Longtime We Know Products readers surely remember the first time we covered Bose’s attempt to make speaker sunglasses a thing, all the way back in May 2019. Speaker sunglasses were apparently a much greater success than Bose’s other attempt to get into the “wearables” business, the “SoundWear Companion,” which you can no longer buy on the Bose website. Since releasing their first pair of speaker sunglasses, retroactively named the “Rondo,” and following it up with the “Alto,” Bose has expanded its offerings to include three new styles: the Tempo, the Soprano, and the Tenor.
Bose is putting a lot of marketing dollars into these products, and it’s likely you’ve already seen you favorite Instagram influencers start to flaunt these on specs. But does that mean you need to rush out and buy yourself a pair?
A year and a half later, the best reason to get Bose sunglasses is still being able to cocoon yourself in a world of sound without coming off as standoffish. Unlike AirPods and their knockoffs, wearing a set of sunglasses does not signal to the world that you are currently occupied. Most impressively, despite having to be big enough to blast sound into your ears, the temples are not so large as to clearly indicate a piece of futuristic technology.
For its slogan, Bose is going with “Without the sound, they’re just sunglasses.” Cleverly, this has a double meaning, highlighting the value of music playing from your frames while also making it known that the sunglasses are subtle enough to be worn for style alone.
It remains to be seen if speaker sunglasses catch on, but in 2020 we are much more bullish on the prospect. After high-profile failures of Snapchat and Google, could Bose be the company that finally cracks the code on popularizing “smart” shades? Only time will tell.
