Fauna Bluetooth Glasses Review: A Goofy Idea Executed Well

Who Are Fauna Bluetooth Glasses For?

• Fauna Bluetooth glasses are great for someone who wants to listen to music, podcasts or videos without the stress of headphones or earbuds
• The glasses can also be used for easy hands-free phone calls
• Fauna Bluetooth glasses can be adjusted to fit prescription lenses

Headphones and earbuds are everywhere these days, and come in all shapes and sizes. However, the one constant they have is that they cover or go inside the user's ears in some capacity, which can lead to overheating or ear fatigue. Fauna has created a Bluetooth-enabled pair of glasses that offers the same wireless audio as a pair of headphones, without touching the wearer's ears.

A Little Tight

From a physical standpoint, the Fauna Bluetooth glasses are a pretty solid pair of frames. I have a fairly average sized head (a 7 3/8 hat size, which is right in the middle), and the glasses are a little tight on me. After wearing them for a few hours I did adjust to them,however. The lenses that are included in the glasses feature a nice tint, though I would have preferred the tint not fade away towards the bottom of the lenses.

The Fauna glasses can also be taken to a professional for improved lenses and a better fit. To make it easier for opticians to swap in prescription lenses, the Fauna comes with a helpful slip of paper that provides the optician with information on what areas to adjust and what areas to avoid when working with Fauna frames.

Charging a pair of Fauna frames is nice and easy. The frames come with a glasses case that is a little bigger than a standard case. This case both protects the Fauna frames and recharges them. Charging the frames is relatively fast. After only a few minutes of charging, my frames jumped from completely dead to around a 40 percent charge. The case holds enough power to recharge the frames multiple times before needing to be recharged itself.

Speakers And Microphones

As far as audio quality goes, the Fauna has some high points and low points. The speakers are built into the arms of the Fauna frames, and are positioned right in front of the wearer's ears. This allows audio to come in nice and clear, and provides a solid stereo listening experience.

Unfortunately, the speakers don't have the widest audio range. Audio doesn't sound bad in any way, but the bass response is a little flat. That said, I don't think I would like the Fauna glasses to have a more pronounced bass, as that would probably get annoying rather quickly. There is also a slight crackling sound whenever audio starts to play, but it isn't anything too bothersome.

What's really nice about the speakers on the Fauna is that they can't get too loud. This is ideal if you are around others. It is possible for those who aren't wearing the Fauna glasses to hear audio coming from them if the wearer maxes out the volume, but even then it's not that noticeable. Because the speakers are right next to the wearer's ears, the volume rarely needs to be all the way up, meaning even fewer people will be potentially bothered.

While the speakers on the Fauna glasses are pretty solid, the microphone could use some work. The microphone is a pinhole style microphone like the ones found on wired earbuds, and is positioned on the underside of one of the arms. When talking to people on the phone, I was told I sound quiet and like I was in a large, empty room. I was still audible on the call, but didn't sound my best.

Tap, Tap, Tap

Fauna Bluetooth glasses feature tap controls that are similar to the ones found in many other wireless earbuds. This includes the ability to tap the arms of the glasses to play or pause music, answer and hang up on phone calls, access your smart phone's voice assistant and more.

The coolest touch control is for adjusting volume. To make whatever you are listening to louder or more quiet, simply slide your finger along the left arm of the frames. It does move the volume slider on your device slowly, so you will have to slide your finger a few times to make any major adjustments.

Tap controls for the Fauna are pretty responsive, especially volume adjustment. I did experience a slight delay from tapping the Fauna glasses to when my music actually paused, which can cause those who are impatient to tap more and create more of a delay.

I also noticed that when I took the Fauna glasses off for a quick conversation, my audio would somehow start playing again. Even when I would go out of my way to not accidentally trigger any tap controls, the audio still somehow found a way to resume. Weirdly, this doesn't happen when the Fauna glasses are on my face.

Unnecessary App

There is an official Fauna app, but it doesn't really offer anything. The biggest feature of the app is what it calls "Whistles." These are basic alarms that can provide audio cues for reminders to do things like drink water, get up and stretch or other simple tasks. While it is a little cool to have a voice chime in every now and then to remind me to drink water, it isn't a crucial feature that really enhances the Fauna experience.

Final Thoughts

Ear fatigue from wearing headphones or earbuds too frequently is a real concern, and the Fauna Bluetooth glasses have resolved that issue. Taking speakers out of the ears directly and placing them on a pair of glasses is a smart idea, and the Fauna speakers are more than capable of providing a great listening experience.

At roughly $300 per pair, the Fauna Bluetooth glasses aren't cheap, and this price will only rise if you also want to put in prescription lenses. At that price it is a little disappointing to see poor performance with the microphone. However, if you want a unique listening experience unlike any other headset or earbud, the Fauna Bluetooth glasses are a decent choice. As of right now, Fauna Bluetooth glasses are exclusively available through the Fauna website.