The Lucyd Lyte isn’t my first pair of Bluetooth audio sunglasses, but is my first experience with this brand. I chose that Starman frame style because I preferred the titanium wireframe over the chunkier plastic face frames.
The glasses come with a leatherette semi-hard case, a microfiber satchel soft case, cleaning cloth, and dual magnetic-tip USB charger. At first glance I thought the glasses would be heavy, due to the chunky arms that contain the audio and Bluetooth components, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they are lighter than they look at only 32 grams, or 1.1 oz. The glasses only come in one size but can be fitted with prescription lenses or a multitude of different color/finish lenses. The dimensions of the glasses are as follows: 138mm overall width, 51mm lens, 18mm bridge, and 155mm arm length. While I generally require a slightly wider overall frame, despite these glasses not having hinges that articulate outward, there was enough flex at the corners for me to wear these comfortably for long periods of time without feeling like the arms were pinching the sides of my head. The Starman also has adjustable nose pads for a comfortable fit.
The lenses I got are UV400 polarized with a mirrored front finish and provide a decently darker viewing experience in bright sunlight, though aren’t as suitable indoors, potentially limiting where you can use them unless you get lighter colored or clear lenses. When you’re not using them, you can store them in the semi-hard case, which unfolds into a sturdy felt-lined pyramidal box; I love the case’s fold-flat design since it can be slipped into a jacket or back pocket while empty.
These glasses use a proprietary split cable which has two magnetic connector tips, one for each arm of the glasses, since the “earpieces” actually operate separately, much like true wireless ear buds, rather than a unified set of headphones. However, I didn’t like how easily the magnetic tips would shake loose and disconnect from the charging contacts on one side while I was trying to line up and connect the tip on the other side. The magnets don’t seem strong enough to hold the connectors firmly in place while you’re manipulating the cable, which is made more difficult by the cable’s general inflexibility. This makes for a mildly frustrating experience trying to seat the charging cable quickly and consistently.
When charging, the LED indicators on the outer side of the arm will be a solid red and shuts off after the units are fully charged. Since each earpiece has its own battery, note that they may finish charging at different times. As soon as the charger is disconnected from the earpiece, it will power on automatically, which I felt was a bit unnecessary, especially given how easily and often the charging contacts come loose and have to be re-attached. Thankfully, when the cable is reconnected the earpieces power off immediately to resume charging.
To power the headphones on from the ‘off’ state, you’ll need to press and hold both silver buttons on the underside towards the front of each arm. Pressing only one of these buttons will only power on that side. Once both sides are on, they will automatically pair to one another, then enter pairing mode for connecting to your music/audio source. Since there’s no accompanying app for Lucyd, you can go directly into your device’s Bluetooth settings and select “Lucyd Lyte” from the list and pairing was quick and straightforward.
These frames operate like any typical set of Bluetooth earphones with the ability to listen to music or answer and conduct hands-free calls through the built-in microphones. There’s a flashing blue LED on the outside of the arm while the earpieces are on, which makes them a bit more obvious as an electronic device versus normal sunglasses. The power buttons double as playback controls allowing you to start/pause audio with double presses, skip tracks forward and back with triple-presses, change the volume with short presses, as well as pickup, swap, or decline incoming phone calls. Call audio is clear from both ends and callers had no trouble hearing me when speaking at a normal volume. You can also activate a digital voice assistant like Siri or Google by holding either button for 2 seconds. Note that powering off either earpiece automatically turns off both.
Since the speakers for these frames are not in your ears, but instead positioned on the underside of each arm of the sunglasses and angled projecting the sound into your ears, they won’t block out external sounds and create an immersive experience, but instead allow you to freely hear what’s going on around you for better situational awareness. The audio quality isn’t impressive though, with thin sounding tonal quality, distant soundstage, and general tinny-ness. There’s also a lack of bass reproduction and a ton of sound bleeding even at moderate volumes, so folks around you will be able to pickup what you’re listening to from a few feet away. The one thing these do well is put out a lot of sound for its size, more than enough for most listeners, but remember that goes for both you and those around you. If you plan on taking calls on these at higher volumes, it’s pretty much like putting the other party on speakerphone.
While the sunglasses don’t announce the battery life upon powering up, in my phone’s Bluetooth devices list I can see an approximate percent remaining battery, and the battery seems to be quite long lasting as I’ve listened to over 5 hours of music and podcasts at medium/low volume, and it’s still showing about 50% battery. They also are great for watching video since the Bluetooth 5.0 protocol used performs with no lag or delay between the video and audio for an accurately synced viewing experience.
Overall, these frames are a stylish and lightweight pair of sunglasses that offer wireless Bluetooth headphones in a slim discreet profile. While the audio quality isn’t the best for listening to music in its fullest truest form, they’re usable for that purpose as well as for hands-free calling, as long as you don’t mind folks around you listening in. These are great for podcasts and audiobooks where fidelity isn’t as important while I’m out an about on a sunny day, but for use in indoor spaces, I’d consider getting clear lenses as they’re fairly easy to swap out.
