Reviews/ snap · ar glasses · smart glasses · hands-on review

Snap's New Specs Nail the Software, Fumble the Fit

A hands-on test of Snap's new Specs glasses praises the display and audio but says the frames squeeze the head and grow heavy fast.

Snap's new AR glasses nail the software and fumble the fit.

A hands-on test of Snap's newest smart glasses, called Specs, found a lot to like on the software side. The interface is intuitive, the display technology holds up well, and the built-in audio delivers full sound. The hardware is where things fall apart: the frames squeeze the wearer's head and get heavy fast. For a device meant to sit on your face all day, that's not a minor complaint.

Software polish is the easy part for smart glasses - plenty of companies get displays and audio right. Comfort is the actual bottleneck, and it's the reason Google Glass and Snap's own earlier Spectacles never made it past early adopters. If Specs can't be worn for hours without discomfort, the tech underneath won't matter to anyone but reviewers.

The real test won't be a five-minute demo - it'll be whether anyone wants to keep these on for a whole afternoon.

TR

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