Fans who had to wake up early and endure long lines to snag the Snapchat smart eyewear called Spectacles are already opening their loots with glee. If you are curious what is in the box, here is a rundown of what's inside so you know what to expect if you manage to get your own.
Spectacles Packaging
Some call the Spectacles packaging as something akin to a tennis ball tube and this is understandable as even the size resembles the tube that can house three tennis balls. But we would like to stick to our earlier impression that it reminded us of the Minion with its banana-yellow case and summery branding.
A Charging Case
When you open the case, you will be surprised how hard the material is. It also feels a bit substantial and these can be attributed to the fact that this shell acts as a charging dock. There is a charging pin connector located at the bottom where a power cable can be attached. The case in turn charges the Spectacles when the device is snapped inside.
The charging process is not exactly as circuitous as it sounds like. The reason is that the case functions like a portable battery charger. After getting powered up, you can simply unplug the cable and carry it with you when you go out so it can charge your Spectacles when it runs out of juice. This is particularly useful when syncing captured videos in HD format.
A Closer Look At The Spectacle Hardware
Now, the wearable itself is one interesting piece of technology. True, it carries with it several of the Google Glass features but you get the sense that is different. This is mainly because of the design. It lacks the high-tech vibe, which highlighted its intrusiveness that has made Google Glass immensely controversial.
The Spectacle, with its plastic construction, is whimsical and fun. Snapchat's CEO Evan Spiegel even went out of his way to say in previous interviews that the device is more of a toy perhaps in an effort to downplay its sophisticated capability to capture videos of people covertly. The camera lens was given bold colors to further eliminate any trace of serious technology that could freak out the privacy-obsessed crowd.
Early Hands-On Impressions
It seems that people who have tried Spectacles for the first time have positive things to say about the smart eyewear. Aside from the hip design, people are noting the ease in setting it up.
"So I'm not a huge Snapchat user, but I'm building an AR startup, so clearly I need to be playing with these," Jameson Detweiler, cofounder of Fantasmo.io, told TechCrunch. "And they're a blast. I actually think this is going to get me to use Snapchat more."
The more jaded owners, however, noticed some weaknesses. For example, there are those who complained about the slow Bluetooth pairing and syncing process. Reviewers stated that this diminishes the spectacular experience of taking videos.
In working with the dedicated apps for Android and iOS, Spectacles suffers speed challenges and convoluted connectivity processes. Users should also note that the circular video format will be automatically encased in a white rectangle once they get uploaded to the gallery app of their mobile devices.
