Snap's back with its new wearable camera - Spectacles V2

Snap lost a lot of money on its first wearable so it has a lot to prove with the new version
Amelia Heathman26 April 2018

The rumours are true: Snap is launching a new version of its wearable camera sunglasses, Snap Spectacles.

Launched by the same company that creates the messaging app Snapchat, the glasses can take HD photos and videos, and upload the content straight to the app via your smartphone.

Snap launched its first specs last year and they allowed users to capture 10-second videos. They didn’t sell as well as hoped.

Snap knows it made mistakes — a £30 million mistake to be exact — but it says it’s proud of its wearable version. It needs to change expectations with Specs 2.0.

Snap wants people to live in the moment, not something you usually hear from a company with a smartphone app. The Spectacles bridge this gap — allowing people to be present but also able to record memories, in a moment that doesn’t need to be interrupted by a screen.

So what’s new about these glasses? For a start, these specs can take photos too. They’re water-resistant, so you can swim with them.

The new Snap Spectacles come in three colours: Onyx, Ruby and Sapphire
Snap

The company says it spent a lot of time listening to customer feedback to upgrade the Spectacles experience.

Having tried them out, the glasses are fun, easy to use, with a fast transfer time to your smartphone.

Image quality has improved, while the Spectacles have two microphones for better voice capturing.

The frames are lighter as Snap has reduced the camera “chunk” of the glasses by one third. And the colours are slicker; not as plasticky-looking as the first version, so they look more like sunglasses you would actually choose to wear. Choose from three colours: Ruby, Onyx and Sapphire and dark or mirrored lenses.

Finally, the case that houses and charges the Spectacles has been souped up. It’s smaller than the original, and is covered in splash-resistant fabric for holiday use.

When the case is fully charged, it can charge the glasses four times, taking 15-20 minutes to get to full power. The glasses can take 3,000 photos per charge or up to 150 videos. Battery life is important for a gadget like this; when you’re using them on holiday or at a festival, you don’t want to spend time trying to find a charger.

Admittedly Snap has had a lot to learn. The first time it launched the glasses, it came up against the issue of eye wearables. Not everyone has come around to the idea of wearing a camera on their face.

Snap pulled out marketing gimmicks for the original version. The Spectacles were only available in vending machines — Snap Boxes. A perfect idea for social media, but it didn’t translate to a conducive buying experience for Snap fans.

They could be the gadget of the summer, but whether they have staying power beyond that will depend on how the Snap generation takes to them.

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