Expanding on their lineup of lifestyle offerings, the new Razer Anzu is an interesting combination of technology. On the one hand, eye care is becoming more important with how much time is spent looking at a screen and the blue light blocking lenses help to protect our eyes, but Razer has also packed swappable sunglasses lenses, Bluetooth connectivity, and speakers into the arms of these $200 glasses, much like the Bose Frames that we took a look at earlier. Be sure to hit the video below to check out all of the details.
Out of the box
Getting the Razer Anzu out of the box, the first thing we see is the replacement polarized lenses in a reusable case. It’s mainly cardboard but it’s perfect for storing spare lenses.
Under the lens case is the protective case for the Razer Anzu. Inside, we have the glasses and a charging cable that connects to both arms to recharge.
With a textured finish, the carrying case has a rigid shape for the Anzu as well as a soft material on the inside to prevent any scratches. Also inside the case is a little pocket that perfectly holds the charging cable.
Shapes and sizes
If this rectangular design doesn’t strike your fancy, though, there are different sizes and a rounded design available as well. That’s all going to come down to personal preference, but after trying the Bose Frames and feeling like those were plenty large for my face, I opted for the small/medium rectangular version of the Razer Anzu.
Razer Anzu: video
Design overview
Overall, the rectangular Razer Anzu has a sleek, modern design. Since there are speakers built into the arms, they aren’t slim, but they don’t stand out too much, either. They also feel lightweight at only 44g.
On the bottom side of the arms are charging contacts near the front of the glasses and the speakers. The perforated mesh covering the speakers has three passages on either arm. According to the spec sheet, the Anzu speakers pack 16mm drivers.
Razer Anzu also has touch controls on each of the arms. Fully configurable inside the Anzu app, these controls can help to play or pause music, call up a voice assistant, or even enter a low-latency gaming mode.
Swapping lenses
One of the things that sets the Anzu apart from the Bose Frames, though, is the included swappable lenses. They come with the blue light filtering lenses installed, but those can be swapped out for the UVA/UVB protective polarized sunglasses replacement lenses.
To swap them out, a bit of pressure is required on the top of the lens and is a little nerve-racking, but after a couple of times, pushing out the lenses feels pretty normal. Since you have to put your fingers on the lenses to push them out, it takes a bit to clean them up and get the smudges off.
Razer has also partnered with Lensabl to offer prescription lenses for the Anzu. It looks like prices start at $77 for prescription lenses.
How do they sound?
For their intended use, Razer Anzu sounds pretty good. Keep in mind that they are open ear speakers built into the arms of sunglasses firing down toward your ears. For use on walks or at the beach, I think they sound decent. There isn’t much low end, of course, but they do seem to kind of bring some of the lows up into the mid-range for a bit more presence, at least in the “standard” EQ mode.
They get pretty loud, too. And since they are just open speakers firing down, there is a lot of audio bleed when turned up. Expect others to be able to hear what you’re listening to pretty easily if you’re in a quiet environment.
That being said, when it comes to audio quality, I do think that the Bose Frames do it better. They didn’t have much more low end, but they did sound more clear than the Razer Anzu smart glasses. But the newer Bose Frames are more expensive and don’t include a swappable pair of blue-light blocking lenses like the Anzu for use behind a computer screen.
Razer Anzu: EQ modes
If you want to tweak the sound a bit, there are a few options inside of the Anzu app. The standard mode definitely has more mid-range and appears to bring some of the low end into that frequency range, but ends up muddying the sound a bit. It’s kind of like a small portable Bluetooth speaker. Opting for the enhanced clarity helps to even things out a bit more by pulling back those low mids, in my opinion. Treble boost does what the name suggests, and might be a great option for podcasts and voice calls, but it doesn’t sound the best for listening to music.
Other App controls
Beyond just changing EQ presets, the Anzu app also enables complete remapping of the touch gestures. Motions include single, double, triple taps as well as triple tap and hold.
One quick note on gestures is that it took me a little bit to get a hang of the single tap gesture. It’s not just a quick tap; I actually had to hold my finger on the button for a short amount of time to get it to trigger. Razer actually has a kind of practice mode in the app so you can get used to executing the different gestures. At first, I thought this was a silly feature, but it actually came in handy when trying to figure out the single tap gesture.
Razer Anzu: battery life
Razer Anzu can keep the audio playing for a little over five hours with a single charge. While this might not be enough to get through an entire workday, it’s right on par with other offerings like the Bose Frames.
gadgetnewsonline’ Take
Razer has a pretty interesting bit of lifestyle tech here. On the one hand, it’s great for working at the office and taking calls because you can help protect your eyes and use the audio for video and voice calls, but you can also use them when out for a walk or at the beach, thanks to the polarized sunglasses lenses. At the beach might be where these shine because you don’t need to wear sunglasses and headphones at the same time, since they’re built into one wearable device.
If audio quality is your primary concern, I do think that the Bose Frames sound better in most situations, but the Anzu is more versatile, thanks to its blue light blocking ability when spending hours in front of a screen working or gaming.
Buy Razer Anzu
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