Razer Anzu smart glasses review: Niche, but not just a gimmick

Razer Anzu Source: Windows Primal

Razer is best known for gaming, just information technology has dabbled plenty in recent times away from its cadre product base of operations. In that location's the Razer Book thirteen, for example, a laptop for normal people, a suite of function-targeted accessories, and the mad-looking Projection Hazel face up mask.

The Razer Anzu is ane such product. Gamers can happily use this pair of smart glasses, but they're just as attractive and useful to someone who has no idea what Razer usually does.

But do you even actually need smart glasses? Arguably, no, and the Razer Anzu is very much a Gen 1 product, but to the right person, certainly useful. And fun.

Razer Anzu

Bottom line: A proficient pair of bluish low-cal-filtering/polarizing glasses with discreet, clear audio capabilities. But undoubtedly with niche appeal and a fairly hefty price tag.

The Good

Good blue lite filtering
Good polarized filters for use outdoors
Not bad volume
Comfortable
Decent bombardment life

The Bad

Swapping lenses is a chip of a hurting
Awkward pairing process on mobile
Quite pricey
Bear upon controls are fiddly

Razer Anzu: Price and availability

The Razer Anzu is bachelor at present with a list cost of $200. You tin can detect information technology at the Razer online store along with official Razer resellers such as Amazon and Best Purchase.

Razer Anzu: What you'll like

Razer Anzu Source: Windows Central

The Razer Anzu is a curious product. On one hand, it'southward some other pair of blue lite-filtering computer glasses, or fifty-fifty a good pair of polarized sunglasses. But and then you pair it to your telephone, and it starts talking to you. Yous can hear phone calls, music, podcasts, anything you might usually hear from your telephone speaker or a pair of headphones.

Just here'south the thing. Equally someone who wears both blue light-filtering spectacles and a pair of headphones most of the day, the Anzu has been a joyous replacement. More comfy to wear than earbuds withal just equally convenient while I work, and giving me the fatigue-fighting blue light filtering that my tired old eyes crave during a mean solar day in front end of the PC.

On that front end, the Razer Anzu has go one of my near used and favorite products during my time with it so far. The lenses are clear with no tinting, so they're comfortable to use and don't completely distort the colors of whatever you lot're looking at. The included polarized lenses for wearing outdoors are as impressive. I normally article of clothing Ray-Bans and the lenses on the Anzu aren't quite as dark, simply even so cut out enough sunlight to be comfortable. I have peculiarly sensitive eyes outdoors and wear sunglasses almost every day, and the Anzu has fared well.

Source: Windows FundamentalThe Razer Anzu with the polarizing lenses fitted.

There'south not much else to say near the Anzu as a pair of glasses, aside from the design and weight. There are two different frame designs, one round, one squarer, and different sizes for different-sized heads. There'south no prescription choice, though conceivably that could ever be an selection on future designs.

All of the electronics are built into the artillery, then the frames themselves look entirely normal. To any passerby, yous're just wearing a normal pair of spectacles. Between the frames and the piece that hooks over your ear is significantly larger than a regular pair of spectacles, though, as this is where the batteries and other bits of tech live. They're chunky, but when on your caput don't stand out as being obnoxiously large. The Razer logo is probably more of a giveaway that these aren't just normal glasses.

The speakers on the Razer Anzu live at the very back of these chunky portions. They look incredibly tiny, and they are, only the volume is amazing. What'south fifty-fifty more astonishing is that while you tin can hear your phone calls, music, podcasts, etc., clear equally day, the world around you is completely oblivious. I sat having breakfast listening to a podcast while in a cafe and not a single person could hear the sounds going into my ears. The same can't be said for anybody sat in earshot of someone having a ridiculously loud speakerphone chat on an adjacent table, however.

Razer Anzu Source: Windows Central

If you listen really closely and you have the Anzu cranked up to total, you'll hear something. But you take to be right up shut to the glasses, then unless you lot're in a expressionless silent room, nobody will ever notice a thing. Walking down the street you tin hear non only your personal audio but everything else happening in the world around you like you wouldn't become with nearly headphones. Sure, you lot're not getting audiophile quality (not even close) and then it's non the all-time pick for music. But for phone calls on the move and podcasts, in particular, the Anzu has been incredibly useful.

The Anzu also boasts low latency sound and has a special gamer mode y'all can enable in the app for information technology. Gamers hate latency of whatsoever kind, and while I can't measure the results myself, it's there and it'south a reminder of Razer's full-blooded. Fifty-fifty when gamers aren't necessarily the outset priority, they're nevertheless being cared for.

Razer Anzu Source: Windows Primal

Battery life is decent, too. If yous're a heavy user, like me, sitting in forepart of a PC listening to a podcast all day, you'll have to charge up afterward a few hours. But if you use the Anzu more as I expect Razer designed them to be used, for occasional audio use, getting a day or two betwixt charges is easy plenty. The cable is first-party though, then don't lose it. Information technology has a pair of magnetic chargers that clip to each arm on the glasses. Easy to employ, just hard to replace.

Razer also deserves a shoutout for the included carry case. It's large enough to get your glasses in, along with a cleaning cloth and the other gear up of lenses, and has a block within to rest the nose span on when you lot pack them away. A hard example would be the best protection, but this is a shut second since the spectacles won't exist moving well-nigh.

Razer Anzu: What you won't like

Razer Anzu App Source: Windows Fundamental

As good equally the Razer Anzu is as a pair of glasses and a convenient sound partner, it's far from perfect. For starters, pairing them to a mobile device is a chip of a pain. Razer has a companion app for iOS and Android that's there to ensure you accept full control, can update firmware, and so on. Just connecting to the app, on Android at least, doesn't besides automatically connect the glasses to your phone for audio use.

I speak from experience.

So either connect the Anzu to your phone'due south Bluetooth in the normal, connecting things to a phone's Bluetooth way also as the Razer app. Annoying, not the stop of the world, but not the sort of setup process y'all would await.

The Razer app is of import to help you out with the affect controls, too. On the Anzu, you take a petty dot on the arms to help you lot locate the touchpoint, but in my experience, they're a little fiddly to operate. The out of the box settings are also dissimilar to virtually whatsoever other touch on-enabled headphones in terms of features like skipping tracks. It's besides frustrating at times to be touching your glasses to activate your telephone's voice assistant and you don't get it right. Jabbing the side of your face a lot in public doesn't expect weird at all.

Probably the biggest pain bespeak of living with the Anzu though is swapping the lenses. I'm not certain there's a better style, I'm certainly no designer, simply swapping betwixt the blue light and the sunglasses regularly simply makes me experience like something is going to scratch desperately or break.

The lenses are like shooting fish in a barrel enough to pop out, but require a balmy amount of precision and picayune firm pushing to put back in. Fortunately, considering the polarized lenses aren't super night, you lot can actually get away with wearing them indoors when you're out and about. Something I definitely recommend.

This is besides a fairly pricey product. List toll is $200, which is a lot, and it takes away any impulse buy. It's a good product, merely information technology's not something many will purchase on a whim. Y'all demand to know you're going to apply them to get the value.

Razer Anzu: Should you lot buy information technology?

Razer Anzu Source: Windows Central

You should purchase this if ...

Y'all're looking for good bluish light-filtering spectacles
You lot're looking for an culling to headphones for calorie-free audio use and easily-free phone calls
The idea of listening to tunes or podcasts from your sunglasses appeals to you

You shouldn't buy this if ...

The price puts you off
You're in need of a prescription lens
You lot want high-quality audio

The Razer Anzu is a adept, high-quality product, but it's definitely what you'd call a Gen 1 and has niche appeal. Some would run across information technology as a gimmick, and they wouldn't be entirely wrong, but it combines three products well enough to be truly useful to the right person.

I habiliment headphones almost all solar day, I wear blue lite glasses well-nigh all mean solar day, and wear sunglasses without fail when I get outside. For me, the Razer Anzu has been a genuinely useful product that has fabricated my daily life a little more comfy. I struggle with earbuds that fit properly and they crusade discomfort after a couple of hours, over-ear headphones aren't skillful (especially in the British heatwave we're indelible), and I always wear sunglasses outdoors.

I've been using the Razer Anzu every day and genuinely love it as a product. But equally, I find it hard to recommend to everyone, because the simple truth is it just isn't the right product for all. If you tin justify the cost, though, it's a solid investment. Go on your phone in your pocket, keep your audio to yourself and exist extremely comfy in the process. The Razer Anzu is a fun product to have in your life.

Razer Anzu

Bottom line: Niche entreatment and a high cost limit who might actually want to buy the Anzu, but for the right person this is a genuinely good production that could make a difference in day-to-day life.

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