If, like me, you were big into spy movies and shows when you were younger (and maybe still are), then you are going to be delighted with this product.
Introducing the Anzu Smart Glasses from Razer. These glasses do tickle the inner spy and make you feel like sitting on a park bench, “reading” a newspaper while observing your surroundings. With the Razer Anzu, you can do just that (but with a tablet because of blue light lenses and the modern era) and so much more.
Before we go too far down the covert ops line (if too far even exists for spy stuff), let’s break it down and look into the nitty gritty of the Anzu Smart Glasses.
Design and Performance
It is a little bit of love at first sight when it comes to the overall styling of the Razer Anzu Smart Glasses.
The glasses have been styled to look like sleek, modern frames that would suit most uses and faces. Whether in the office working on the next big pitch, or outside and going about your errands with some music, Razer Anzu will fit it all and enhance that experience. The Anzu also come in two difference frame shapes and two sizes to make sure the fit is snug and the style suits.
The Anzu Smart Glasses fit the “jack of all” role perfectly. Blue light lenses are effective in shielding your eyes during screen time with a 35% filter on their lenses. When outside, the transparent lenses pop out easily and the polarised sunglass lenses pop in just as easily to ensure your eyes are protected while venturing beyond the mantle and into the great outdoors.
The Anzu Smart Glasses are also rated with IPX4 Water Resistance. This means that it can withstand water splashes from any direction – making it safe to use in a bit of rain or while working out.
The main attraction to the Anzu Smart Glasses, and really what makes it “smart,” is the built-in speakers that connect via Bluetooth to any device. This is made better by using a 60ms low-latency Bluetooth connection which means that the Anze glasses really are a suitable companion for all uses, whether it be strolling, working, or gaming.
Razer opted for an open-ear audio design, with speakers and a discreet omnidirectional mic built into the frames. The speakers are small, and so only have 16mm drivers but they work well enough for the intended purposes. It does not, of course, replace conventional headsets for gaming but for workflow use, you can easily listen to music while still being aware of what’s happening around you. The mic is also crisp and clear and picks up voice easily.
The Anzu Smart Glasses have a battery life of up to 5 hours, which is not great for extended gaming sessions but really great for working with. The battery is also quickly and easily charged by attaching the magnetic charging nodes to the frames.
The Razer Anzu Smart Glasses automatically switch on when you open the frames and connect quickly to any nearby paired device. Once done, the glasses automatically switch off when the frames are folded to conserve power.
Razer also included a touch-enabled interface on the frames of the Anzu that allow you to take calls, change songs, play or pause music, and activate your phone’s mobile assistant easily and hassle free.
When not in use. The Razer Anzu glasses fold away and pack neatly into the provided Razer carry case, which is lightweight and sturdy, to ensure the glasses are protected and safe wherever the carry case may end up.
My Experience
At first glance, I found the Anzu Smart Glasses to look a bit bulky (but still attractive) and wondered how they could possibly be comfortable to wear. After wearing them for a while, I found the design to be well assembled and well balanced so as to fit comfortably on your head with minimal wear fatigue experienced.
Everything is well placed, with the speakers and mic in their optimal positions to maximise their effectivity.
For the sake of the review, I used the Anzu for working, gaming, watching and listening and found it to be competent and up to the task for each use. Again, I found the Anzu to be a “jack of all” and so specialised items would potentially work better, bar blue light glasses as the Anzu’s filtered lenses worked great.
I found the Anzu Smart Glasses to really work best for my workflow and even tried using them in addition to my headset while listening to music. Although not ideal, the Anzu glasses did fit under my headset with minimal discomfort and I found that I could work, and game a bit, with using the Anzu as purely Blue Light filtering glasses.
For work spurts, the battery life was more than long enough, as long as I remembered to charge it during my lunch break. The glasses also conveniently turn themselves off when nothing is connected or being used, helping to push that battery life just a little further.
Final Verdict
In our humble opinion, the Razer Anzu Smart Glasses are not suited to replace your specialised items but it does do superbly well as a one size fits all, jack of all device. It can be used quite easily for gaming but I found the Anzu truly came alive when sitting behind a screen and working with some nice music playing in my ears and taking calls, without interrupting my workflow.
We would definitely recommend the Razer Anzu Smart Glasses to those of us who spend most of our work time behind screens and would like to, quite literally, clear our headspace up a bit so we don’t have 4 or 5 devices on us, but just one.
So – for writers, programmers, students, editors, wed devs, and professionals like that, the Razer Anzu is definitely a valuable work tool for you. For gaming, while it still performs admirably, we would recommend sticking to your specialised tech items.
With that said, we at Early Axes award the workflow asset Razer Anzu Smart Glasses a solid 3.5 out of 5.
A big thank to our friends over at Apex Interactive for giving us a chance to play and work with this awesome piece of tech.
