Watch On
Occasionally in hardware and technology reporting, I’m left to wonder if everyone else is in on a joke I’m not privy to. Today is one of those days. Snap, the company behind the instant messaging app Snapchat, has just unveiled its own augmented reality glasses.
Called Specs, the frames are pitched partially as an alternative to looking down at your phone screen all day, and a pair will set you back $2,195.
The goal was arguably to contain some serious hardware grunt inside a wearable, but the result is a pair of seriously chunky frames—not just to contain components but also likely to stop the whole thing from overheating. Let me set up the punchline: In this CNBC clip, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel describes Specs as both capable and “highly wearable,” while the dorky-looking frames visibly crush down his ears.
Now that’s a real howler. But before we completely dismiss this wearable effort, let’s get into a few more choice details. For one thing, the lenses are apparently built to feel like “a 24-inch desktop monitor when you’re working, or a 115-inch home cinema screen placed about 10 feet away when you’re watching a movie.” For another, the main selling point of Specs is that it’s an all-in-one device, “with no puck and no tether,” unlike some other major players’ AR glasses projects we’ve seen recently.
Part of the frame’s bulk can be attributed to the fact that it’s housing not one but two Snapdragon processors. “One is dedicated to computer vision and the other is dedicated to running Lenses,” Snap writes, “Together, they enable fast hand tracking, low latency, and responsive interactions that help digital content feel anchored in the real world. Specs deliver 7-millisecond motion-to-photon latency, verified through advanced robotic measurement systems.”
In terms of battery life, you can expect a measly four hours of mixed use, “including audio and video playback, Lenses, AI assistance, Bluetooth notifications, and more.” That said, the included charging case can offer four additional charges while out and about, holding a total of 20 hours of battery life. That’s…still not great—though you could argue it avoids becoming yet another easy punchline.
What’s perhaps less laughable for Snap itself is the hit its share price took when it revealed Specs. The original unveiling took place on June 16, and you’ll notice a decline into today. This caps off six straight sessions of losses, according to Seeking Alpha. To be clear, I’m not faulting Specs’ all-in-one ambitions on paper—it’s more the fact that in practice, Snap is trying to deny a reality we can all see very obviously bearing down on its CEO’s ears.
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