internet connection. Furthermore, if you want to listen to music, just ask Alexa to do so, and it will play in your ears just like it would at home using your Echo device. Some voice controls are available with Echo Frames, though the list of Alexa-connected apps is limited.

Performance

The audio is clean and crisp. Phone calls sound fantastic, and those on the other end reported hearing audio at a “at least satisfactory” level. Our reviewer ended up using Bluetooth significantly more for music and videos than for phone conversations, thus that aspect of the experience carries far more weight. It’s also where the frames come up short. The bass response is virtually non-existent. Because the speakers are just over and in front of the ears, they are incapable of providing the deep bass and drum sounds that earbuds send directly into the eardrum. Furthermore, there is a lack of volume.

Perhaps our most serious audio criticism is that it is way too easy for others to hear your Echo Frames. Because of the open nature of the little speakers, sound spreads all around you, allowing others to hear exactly what you hear, even phone conversations. This could be really annoying to other passengers on the transport or in line at the supermarket. Furthermore, it can jeopardize privacy in close-quarters chats, especially when there is little background noise.

Comfort

As a wearable gadget, comfort is critical to having a great experience. For the best results, Amazon suggests having a professional fitting with your optometrist after obtaining them. They come in three different sizes: narrow, medium, and wide. The Amazon mobile app uses your camera to help you select the perfect style for your face, but only a proper fitting can tell you how comfortable they are. Amazon also lists partner optical stores on its website where you may go and see them in person before purchasing, although they are exclusively in the largest American cities, such as New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago.

The same liberal return policy applies to Echo Frames as it does to other Amazon purchases. This is critical for something as significant as prescription eyeglasses, lest you experience the issues our reviewer encountered during our review. Our reviewer typically wears prescription glasses only for reading and found the current generation of Amazon Echo Frames to be really uncomfortable at first. The comfort of the Echo Frames improved once we tweaked the temples a little, but our reviewer still suffered a headache after wearing them for a lengthy period of time.

Overall Experience

I can see how these frames may be an excellent product for someone, especially if they need prescription glasses or reside in an area where shades are required all year. As someone who isn’t familiar with Amazon gadgets, these glasses mostly worked as replacements for our reviewer’s typical Bluetooth headphones. They were, however, inadequate substitutes. Amazon’s Echo Frames fall a little short for everyday use, being too loud to people around the wearer in certain scenarios – and not loud enough in the wearer’s ears for others. The benefits of blue filtering lenses may exist, but they are likely to be too subtle to observe after only a week or so of use.

The battery life is as claimed and more than adequate for most users, and the temples and overall shape of the glasses are not overwhelming or hefty, which is ideal for a device like this. They simply do not appear to provide a plethora of benefits for the typical individual, unless they already own and frequently use Alexa-enabled gadgets.

Comparisons and conclusion

While the market for smart eyewear isn’t very crowded, Amazon’s Echo Frames do face some competition. The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are maybe the most prominent model from a well-known brand. These glasses, which cost $329, differ dramatically in that they include a camera that works with Meta applications to generate films, which is a completely other function. Others employ heads-up display technology to produce augmented reality lenses, although this can be expensive. This places the Echo Frames in a class of their own. The latest iteration of Amazon’s Echo Frames is currently $194 for prescription-ready lenses, while the polarized sunglasses are $254. Both of those prices represent an approximately 25% savings off Amazon’s suggested retail price.

Amazon fans who are absorbed in Echo and Alexa-driven items and who require prescription glasses would benefit from the Echo Frames, however prescription lenses are an additional expense. The rewards are shakier for everyone else. There are innumerable Bluetooth audio alternatives that range in quality, and your local optician has orders of magnitude more than five designs of glasses to pick from. As the market for smart glasses matures, perhaps this relatively new device will find its feet and fill a niche. However, for the time being, it is impossible to see its widespread appeal.