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.