When we reviewed the original Bose Frames last year, we weren’t quite sure what to make of them, but since then, audio sunglasses (essentially glasses with headphones built into the temples) have somewhat developed into a category of their own. The $249.95 Bose Frames Tempo are focused on sports, and with the rise of virtual training, it’s not far-fetched to imagine them catching on in ways the original fashion-focused model didn’t. From an audio standpoint, the Frames deliver crisp, clear sound that allows you to hear your surroundings with ease, though bass still isn’t their strong suit. There are clear improvements here, but most of them address the overall fit and usefulness of the design rather than the audio experience.
Design
The Tempo’s sporty build is, like most exercise-focused sunglasses, designed to be lightweight, aerodynamic, and fit securely. To be clear, these aren’t in-ear earphones, nor are they really headphones. Think of them instead as personal speakers that sit very close to your ear and output audio just like a small speaker would—those nearby will be able to hear it, but not as loudly as you will.
If this sounds like it might make the frames a little bulky, well, it does—the temples on these sunglasses are huge, each roughly the size of a single-ear Bluetooth earpiece. If that doesn’t scare you off, the Frames offer a surprisingly lightweight fit at 1.8 ounces. They also ship with three different size/shape nose pad options, to ensure the best possible fit.
Using the Frames for moderate exercise, I found the fit to be stable. If anything, the nose pads move around more than the temples do—the temples grip my head tightly without feeling uncomfortable. For running and cycling, the sunglasses should be stable enough to wear without issue, but everyone’s head shape is different, and thus fit experience will vary person to person.
The Tempo’s lenses are interchangeable. The default polarized, mirrored lenses are made from black tinted shatter- and scratch-resistant plastic, and the actual frame is built from black TR-90 nylon, a flexible plastic material often used for glasses. The lenses can be custom-made to match your prescription, and you can also purchase various colors that are tinted with specific uses in mind and varying degrees of VLT (visible light transmission), including Road Orange for cycling (20 percent VLT), Trail Blue for trail running (28 percent VLT), or Twilight Yellow (77 percent VLT) for lower light, ideal for early morning/evening light.
The Frames Tempo have a modest IPX4 water-resistance rating. They can handle light rain and being wiped down with a damp cloth, but you’ll want to avoid heavy water pressure from a faucet or submerging them.
On the right temple, there’s a power/pairing button (when given a long press) that doubles as the play/pause button (one quick press) and track forward/backward controls (two and three quick presses). The button can also be used to answer or end phone calls. A touch-sensitive surface on the outside panel of the right temple increases or decreases volume with a simple swipe, and a double tap on this panel summons your device’s voice assistant. Next to this button is a status LED, as well as a USB-C port for the included charging cable.
The Bose Music app for Android and iOS is needed to set the Frames Tempo up initially—it forces you to create a login using your email address or a social media account, which is annoying. Once you do this, the app pairs with the Frames and “activates” them, and that’s about it. The app is required to get things set up, but it lacks any EQ or useful extras that could enhance the user experience.
Bose estimates battery life to be roughly 8 hours, but your results will vary with your volume levels.
Performance
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like the Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the Frames Tempo deliver lackluster bass response, as you might expect from compact drivers that are placed far from your ear canal. At top volumes, the bass distorts on this track, so if you’re a runner that gets motivation from deep lows, the Frames aren’t going to be a good option for your workouts. If your music library has fewer deep bass tracks in it, or you plan to use the Frames primarily for training audio from training apps, the sound is clear and crisp.
Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the Tempo’s general sound signature. At top volumes, the DSP (digital signal processing) squashes the mix and the drums sound thin, but at more moderate volume levels, there’s a hint of bass depth. The focus is clearly on the mids and highs, and the vocals and acoustic strums receive excellent clarity. Even at moderate volumes, however, the low-frequency response here is weak.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop receives plenty of high-mid presence, allowing it to retain its punchy edge. The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are delivered with almost no sense of bass depth, while the vinyl crackle and hiss that are usually relegated to background status take a step forward in the mix. The vocal performances are delivered cleanly and clearly through the Tempo’s drivers, but this is once again an example of very little bass depth and a focus on mids and highs.
Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams’ , actually sound the most natural of all genres. The lower-register instrumentation gets an ideal level of bass presence while the higher-register brass, strings, and vocals receive ideal levels of high-mid presence, allowing the mix to retain its bright clarity without sounding thin or brittle.
Perhaps the most useful and impressive aspect of the audio performance is how well you hear both the audio and your surroundings. It would be relatively easy to converse with a fellow runner, and at most volumes, you should also be able to hear any crucial environmental audio, like sirens or approaching vehicles. The trade-off here is the lack of bass depth that comes with the open design.
The two beam-forming mic array offers solid intelligibility. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 8, we could understand every word we recorded. There was the typical Bluetooth distortion fuzzing up the edges of words, but the audio was particularly crisp despite this, and the overall mic signal level was strong. Communication with a solid mobile signal shouldn’t be an issue with the Frames Tempo.
Conclusions
For $250, the sport-focused Bose Frames Tempo are the most compelling pair of audio sunglasses in the company’s lineup, as they seem to serve a more specific and likely need than the other pairs, which are more everyday, stylish sunglasses with roughly the same audio experience. That said, you shouldn’t buy these hybrid headphones for the audio performance alone, as you can purchase a dedicated pair of wireless in-ears (some with ambient aware modes) with much better audio quality for less money. If that sounds more like what you’re after, consider the $170 JBL True Wireless Flash X, the $200 Jabra Elite Active 75t, or the $180 Jaybird Vista. Or, if you want to spend more on sunglasses and less on earphones, the $35 Tribit FlyBuds 3 are about as cheap as it gets in the exercise-friendly true wireless realm. But if your exercise audio needs aren’t built upon booming bass response, it’s not hard to imagine the Bose Frames Tempo fitting into—or even upgrading—your fitness routine.
