72 PCWorld NOVEMBER 2019REVIEWS HANDS-ON: AMAZON ECHO FRAMES
the volume, and the third decreases the
volume. Tapping the exterior of the right-
hand arm pauses any music that might be
streaming over the Bluetooth connection
to your phone.
In addition to listening to music and
dealing with Alexa, you can also use the
Frames for hands-free phone calls and for
sending and receiving text messages. The
Frames will alert you to incoming texts and
read them aloud to you. In order to avoid
being inundated with unimportant
notifications, the Frames app will allow you
to create a VIP filter that will alert you only
when messages from folks or apps on a
whitelist arrive. You can elect to have it
recite text messages from your family, yourThe Echo Frames feature buttons on the underside of the right-hand arm: The button closest to the lenses
mutes the microphone. The next button to the right increases volume, and the third button decreases
volume. Tapping the side of the arm pauses music playback.boss, and home security system, for
instance, but ignore anything else. Ignored
messages will remain in your inbox, of
course; their arrival just won’t be
announced in your ear.
An Amazon product manager told me
the Frames are expected to deliver 14
hours of battery life with mixed use (phone
calls, Alexa dialog, and music streaming)
at a volume level of 60 percent. They’ll
come with a magnetic charging cable that
connects to a contact on the right-hand
arm. I was impressed with how light the
Frames were, but that will obviously
change if you have them fitted
with prescription lenses, depending on
how thick your lenses are.