The Bose Frames are an interesting concept and well-designed, but a few missing features and frustrations mean they’re not a must-have item for everyone just yet.

Bose 830044-0100 Frames Audio Sunglasses, Alto, Black, One Size

It’s unlikely you’ll be listening to these in too many loud locations, but when your ears are free to hear roadworks, vehicles, and even other people’s voices, it can make listening to any sort of audio too difficult to work with. There’s more bass than before, but this is where I think it’s most important to set reasonable expectations: the low end you get from any decent pair of in-ear buds will blow these out of the water. With a delicately sloped browline, Bose Soprano frames give retro glamour in an elegant style whilst providing cutting edge sound technology. Instead they are a pair of audio sunglasses that also have some limited smart functionality tacked on.The controls that Bose came up with are wonderfully foolproof, which is crucial when you’re trying to stay focused on other things.

Bose Frames Alto

When you turn them on and off, you’ll be greeted with the battery amount in audio form, but it doesn’t offer a way to monitor how much charge is left over visually from the glasses themselves. Considering these aren't dedicated audio devices, this is reasonable – we don’t expect to wear sunglasses for extended periods of time, so with intermittent use you can make them last for quite a while.

The Tempo has larger speakers and better battery life to keep you moving, and they're definitely louder and bassier than the Tenor and Soprano. Double taps will bring up your preferred digital assistant (Siri or Google Assistant, depending on your paired phone's platform), while laying the Frames upside down anywhere will turn them off – another great feature that makes them user-friendly as it's a natural thing to do when removing any pair of sunglasses. The one great thing about all three designs of the Bose Frames is that you can fit prescription lenses quite easily. The Bluetooth connection has held stable throughout the vast majority of my time with the Frames Tempo so far.