NOVEMBER 2019 PCWorld 71put them on and take them off, just like most
high-quality eyeglass frames). Amazon
supplies them with clear plastic lenses, but
there are instructions in the package that you
can provide your optometrist, so as to fit them
with prescription lenses. Unlike some other
efforts at building smart glasses—Google
Glass, for example—Echo Frames don’t have
an integrated camera, and they don’t have an
integrated display.
What they do have are two tiny
speakers on each arm and a built-in near-
field microphone for summoning Alexa,
asking her questions, and giving her
commands. The speakers are designed so
that sound reaches the wearer’s ears, but
doesn’t get loud enough that folks nearby
can hear it. The room where the demos
took place was quite loud, but I couldn’t
hear the speakers while other reporters
were getting their demonstrations of
the Frames.
There are three buttons on the Frames’
right-hand arm: The button closest to the
hinge mutes the microphone, the one
behind that (toward your ear) increasesAmazon makes
a valiant effort
to make its Echo
Frames look
fashionable.