Razer's new smart glasses come with built-in speakers but no RGB

Razer is taking its new 'lifestyle' branding very seriously, it seems. Fresh off the back of its Project Hazel face mask, the company has announced its first ever pair of glasses: Razer Anzu.

Available in two different styles, Razer Anzu brings either blue light protection for indoors or UVA/UVB protection for outdoors in a pair of surprisingly tame glasses for a company famed for adding RGB to everything. But wait, there's more. That would be the onboard speakers with touch controls—built right into the specs themselves.

The open-ear audio design is powered by an omnidirectional microphone and 16mm drivers built right into the frame, which Razer says are "nearly imperceivable" on the otherwise rather standard face fare. If they're anything like the open-ear speakers on the Valve Index then we'd be very into this idea. If they're not, well, we're just going to have to find out aren't we? 

Extensive benchmarking is clearly required.

This audio function is controlled via touch controls on the outer frame of the glasses, which offers play, pause, skip, and activate smartphone assistant functionality. That's all connected to your device via Bluetooth.

There's also an "Activate gaming mode" option, which is either some gaming specific EQ (also controllable via an Android and iOS app), or a mode that renders the world in The Matrix-style code in front of your very eyeballs.

Razer say it should last up to five hours with the internal battery, after which you'll need to charge it up with the included USB cable.

Image 1 of 3

The lenses are interchangeable for either indoor or outdoor use, and the Anzu is also splashproof, up to IPX4. You won't want to get them soaked in the rain, however.

Note: no RGB lighting this time. Razer figured out a way to get LEDs onto a face mask but these smart glasses? No, that's one step too far.

I couldn't agree more, either.

The Razer Anzu Smart Glasses can be yours from today for $200 (£200, €210). So they don't come cheap, but sunglasses hardly ever do.