The last thing I need is a new Amazon Echo smart speaker. As The Verge’s smart home reviewer, I currently have a dozen scattered around my home for testing. But when Amazon’s Echo Frames smart glasses went on sale for $115 for Cyber Monday, down from $300, it was an offer my husband couldn’t refuse.
He chose the prescription-ready model (over the blue-light-filtering option), which meant he also got the Echo Spot, Amazon’s handy $80 smart speaker/smart alarm clock, thrown in for free. That’s a total savings of $265 and a total tally of about 13 smart speakers for me.
The Echo Spot, which is normally $80, is my top pick for an Amazon Alexa smart speaker to use as a smart alarm clock. It’s a great way to add smart features, such as playing music with your voice and controlling devices like smart lights, to your bedside table.
But of course, the real draw here was the smart glasses. My husband has been eyeing my Echo Frames ever since I picked them up for $115 during Amazon’s last Prime Day sale. He loves the idea of hands-free calling and music listening without earbuds, so seeing them drop back to that price sealed the deal.
As a full-time glasses wearer, I’d been considering smart glasses for a while. I felt the tech was finally good enough to make a smart pair my daily driver. I had been leaning toward the Ray-Ban Meta glasses — especially after the second-gen launched with its longer battery life — and almost pulled the trigger. Then the Echo Frames hit their lowest price ever. At $115, they’re $250 cheaper than the second-gen Metas, and while Amazon’s frames are a couple of years old, the much lower cost made them a far safer bet for my first foray into smart glasses.
Another big factor: I’m not ready to wear a camera on my face all day. I’m much more interested in the voice assistant and speaker/mic combo. I love listening to podcasts and music while walking my dog or pottering in the garden, but I despise wearing headphones. And, since I use Alexa in my smart home, it made more sense to have the same assistant on my face that I use on my kitchen counter.
The Echo Frames also now support Alexa Plus, Amazon’s more capable LLM-powered voice assistant, which makes them useful for quick questions as well as smart home control. They also look and feel more like regular glasses, which mattered to me since I plan to wear them every day.
I picked mine up from the opticians last week and have been thoroughly enjoying them, although forgetting to charge them one night reminded me how annoying it is to add yet another device to the nightly charging routine. One tip if you’re considering a pair at this excellent price: if you have a larger head, choose the grey rectangle model. It’s the only wide-fit frame in the lineup.