These new connected glasses bet on audio and ChatGPT, in addition to an affordable price!

Solos launched its new AirGo3 connected glasses on Wednesday. These third-generation “augmented reality” glasses offer a unique approach to so-called smart glasses with an emphasis on audio functions, comfort, user-friendliness, modular design and a very affordable price.

From € 192 and up to € 289 (even with corrective lenses and / or photochromatic lenses that darken outside to become sunglasses), the AirGo3 are connected glasses that are very easy to configure and use.

I tried on a pair of AirGo3 for about a week before launch and was impressed by the audio quality, the ease of use of the companion app, the number of smart functions and the amount of technology embedded in what seems to be, from the outside, a completely normal pair of glasses.

Features to watch

Although the AirGo3 are AR glasses, they do not have a display system, like the ex and famous Google Glass. All the technology is concentrated in the branches. Which are both attached to the front part of the mount via a USB-C connector! Thus, it is easy to exchange different styles of front frames and lenses. Solos calls this unique system “SmartHinge”, and this is one of the most innovative aspects of the product.

In an interview with ZDNET, Kenneth Fan, co-founder of Solos, said that the company started designing AR glasses with a head-up display, but ultimately wanted to offer the public an affordable, comfortable accessory and, above all, an excellent eyewear product. The team also discovered that there were a multitude of features that they could integrate into the audio. Fan acknowledged that a head-up display will probably be part of the product in the future, when display technology advances.

The Solos AirGo3 connected glasses could easily pass for normal glasses. Jason Hiner/ZDNET

The AirGo3 also do not have a camera like the Ray-Ban glasses from Meta. However, both of these products integrate many technologies into what look like everyday glasses.

The most outstanding features of the AirGo3 are the following:

• 100 Decibel speakers on each side
• AI is used to translate conversations into a language you don’t know.
• Ask ChatGPT questions orally and get audio answers.
• Audio playback of your text messages and calendar events in real time
• Make phone calls
• Activity and fitness monitoring
• Posture correction
• 10 hours of music or 7 hours of calls
• Blue light filtering to reduce eye strain
• Waterproof IP67
• Weighs only 30 g
• The application works with iPhone or Android

ZDNET’s buying tips for AirGo3 Solo Glasses (for now)

This is not a real evaluation of the Solos AirGo3, because I have not spent enough time with the product to give complete buying advice. There are many things that I like about these glasses. But I also had trouble activating the chat and translation functions. And I don’t like the fact that you have to take out a $10/month subscription to unlock some more advanced functions.

Nevertheless, I appreciate the comfort of these connected glasses, the filtering of blue light, the speakers and the sound quality, and they seem to me to foreshadow what will be the ambient computing that will save us from spending so much time looking at our phones and other screens.

If you want to track your activity without having to wear a smartwatch or a fitness bracelet and if you want to replace your headphones with something a little more natural and that isolates you less socially, the AirGo3 could be a good option for you.

If you often travel to foreign countries whose language you do not always speak, the live translation function can be very useful. I was very surprised by the accuracy of this function during my tests. I played a YouTube video in Chinese (with the subtitles on the screen) and the AirGo3 translated it very accurately, with only a slight delay. In my case, I read the translations in the application rather than having them pronounced by the glasses.

The best asset of the AirGo3 is perhaps their price of 192 €. The brand is not as strong as Ray-Ban, but its model costs less and poses fewer problems when it comes to privacy protection. If you want to explore the future of smart glasses for a price roughly equivalent to that of a new frame, the AirGo3 are a good place to start.

Source: “ZDNet.com “