[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] After hearing about Bose AR last year, I have been interested to try out the Bose Frames. Sadly, the AR features are not available yet, which left me a bit sceptical how useful these would be over the cheaper solution of earphones and sunglasses.
While I was expecting not to like them, I came away, pleasantly surprised.
Most of my concerns, while still valid, were mostly overblown. Sound leakage exists, in a quiet room, you can hear them at moderate volumes, but while walking down the street, ambient noise is louder than the sound leakage. Even at moderately loud volumes, I have not had any funny looks off passers-by, though I would be cautious about he volume level on public transport.
Sound quality is considerably better than expected, these can’t compete with a good pair of in-ear headphones, but they are considerably better than bone conduction earphones I have use. While the bass is lacking compared to in-ear they do have far better bass than I could have ever imagined. The main issue with sound quality, is that ambient noise will affect your audio, cars can drown out vocals, so things like podcasts can be awkward to listen to in noisy environments.
While these are not designed for sports, there is an obvious appeal here, especially cycling. For road cycling, with me leaning forward I did find that these slipped down my nose a lot. They are quite large glasses so dependant on head size your mileage may vary. Similarly, for running I experienced the same problem, but for a slow jog they are fine.
Where these excel is for casual cycling and commuting, you remain situationally aware while still being able to listen to audio. I recently used these on holiday, and they are perfect for navigation allowing you to keep your phone in your pocket without looking too much like a tourist. For the daily clycling/scooter commute (in sunny climates) these are perfect, providing excellent audio quality and the safety of hearing things around you.