Fauna Audio Glasses Review

Reviewed by J Wright

When I was offered the opportunity to review Fauna Audio Glasses I was immediately plunged into a brief 007 type fantasy wearing smart sunglasses enabling me to make calls and still look suave and cool. Except I’m a woman.  Still, I could be one of the “Sunglasses People” from Free Guy.  Clearly I had Hollywood visions of the Fauna Glasses.

When they arrived and I had them charged and switched on I laughed out loud. My fantasies were not so far from reality.

On opening the charging case the green Led lights are visible and you are greeted by the voice of Fauna.
“Hi, Fauna is on, Fauna is pairing. Great! Fauna is connected.”

The initial test was through listening to the remainder of the instructional video via the Fauna Fabula Audio Glasses. The sound was clear and good quality. Now, I’m not an audio snob, my bar is low. The sound produced through the tiny speakers placed by the ear is easily discernible in all ways. The music quality is good quality and voices are clear and identifiable. I would say there is little difference between my earphones and Fauna audio quality. There is audio leakage and if someone is close to you they will hear whatever you’re listening to. In testing I can tell when they’re on and sound is being projected with other people trying them.  However, the additional useful element and one which Fauna proudly advertise, your ears aren’t blocked, they’re open to hear the world around. This could be traffic, someone speaking to you, the beeping of a crossing or someone at the door. Much like using an audio speaker you don’t have to choose between specific sounds you want to hear and you can still pay attention to your environment.

As a woman I can immediately identify that Fauna glasses might be a really good option for women, perhaps out alone, in that you can perceive someone approaching if needed.

Another functional note to add is that the glasses are water resistant according to the website. I’m not sure I’d want to risk them in a deluge without them being protected given the cost of £199.00 -£249.00 (depending on the stockist) and with the tech being in the arms of the glasses.

These are a cat eye shape, sunglasses and with enough tint that they’re functional in daylight though the eyes are not entirely obscured. I wanted to know about UVA and UVB protection – I didn’t discover what level of tint gradient the Fauna Fabula has, but the website does state that there is protection.

The arms are a little thicker that you might find on most average sunglasses and that’s because that’s where the tech is hidden. But in a time where thick framed and chunky glasses are en vogue, they blend in well and easily could be mistaken for fashion shades. They don’t scream out to be noticed. The ones I’ve chosen definitely have a more feminine spin with their shape, but most are a unisex frame style, suitable for most people.

There’s a range of shapes and colours available and a huge bonus to glasses wearers, you can have your prescription lenses put into the frames. Included in the packaging there are instructions to give to the optician to aid them in perfecting the most personal version of these glasses. There’s adjustable arm lengths for all styles and areas which are clearly demarked for heat adjustment – again useful for an optician, avoiding the sensitive tech areas. For the versions involving clear lenses there’s also blue light filters, reducing screen related issues for users with Zeiss DuraVision© BlueProtect lenses.

I’m a part timer with glasses so I really noticed the weight, but actually at 50g, they aren’t unreasonable and a full time wearer might scarcely notice any difference. The case is slightly weightier at almost 200g.

With the case first opened there’s a sticker inside the lid with a series of instructions to follow. There’s a QR code to scan on your smart phone which takes you to a short video to get you quickly into using Fauna. There’s written instructions if you prefer but the video is a great introduction. Once the glasses are paired with your device via Bluetooth they work immediately and you can take calls, listen to music and finish the instruction video via Fauna. When I tried voice calls I was told the other person could hear my voice perfectly well via the two tiny inbuilt microphones.

I found that Fauna remained paired with my mobile phone wandering around my home at distances, on different floors, in different rooms and without interruption to the sound and no reduction in audio quality. Perfect if you need to fetch something whilst you’re on a call.

The case is little bigger than a normal glasses case. The Fauna case is a deep green, with the Fauna fabric tag visible. There’s also four pinpoint LEDs which indicate charging status, letting you know that your glasses are charging.  The case connects to power via a USB-C wire.  The case charges quickly and holds four charges for the Fauna glasses which also charge rapidly. The glasses sit on charging contacts inside the case and they need to be positioned properly.   The instruction information tells us that the charge will provide five hours of music and phone calls, though users are finding they’ll often last a little longer.

The spy type tech which made me giggle is the volume slide down the arm of the glasses. It’s fairly intuitive. It takes a little time to learn all the tap and slide commands which adjust or initiate audio options but you can’t go too far wrong with trying things out. The arms are sensitive, I managed to turn them off entirely by taking them off without paying attention to where my fingers were. Again, this adjustment will come with time and use. You’ll still need to use your primary device to select what you want to listen to, the audio assistant is limited in that sense. However, this is again little different to technology we’re already accustomed to.

The Fauna glasses are compatible with iPhone 5 or higher with iOS 10 or higher. For Android users most devices should work with Android 6.0 or higher.

The Fauna Audio Glasses are a bit of a gadget, fun to play with and discover and with possibilities for long term use in a variety of work and leisure settings.

As a gift, any recipient would no doubt find a use for them if they use audio devices of any kind. I can imagine listening to an audio book very happily whilst on a solo hike or bike ride. I imagine I’ll use them often for the walk back from school drop off when I usually listen to music, podcasts or audio books. It’s not very James Bond but in a realistic scenario this is a gadget which is really practical and useful.

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £199.00

For more information please visit the Fauna website here. 

This product (5 different styles) can be purchased from Maplin here.