Recently Huawei released the second iteration of their Eyewear and here are my thoughts on it after using it for a few days.
The unboxing experience is pretty simply. You get the charging case and the glasses within it. You’re also provided with a USB-c cable and booklets to go along with it.
The glasses can be charged through NFC wireless fast charging by properly placing them within the provided case. The case itself does not have a battery so in order to charge the glasses, you need to connect the case with power source through USB-c cable. Once fully charged, the glasses can provide up to 5 hour of audio playback.
glasses and the case 
charging port on the back of the case
I did not expect the audio to be as good as it is. I remember going “wow” when I put on the glasses for the first time. My instant feeling was that it is a fashion accessory that provides portable surround sound like feel while resting on top of your ear.
However, I must admit that sunglasses aren’t the most appealing type of Monster glasses for me. The issue with sunglasses is that you look like an idiot when wearing them indoor but this tech ought to be used in indoor environment as well. Thankfully, Huawei provides non-sunglass versions as well and I have pictured them below (image courtesy of Huawei), along with all the design types.
“smart lang” design 
“smart havana” design 
“smart myma” design 
“smart kubo” design
By now, you’re probably asking – how much do these weight? This particular variant weighted 47 grams while the weight of the case itself is 215 grams. According to Huawei, the other variants weight from 44.4 to 47.9 grams.
Now, natural question is – can the person sitting right next to you hear it? Well, if you crack up the music on full volume, people sitting 3-4 seats away from you in a quite place will be able to hear some of it. But if you maintain enough distance or listen at a reasonable volume then it should not disturb anyone.
A lot of the intuitive audio features are already present on the device. For example, the music you are listening to will pause when you take off the glasses and it will automatically resume once you put the glasses back on. If you prefer, you can disable this feature. I tested this feature while watching YouTube video and it was rather neat how the YouTube video would pause and resume as I take my glasses off and on.
This eyewear also comes with smart gestures. The following are the default gestures:
- Answer/end call: tap either arm twice
- Pause/Play music: tap the right arm twice
- Volume up/down or switch songs: When playing music or making a call, swipe along the arm
- Wake up the voice assistant: tap the left arm twice
- Pinch control settings: customize through app
All of the gestures can be customized through the “Huawei AL Life” app. You can download the app through Google Play Store or Huawei AppGallary. Additionally the application, allows you to do turn on and off the following features:
- smart greeting: voice greeting when wearing glasses at different times. For greetings, you’ve three language choice namely English, Chinese, and a third language that I can’t recognize.
- dynamical call volume: automatically reduce call volume based on ambient noise
- smart wear detection: pause audio or switch the playback device when removing the glasses. When you put the glasses back on, audio will resume.
I also see an option to “find glasses” as well as “HD Recording” but I assume they’re region locked to China.
As far as the voice assistant goes – the glasses will recall whichever voice assistant is in your phone. I finally installed Bixby on my Samsung phone and it worked fine. I also tested it it on a Google Assistant on a Pixel device that it worked as good as ever. It will also work with iPhone’s Siri.
Why Not Just Get Earbuds Instead?
Most of the audio features in on the Gentle Monster Eyewear II, is available on more or less all premium earbuds. So, it is natural to ask – why not just get earbuds instead? Why not get something like Huawei FreeBuds Pro from Huawei which has ANC, much longer battery life, and more. The answer lies in the fact that this product is in a different category of its own and that it attempts to attract a different niche market. If you’re someone who wants to try futuristic product then you might be interested in this one. If you’re someone who does not like the idea of having to plug buds into your ears then you might consider looking into this product.
Closing Thoughts
Huawei X Gentle Monster II is a super cool tech but there is obviously room for improvement. For example, I personally would not mind having a battery on the case, even if the battery is relatively small. With time, I suppose they’re also going to be able to lower the weight which would be a small but noticeable improvement.
The other downside is the likely the starting price of 299 euro. You could buy the latest Huawei Freebuds for 299 or save 100 euro by buying Huawei Freebuds 3 Pro instead. But, they’re not glasses with audio capability.
I know few folks in travel space who love to travel with premium sunglasses so this could be something they might be interested in. But this product is definitely not for everyone, at least not yet. Smart glasses are definitely the future but it will take time for them to be the norm.
