Spectacles 2.0 have been officially announced by Snap, the parent company of messaging app Snapchat. The highlight of the new Spectacles is that they are water-resistant and will cost $149.99, though that’s nearly $20 more compared to the previous generation. The first set of Spectacles were launched at $130 in 2016 by Snap Inc.
The new Spectacles are already live for sale on the company’s website, though shipping is restricted US, UK, Canada and France. According to a report on CNET,the new Spectacles are not being sold via the Snapbot vending machines, which were placed in some cities in the US. Other countries will be able to place shipments from May 3, though India is not on the list of countries where this is supported.
For those who do not know, Spectacles can be connected to a user’s phone and the recorded videos can be shared via Snapchat. Spectacles are sunglasses with a camera and an LED ring on the front, there’s a Button as well to sync the glasses with the smartphone.
So what are the technical specifications of the Snaps’s Spectacles 2.0?
In terms of technical specifications, the frame size for Spectacles 2.0 is 48-25-140, which puts them in the medium category and these weigh 45.4 g. For audio, Spectacles 2.0 come with dual microphone array and the camera has a 105-degree field of view with f/2.2 aperture. The photos are shot in 1642 x 1642 px resolution, while videos are shot at 1216 x 1216 px at 60 fps. Total onboard storage is 4GB and users can store up to 150 videos or 3000 photos on the second-generation of Snapchat sunglasses.Spectacles 2.0 also come with their own built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery, and the sunglasses case is used to charge these. Users can take and transfer up to 70 videos per charge, claims the company. The devices are compatible with iPhone 5 or above, running iOS 10 or above and for Android, it runs on Android 4.4 or above, with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Wi-Fi Direct. For connectivity, the Spectacles comes with Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 2.4/5 GHz.
The big change though is that these Spectacles are now water-resistant, so users can swim with them and take videos and photos. Still the company’s official page does not specify a water-resistant rating for now. Snap is also promising improved audio, and users can now press and hold the button on the side to take a photo. Snaps will transfer to Snapchat up to four times faster and always in HD resolution, adds the company.
It also looks like Snap will let users swap the lenses for prescription or polarised ones, though again US users will be able to do this when they order these via the Lensabl service. Finally, the new variants comes in three colours: Onyx, Ruby, Sapphire and each colour option has two hues to choose from for users.
Snap Inc also says the charging case and cable are not water resistant, so users need to keep this in mind. These can also work in the rain and snow, claims the company. However, they are still temperature sensitive in extreme conditions, warns Snap. The original version of Spectacles came in Black, Coral, Teal and these are not water-resistant.
