Solos AirGo 3 review – Wareable

We’ve been sold an exciting future of connected specs ever since Google Glass first broke through. A decade removed from those first major smart glasses, though, we’re still not donning the form factor as readily as smartwatches and other wearables. 

Currently, the functionality of glasses tends to split between two types: ones powered by voice assistants, and others that rely more on true AR integration. 

The Hong Kong startup Solos is banking on voice with its AirGo 3, though its foray into smart eyewear has so far seen it embrace both screen and sound for its smartglasses made for runners and cyclists.

Fitness still plays its part in the AirGo 3, but, more notably, these glasses are designed to allow users to converse with ChatGPT, break down language barriers, and maintain proper posture.

So, does the AirGo 3 break new ground – and will these be the glasses that lead us into an exciting new future for wearables? We’ve spent some time wearing and chatting with them to find out.

Design and controls

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The AirGo 3 comes in three different models. There are sunglasses, sports glasses, and the eyeglasses version we tested, designed for all-day wear. Our version had five different frame options, with some model options offering more frame colors than others.

This particular frame is made from acetate and weighs 35g, so it’s a touch heavier than our regular glasses. That added weight sits mainly at the arms, where you’ll also find the controls to use when you’re not using your voice.

These touch and capacitive-style controls let you control music playback, adjust volume, and access features like the ChatGPT-powered ‘Chat Mode’, or use the translation mode.

They all sit on just one side of the glasses, though, and that poses inevitable problems of making sure you’re tapping and swiping in the right spot to use them.

This was certainly a pain point of using them day to day, where it would’ve made more sense to spread these controls around. The touch sensor to slide the volume up or down worked most effectively, so there’s some good and not-so-good execution here.

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If you’re bored with the frame you’ve picked – or like the idea of having a dedicated pair for when it’s sunnier – you can clip away the arms from the front and clip in something new.

When you do clip them away, they reveal USB-C-style connectors that look like they’d be a great way to charge your USB-C-friendly devices, but, sadly, they’re incapable of doing that.

It’s not just the frames you can customize here, either – there are lens options and the ability to add a prescription, which we did. It required similar information when we did the same for the Vue Lite 2 glasses. I

In terms of lenses, there are polarized, photochromic, and blue light options, so there should be something to cater to all regular glasses users.

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All the glasses come with an IP67 waterproof rating, which is stronger protection against moisture than you’ll get on Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses.

You can technically submerge them in water up to a meter in depth for 30 minutes. However, this actually just means that they can handle a bit of a soaking if it rains.

The AirGo 3 does the trick of making you feel like you’re wearing regular glasses pretty well. The arms give it away that they’re not dumb specs, but it’s certainly not as bad as some of the chunky, first-generation glasses we’ve tried over the years.

We’d say the likes of Meta and Vue offer more attractive looks, but many will be satisfied by what the AirGo 3 offers in the design department.

Features and performance

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While previously Solos looked to smarten up glasses with a heads-up display, the AirGo 3 is very much about voice.

There’s Bluetooth 5.2 to pair them up with your phone (Android or iOS) and the Solos AirGo companion app, while a pretty typical speaker array and beamforming mics are used to stream sound and pick up your questions and queries.

The AirGo app and most core features are free to use, though some features are behind a paywall subscription.

You can tap into ChatGPT and enable Whisper messaging, which essentially reads out your phone notifications. You can also access fitness tracking features, like steps tracking, and even posture suggestions based on data from the onboard motion sensors. 

If you pay the $9.99 per month fee, you’ll get to use these features without the glasses, as well as be able to access extended ChatGPT history.

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We’ll start with SolosChat – essentially a ChatGPT-powered chatbot you’ll need to enable from within the app.

You can then hold the button on the glasses to chat, and it works very much like ChatGPT.

Ask it about a topic or a recipe, and it can sometimes stream out very long responses, but you can’t ask about real-time information like the current weather or directions. 

You’ll need to summon your smartphone assistant for that, which you can do from the glasses, too. We found the microphone accuracy was largely reliable, but there were definitely a few occasions they were incorrect.

In the exchanges above, we asked if Plymouth Argyle are a good team – but that’s not what it picked up.

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SolosMessage allows you to send messages or emails via voice, and the Whisper mode will relay messages through voice to the glasses.

SolosTranslate lets you translate languages or let the glasses listen in or create group conversations and translate from a range of supported languages – including Cantonese, French, Polish, and Swedish.

The translation support is pretty speedy and feels like the most useful feature that the AirGo 3 offers, but we also can’t help thinking that whacking in some headphones and doing the same with Google Translate on your phone would offer similar results.

It certainly performs better than the glasses when you want to stream audio. You also need to ensure you’ve disabled the SolosChat mode before listening to music, otherwise sound is a muffled mess.

The sound quality isn’t going to blow you away here, basically, and doesn’t really match up to the best-sounding audio smart glasses. It’s an open-ear sound, so there’s a distinct lack of warmth and bass. And while they sound clear and work well for watching videos, we’ve definitely heard better.

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If you like the idea of smart glasses that can track your daily steps or tell you when your posture is bad, the AirGo 3 might be the glasses for you.

They can even track runs – and include modes dedicated to logging a marathon. Strava support is here, too, though we’re not convinced these specs scream Strava unless you’re grabbing the sports glasses version.

Even then, the tracking feels a little too basic, and not really bettering what you’ll get from a smartwatch or a basic fitness tracker. The posture tracking isn’t new to wearables, meanwhile, but it does feel like the most useful of the health-focused smarts included here.

Battery life

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Solos says you should enjoy up to 10 hours of battery life from the AirGo 3. That number applies when you’re streaming audio from them but drops to 7 hours when making calls. We imagine most aren’t soaking up their specs time making calls with these, but you never know.

While we didn’t don these glasses for the entire day, we did use them for the same scenarios and times we’d typically wear our regular specs. So, while watching TV, sitting at a desk to work, and going for a wander. As we didn’t opt for the sporty versions, we didn’t wear them for workouts.

We’d say that the 10-hour battery life claim seems about right. If you’re using the fitness tracking and voice-enabled features regularly, the battery seems to drop more rapidly, but there’s a good standby mode that ensures it retains that battery when you need it.

To put these figures into context, the Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses promise six hours, while Huawei’s Eyewear 2 glasses offer up to 11 hours of battery. So, it sits in and among other audio glasses for battery performance.

When you need to charge them, however, it’s not quite as sleek a process as Meta or Huawei’s specs.

You need to use the bundled charging cable to power them up, which does at least give you three hours of battery life to play with from a quick 15-minute charge.