There are a lot of high-tech “smart” glasses nowadays, and not all of them are created equal. Some of them have screens, some of them have AI, others… well, they don’t have much to offer at all. But if there’s one thing that you *might *want out of a pair of glasses with wires in them, it’s audio.

I’ve maintained that glasses are perfect conduits for open-ear audio, and as someone who’s worn the Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses extensively over the past two years, I can speak from experience. Having speakers in your glasses lets you take hands-free calls, listen to music while still hearing your surroundings, and theoretically, you don’t need to reach for a separate device like wireless earbuds or headphones to do all that, since your glasses are waiting patiently on your face.

But what if you don’t want all the potentially problematic stuff that comes with smart glasses, like AI, or discreet cameras, or screens? What if you just want to listen to stuff? For that, you have options, and one of them (if you’re a certain type of person) is Chamelo’s Music Shield.

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3 **

Chamelo Music Shield

The Chamelo Music Shield audio glasses pack a lot of volume and have cool adjustable lenses but are lacking in features.

Pros

• Lots of volume
• Audio is decent
• Lightweight
• Electrochromic lenses are very cool

Cons

• Audio could be better for the price
• Bugs with calling
• No app support
• No voice assistant

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Wrap your head around this one

The case that comes with the Chamelo Music Shield is just a regular case. It doesn’t charge or have a battery like other smart glasses cases. © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

The $260 Music Shield are a… distinct pair of wraparound audio glasses. They’re made by Chamelo, an eyewear company backed by an unlikely star: former New York Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury, who is officially listed as Chamelo’s Chief Brand Officer. While Marbury and company call Chamelo glasses “smart,” the word is out on that one.

Unlike other pairs of smart glasses like Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses and the Meta Ray-Ban Display, the Music Shield lack most of what makes other frames smart. There’s no voice assistant, there’s no camera, there’s no computer vision, and there’s no screen. There is, however, a set of speakers, which you may have already gathered from the name. With those speakers, you can do a few things, like (duh) listen to music. On that front, Chamelo does a pretty decent job.

In my testing, I found that the Music Shield sound… pretty okay. The volume is good enough, which is a major component of audio in glasses like this, since you’ll be contending with ambient noise while you listen. I wore the Music Shield on the streets of New York, and while they mostly held up against environmental noise, I definitely had to crank the volume to at least 80%. I have to do the same most of the time on Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses, so this is no surprise.

© Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

Most likely, if you’re interested in Chamelo glasses, you’ll want to use them in some kind of sports environment, though. Wraparound shades are ideal for things like snowboarding, skiing, or cycling because they protect your eyes from the wind and help you see where you’re going without getting blinded by air or snow. I didn’t get a chance to test the Music Shield on the slopes, unfortunately, but based on the louder environments I *did *test them in, I’d wager they could still be heard in fast-paced, wind-heavy action. Though having tried the Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses, I’m less confident they’re the best in that department.

The Oakley Meta Vanguard have *big *sound that’s unlike any I’ve heard in smart glasses, and comparing one-to-one, I don’t think Chamelo quite reaches the same volume. It also doesn’t quite have the same fidelity. I had some issues while calling, where the call audio was *much *quieter than music playback despite cranking my phone volume up. I’ve reached out to Chamelo to clarify that issue and will update this review if/when that issue is resolved. On the bright side, at least the person I called could hear me loud and clear.

Like I mentioned, the Music Shield sound very good, but there’s still a slight tinniness compared to beefier smart glasses like the Oakley Meta Vanguard. The low end is lacking, and the mids and highs come off as a little stiff. The Music Shield still sound much better than other glasses I’ve tried, like the Solos AirGo A5, but they’re not dethroning Meta. To test the Music Shield, I tried to put myself in a sports mindset by listening to energetic music like jazz/fusion guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka and Daft Punk. I wasn’t under- or overwhelmed. Let’s just call it whelmed.

From an audio quality perspective, I wouldn’t be upset with the fidelity of the Music Shield if I bought them with my own hard-earned money, but having tried a direct competitor like the Oakley Meta Vanguard, I might not be *as *impressed. Meta’s version does cost a great deal more at $500, but you also get a lot of extra features there as well, including certain health integrations with Garmin smartwatches, cameras, a voice assistant, and more touch controls.

There is *one *thing that the Music Shield have that Meta’s offerings definitely don’t, though.

Music Shield have a magic trick

If you’ve seen Chamelo’s audio glasses in your research online, the electrochromic dimming probably caught your eye. By tapping or sliding your finger on the right arm of the glasses, you can automatically adjust the tint of the wraparound lens on the fly. This feature, I’m happy to report, works well. The response time when tapping or sliding is quick, and the range of tint levels is fairly wide.

As a bit of background, electrochromic glass is a thing found in various gadgets now, including some rearview mirrors in cars. The technology works by applying an electric current to a special film or gel that’s adhered to a piece of glass. That jolt actually changes the tint in response, creating an automatically dimmable panel of glass. I’m not going to lie… it’s fun.

Full tinted. © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

Fully un-tinted. © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

As functional as transition lenses are in smart glasses, electrochromic lenses and their ability to adjust tint instantly and to a level you’ve specified are a superior experience to their photochromic counterparts. Maybe that’s just a personal gripe, but my experience is that transition lenses never get nearly as dark or as bright as you want them to, and certainly not as quickly as I’d like. Chamelo’s Music Shield does not have that problem.

Electrochromic lenses likely haven’t been adopted widely due to their additional cost and the strain they add to batteries, but it seems to me that if Chamelo can do it, other makers of smart glasses ought to look into the possibility, too. Sorry, Meta, transition lenses just aren’t it.

Light in weight but also light on features

If there’s another point I can give the Music Shield, it’s that they are fairly lightweight for their size. Chamelo’s glasses weigh 49g, which is well under the Oakley Meta Vanguard, at 66g. That’s not surprising since the Vanguard have a lot more going on inside, but it’s still notable if you’re in the market for a pair of lightweight glasses and don’t care about cameras and AI.

The lightness also makes the Music Shield fairly comfortable to wear over longer periods. I wore the glasses in hour increments, and while they did get a little irksome toward the end of the hour, I would say no more than most glasses (smart and dumb) that I own. The nose pads, while I still think Oakley’s are more comfortable, do a pretty good job of holding up the weight on my nose in a way that’s not aggravating.

© Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

Luckily, since these are sports glasses, they fit snugly, which is great if you’re like me and have a narrower head. It’ll also help ensure they don’t fly off when you’re bombing a hill on a bike or snowboard. The look of the Music Shield is, uh… something. I’m not a wraparound shades guy. Maybe you are, and if that’s your thing, then go for it, but on a scale of 1 yeehaw out of 10, I’m giving them 8 yeehaws. The glasses are also IPX4 rated, which makes them resistant to water splashes (light rain) and sweat, but not fully waterproof. Don’t wear these in the pool. There is no prescription lens compatibility.

While Chamelo purposely focuses mostly on audio, I do find the Music Shield to be a little lacking in terms of features. There is no companion app for one, though Chamelo’s website confusingly mentions “app-enabled controls” for some reason; there is no voice assistant; there is no touch bar on the arm for controlling volume. For $260, those are things that I’d expect, but maybe adding electrochromic lenses comes at a cost both literally and figuratively. Those aren’t dealbreakers, but it does make doing things like checking the battery interesting. The best way I’ve identified to monitor the battery level is natively through iOS, which will tell you (like it does with other Bluetooth devices) how much juice you have.

© Raymond Wong / Gizmodo

Speaking of battery life, I found that the Music Shield live up to their claim of having 6.5 hours of music playback/calling. After two hours of music playback at 80% volume, the glasses dropped from 90% to 50% battery. It’s not quite as good as Meta and its Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 AI glasses, which claim 8 hours on a single charge, but it’s solid. I do like the inclusion of an easily accessible on/off button, though there are no sensors that detect when the glasses are folded, so you’ll have to use it each time you want to turn the glasses off. To charge the Music Shield, there’s an included magnetic cable. Unlike the Oakley Meta glasses, there is no charging case, just a fairly nondescript (somewhat chonky) carrying case.

Should you grab a sword and music shield up?

Not everyone will find audio glasses useful, but some might. If you’re looking for a device that provides decent open-ear audio and wind protection, and you love the wraparound look, they should be on your radar. If you want more features that other truly smart glasses have to offer, though, these are not the specs for you.

The Music Shield are a bit of a contradiction; they’re obnoxious (the look), but also barebones (the features). I personally would have liked to see a bit more out of the glasses with a $260 price tag—touch controls for volume, app support, maybe a voice assistant. But if none of that bothers you, then maybe you’ll feel fine wrapping your hands and your head around these glasses. Personally, I still think the Oakley Meta Vanguard take the cake, but then again, this review is about the only time you’ll catch me wearing the same glasses as someone who’s into bass fishing, so who am I to say?