Usually, when you shop wireless audio for your ears, you are looking for an in-ear bud over-the-ear headphone approach. However, building audio into a pair of sunglasses is an area in wireless audio that seems to be gaining steam thanks to some recognizable brands like Bose. The only issue is that they are pricey and you are limited to that single pair of sunglasses. JLab is looking to change that with its new JBuds Frames, which will be able to adapt to any pair of glasses.
This makes for a better investment since you can make use of them no matter what’s on your face. You could be at the beach blocking those harmful rays from reaching your eyes, or at work sitting at your desk with a normal pair of prescription glasses. No matter the case, you can turn either or any pair of glasses into a wireless audio source.
One of the biggest reasons for doing his is having fewer things hanging from your head/face, and being able to hear the environment around you. You can go the approach of bone confusion headphones, but then you still have something extra on your head and the audio quality isn’t always the best (usually missing frequency ranges that are vital to music).
Instead of using bone conduction, these JBuds Frames have a small speaker on the bottom side of each unit that points and projects the sound down and into your ears. You may not get the same audio as you would with buds inserted into your ear, but it should (hopefully) sound a lot better than bone conduction solutions.
Just freshly announced via CES 2021, the MSRP for the new JBuds Frames is only $49, which should make them quite enticing to the masses. Especially when you compare it to the cost of some of the other non-ear-invasive solutions out there in the market. They’ll be launching sometime this Spring (2021). There is no information yet on if they plan to offer a pre-order window.
04/2023 Update: As of writing this, the JBuds Frames are on sale via Amazon for almost 70% off ($15 vs $50).
