If you cast your mind back to 2019, which was a far simpler time, you might remember that Bose came out with its Frames sunglasses, which also doubled as headphones… of a sort. At the time we were quite impressed with what they could do, although more work was needed to make them seriously compelling.

Whether Bose has ironed out the few kinks they had isn’t certain but the company has a few new Frames on the way. Three new models, in fact — two new fashionable options and then one just for sportsmen, which we can see the Cradle of Humankind cycling set embracing with alacrity.

A nose for Bose

If you want to get your music/podcast/audiobook on without using actual headphones, you can do some with two new options from Bose — the Soprano and Tenor Frames. These are undeniably sunglasses, but they also include 16mm speakers, have a 5.5-hour battery life and feature Bose’s “…acoustic system [that] directs the sound right up into your ears, with almost no noise leakage.” Which is all right — they’re basically two new variants on the launch Frames. All three models also include new touch controls for volume, accessed by sliding a finger up or down the right-hand bow.

The really exciting addition is the Tempo (pictured in the main image above), the sports-focused Frames. These are made from a thermoplastic called TR90 and are obviously designed with the active in mind (and have the nose-pads to match). They feature 22mm internal speakers (which should still provide decent audio if you’re moving at up to 40km/h), 8 hours of battery life and support USB-C for charging. The lenses can also be swapped out, in case you like to run/cycle in varying lighting conditions.

All three models are available overseas at present, for $250 a pop. They should eventually make landfall here in South Africa, at somewhere above the current price of R5,500 for the original Frames.