Snapchat unveils Spectacles 2.0, but it won’t be coming to India

Snap’s biggest success with V1 of the Spectacles was their marketing push around them, meanwhile I’m not very confident they can drum up much love with this minor update. Unlike the first Spectacles, the new version is available immediately from the website.

Snapchat parent company Snap Inc has launched a new version of its Spectacles. Our first Spectacles had a 9 second/video average transfer time, with the latest Spectacles we’re seeing below 3 second/video. This feature is now only available in the United States. As such, it remains to be seen if the new Spectacle lives up to its name. They will be available in other countries throughout Europe after May 3.

The sunglasses allow users to record photos, video and audio that can then be transferred to Snapchat for messages to friends.

Spectacles 2.0. will cost $149.99 and have a similar look to the original pair, but are smaller and water resistant. While Magic Leap of the present and Google Glass of the past have promised the world, Spectacles were supposed to approach the consumers in a place where they were already in a way that would get them comfortable with wearing a computer on their eyes. With this new pair of glasses, you can capture images and can take videos as well, this time this all can be achieved in HD resolution.

The new Spectacles have a few basic aesthetic improvements – including no obvious yellow rings on the front and more sophisticated colors – but Snap also made some technological tweaks, like adding waterproofing and a still-image mode. For connectivity, the Spectacles comes with Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 2.4/5 GHz.

The original Spectacles were £129.99, initially impossible to get hold of and while we liked their quirky charm, they had some pretty annoying drawbacks. Still the company’s official page does not specify a water-resistant rating for now. The process for either is simple; pressing the button for a second will capture a photo while just a press of it will lead to capturing of a 10-second video. The transfer speed between the Spectacles and a user’s phone are now also three to four times faster.

Prescription or polarized lenses can be swapped in when you order through Lensabl, and single vision lenses start at $125. Snap’s Spectacles are now available for $149.99 Dollars in onyx, ruby, and sapphire.

Water resistance in the V2 is meant for rainy days and “shallow water”.

The Spectacles are obviously interesting in reason and offer an early future for cutting-edge eyewear that such a large number of tech companies are as of now wagering on. However, they are still temperature sensitive in extreme conditions, warns Snap.