Huawei X Gentle Monster Eyewear II Hands-on

New smart glasses from Huawei and Gentle Monster are now officially here in the Philippines. The new Eyewear II features a large-amplitude loudspeaker compared to the first generation with updated smart gestures control. If you’re interested to know more about it, here are our thoughts on the Huawei X Gentle Monster’s Eyewear II.

The Huawei X Gentle Monster Eyewear II design looks almost like any other pair of sunglasses in the market. The features, though, are what makes it unique. They’re not as smart as Google Glass, but Huawei’s X Gentle Monster Eyewear II is a pair of stylish glasses that also works as a Bluetooth headset.

Gentle Monster x Huawei Eyewear II smart glasses are made with high-end titanium alloy hinges with an arced design for a snug fit. It comes in four designs and is split into two categories: Smart Kubo and Smart Havana for the optical glasses, and Smart Lang and Smart Myma (the one we have). The sunglasses fit comfortably and very light despite the thick temples, which houses the speakers.

The speakers use a semi-open-air design with a 128mm diaphragm that transmits sound directly to your ear through the directional sound chamber, reducing sound leakage and providing a clearer and more layered stereo experience.

Both sides of the temples have this red accent where you can tap for controls — Double-tap on the right temple to pause or play, do the same on the left temple, to trigger the phones’ digital assistant, whether it be Siri, Google’s Assistant, or Huawei’s own Celia. Slide your finger to adjust the volume or skip tracks.

On the other hand, the classy case design comes with a dual-zipper, and it is understandably large as it serves as the charger for the glasses. At the back of the case, you will see the USB Type-C charging port and the Bluetooth pairing button.

The Eyewear II has all the fancy smart features, like Greetings, Adaptive playback control, resuming music playback when it is taken off or put back on within 3 minutes, and Bluetooth 5.2 support. When it comes to pairing, it is not mandatory to install an app to connect it to your smartphone, but it is advised to have the EYEWEAR App installed, which will give you easy access to settings, controls, and firmware updates. It connects easily whether you’re using an Android smartphone or an iPhone.

Audio-wise, the sound gets loud enough, especially when the volume is cranked to its maximum. Still, you can’t expect exceptional audio quality if you’re looking at a decent amount of bass, crisp mids, and clear highs, as the form factor severely limits the size of the speakers that can be used on this thing. Still, it gets the job done, which is to deliver audible tunes. Be mindful when listening, though, as sound leaks are inevitable, especially when you set the volume too high.

The Eyewear II comes with a decent battery to allow users to listen to their tunes for five hours on a single charge. And when the glasses are inside the case and connected to a charging cable, the glasses automatically begin charging efficiently, thanks to its NFC wireless fast charging capabilities.

The HUAWEI X Gentle Monster Eyewear ll is a nice and unique accessory to wear and it is priced at PHP 21,999USD 375INR 31,780EUR 357CNY 2,730, which is available through the Huawei Online Store. It’s pricey, yes, but it’s not every day you get to wear a sunglass that plays tunes.