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When you head out the door – whether it’s to go to the office, run some errands, or even just a run at the park, you’re likely taking along a pair of headphones as well as your sunglasses. That can get a bit bulky on your ears, especially if you’re trying to do something that’s more open-ear so you hear what’s going on around you. What if you could combine your headphones and sunglasses? That’s just what the Lucyd Nautica Surge sunglasses are offering up.
Lucyd Nautica Surge: what they are
So, let’s make it clear – Lucyd is the tech company behind these sunnies. They make a number of different designs for Nautica, as well as for Eddie Bauer and their own Lucyd-branded frames. So, basically, you can go for the style you like. When you think about headphones being incorporated into sunglass frames, you might be thinking bone conduction.
While something like that could work, it would make for some rather odd looking arms coming off of the sunglasses. So, instead, they’re relying on directed sound. What this means is that there is a small speaker in each arm, directly behind your ear. This then sends the audio to your ear, allowing you to hear it as well as what’s going on around you.
The sound quality
As you might guess, the Lucyd Nautica Surge is not going to give you what would be considered audiophile quality. That said, if you understand the limits, you can be quite pleased with how they work. For instance, I took my kids on a bike ride, and had some music playing while we were out. I could have my tunes in the background, and still be able to hear the kids and traffic.
Likewise, when I use these for going out for a walk, I can easily have my podcast going, and be aware of what’s going on around me. And really, spoken word is where these shone, in my opinion. Music, it’s like you’ve got a radio going in another room, and some of the highs and lows are muted. With spoken word (aka, a podcast or audiobook), you’re not looking for that audio reproduction that music demands. These allow you to hear clearly what’s going on.
I did also try using these in the car as I drove, as my older car doesn’t have a way to connect my phone in. Again, this allows you to hear what you’re listening to (or even GPS directions) without it blocking out the noise of traffic and emergency vehicles. In short, it works well for very specific uses. And yes, you can make calls with these, but that’s going to be trickier unless you’re in a quiet space. Yes, you can cup a hand over your ear to hear things better, but that will get awkward on a longer call.
The sunglasses part
While the audio part is a great addition, I actually found myself using Lucyd Nautica Surge just as regular sunglasses quite a bit as well. I really like polarized lenses, and these are definitely that. Interestingly, there’s also different tints that you can pick up. In a center horizontal stripe, you’ve got a bluer lean, while the upper and lower bands are a bit more amber. It’s not distracting (once you’re used to it) and gives you different tints, basically, for when you’re looking at traffic or need to glance down at the gauges.
With the extra electronics, the arms of the frames are a bit heavier than sunglasses of a similar style and material. That weight is on your ears, though, and not the bridge of your nose. Which means, they stay comfortable on a longer wear session. The rear weight also helps to keep them from sliding down your nose. Finally, we should note that the metal hinges on the frames should keep these robust and opening/closing for a good long time.
Wrapping things up
With a 12 hour battery life, the Lucyd Nautica Surge are something that should last you for a day out of the house. Of course, if you wanted to get clever, you could just turn on one side of the frames at a time, although that cuts your sound down, and of course any stereo seperation. The IPX4 water resistance should help keep them safe from sweat or light rain, but these are not something you’d want to dive into the pool wearing.
If you want to get your own pair Lucyd Nautica Surge, just note that the lens that you pick (and this is only talking about non-Rx) will impact the pricing. The mirrored and polarized version we tested out, you’re looking at $199. Other designs (not sunglasses) can drop below $100, and it looks like things top out at just under $300. Of course, Rx lenses are more, and if you get add-ons like additional lenses or a charging dock, pricing goes up. Check it all out over at lucyd.com
Lucyd Nautica Surge Tech Specs
- Frame Width: 147 mm
- Lens Width: 57 mm
- Temple Size: 145 mm
- Bridge Size: 18 mm
- IPX4 Water Resistance
- 12-hour battery life
