If you’ve been lucky enough to try out a pair of Snap Inc’s Spectacles then you’ll have seen that they’re a lot of fun to use. I was lucky enough to grab a pair back in February from the Manhattan store for the retail price of $141US (approximately $200AUD) and have been really impressed with them while trying them out for a few things like road trips and sport as can be seen below.
Bit of @Spectacles @AFL banana kick practice.
Of 32 snaps:
.|.|.|6|.|6|6|.|post|.|6|.|1|1|.|.|.|1|1|1|.|1|.|6|bounced on dog|.|1|.|1|1|.|. pic.twitter.com/89UE8agbtF
— Blair Hughes (@MrBlairHughes) March 16, 2017
The easy to use Spectacles with their hands free recording offers a unique point of view that provides fans with an immersive viewing experience but there are some pro’s and con’s to consider if you’re thinking of grabbing a pair for your team or for personal use.
Pro’s
- Easy to pair to your Snapchat account out of the box
- Nice design that feels good on your face and they look relatively ok
- Heavy weight means they won’t break easily and are durable
- HD video feature is quick (once imported) and looks much better than standard vision
- Easy to use with the touch of a button on the left hand side
- Immersive experience showing much more than a standard video can
- Hands free means you can do so much with them
- Easily downloadable once synced into Snapchat
- The snaps don’t go straight to your story meaning you can delete snaps you don’t like and add others
- The case and its USB power charging cord look awesome
- Relatively inexpensive at $141USD
- Editing process is simple and the same as for Snapchat
- Snaps load into Snapchat ‘Specs’ as soon as you’ve filmed them over bluetooth
- Packaging is very smart
- 115 degree camera lens
- Battery life is very good
Con’s
- Don’t work for Android bluetooth syncing
- Don’t work with prescription glasses
- Syncing can take some time. 40 odd snaps can take up to 20 minutes in my experience over Wi-Fi
- The snaps don’t import as HD
- Recording time is only 10 seconds although this can be boosted to 30 seconds by pressing the button on the side
- There is no way to take pictures just 10 seconds video
- No geo-filters
- Hard to buy. Still not available in Australia
- Audio quality can be poor especially outside
- Buying process was a very weird experience in NYC. No ability to try a pair on, staff unhelpful and more interested in just taking your money than helping with questions about the product
- Not to be worn inside as you look stupid
- Privacy concerns. No legal test case yet or negative media story about filming people’s conversations or interactions with Spectacles. A young staff member at the NYC store baulked and said there are no issues but I strongly disagree with that. Don’t be one of those people who doesn’t tell someone you’re recording them
My overall opinion is that they are a very exciting piece of tech and a cool gadget that is very easy to use, relatively inexpensive and which really provide this incredibly fun visual perspective. The thing is though that these are designed for capturing interesting moments and experiences so you really need to think long and hard about what interesting insights and content you can capture that is going to engage fans. Think goal kicking practice, tackling drills, day in the life of a player etc. That’s the kind of stuff that these Spectacles will be good for from teams. I’ve been lending my pair out to teams across Australia and I’m really excited to see the interesting content they come up with. If you’re part of a team or stadium or work in the sports business hit me up and we’ll see what we can arrange so you can use them.
As can be seen from the brief run down below, there’s been plenty of teams, fans, stadiums, sponsors and players using Spectacles to engage their fans with interesting content ideas as well as giving them this new unique perspective. Have you seen some other teams using Spectacles creatively?
20 Sports Spectacles Examples
Captured one of the many @DetroitRedWings goals on @Spectacles today. ❤️Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.#lgrw pic.twitter.com/NSQGRDkGud
— Nicole Allen (@NicoleCindyLou) March 19, 2017
Puerto Rico’s coach Carlos Baerga put on the @Snapchat @Spectacles during BP.
It was awesome! #WBC2017 pic.twitter.com/DWi6KnPg2Y
— WBC Baseball (@WBCBaseball) March 18, 2017
We put some @Snapchat @Spectacles on @StephenAmesPGA to see an iron shot from his vantage point. Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.️Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.pic.twitter.com/5q2s9F6Ccd
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) March 16, 2017
Warming up with No. 1 seed Gabe Dean! #NCAAWrestling pic.twitter.com/Oi6Km2QzER
— NCAA Wrestling (@ncaawrestling) March 14, 2017
Venezuela’s Carlos Gonzalez rocked @Snapchat @Spectacles during BP. #WBC2017 pic.twitter.com/DapMUcqzPk
— MLB (@MLB) March 16, 2017
.@CarlHagelin is wearing @Spectacles on our Snapchat story. You should probably check it out. Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.https://t.co/43hFKb5yAD pic.twitter.com/WYr9S0DXVP
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 7, 2017
A @spectacles tour of the #NFLCombine Fan Experience.
How fast is your 40?!
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.» https://t.co/dkkwERRGIY pic.twitter.com/3J3hvsaA1k
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) March 5, 2017
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Here's a pretty cool view; @LT_21 wearing @Snapchat @Spectacles at the start of @NASCAR #Daytona500 at @DISupdates @DAVHQ @gbbrmovie Image may be NSFW.
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Clik here to view." class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> pic.twitter.com/EVY4jDOdoV
— Judy Diethelm ❤ ✞ ツ (@JudyDiethelm) March 1, 2017
Behind the scenes of today's Script on Ice rehearsal with assistant drum major @kbarrbuckeye and @Spectacles. Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.#GoBucks @OhioState_MHKY pic.twitter.com/tCusMKcITF
— OSU Marching Band (@TBDBITL) February 24, 2017
Don't think I have a future as a tire changer but I sure had fun trying at the @mmschocolate @DISupdates display w/ @Spectacles! #Daytona500 pic.twitter.com/qYtQKOpJkt
— Amanda Lordy (@lordylordy) February 24, 2017
Did you add ussoccer_wnt on Snapchat? Good. @_JulieJohnston_ has some @Spectacles with her and you want to tune in for this. pic.twitter.com/J0jZDCdGFz
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@ussoccer_wnt) February 22, 2017
A little post-training fun with @Spectacles! #ForwardAsOne
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.: sjearthquakes https://t.co/4cLAyhqWcf pic.twitter.com/DeUyjIsA4K
— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) March 17, 2017
We're behind the scenes at the Etihad with our @EASPORTS @Snapchat host and of course our @Spectacles! Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.#cityvceltic pic.twitter.com/sKcg9QoFhP
— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 6, 2016
Experience #ProBowl practice through @OBJ_3's eyes on our @Snapchat account.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.: easports https://t.co/0pIBu5ji0K @Spectacles pic.twitter.com/MaNx90SFL5
— EA SPORTS (@EASPORTS) January 28, 2017
Capturing PELICANS DANCE TEAM NIGHT through the @Snapchat spectacle glasses. GEAUX PELS! @PelicansNBA #PelicansGameday #WinTheNight pic.twitter.com/aVpZDsAuC4
— Kelsey Finocchiaro (@LilKFinn) December 15, 2016
.@BuddyHield's view when shooting a 3! Image may be NSFW.
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More #Pelicans @Spectacles snaps: PelicansNBA https://t.co/5J4rY333zU pic.twitter.com/GGgbPQwcup
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) December 15, 2016
Image may be NSFW.
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Clik here to view." class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" /> through the @Spectacles pic.twitter.com/jVjftAVl9z
— New York City FC (@NYCFC) January 23, 2017
On the field and 'bout that action, catch Day 2 of Pro Bowl prep through the @Spectacles of @KJ_Wright34. Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Snapchat Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.| Seahawks pic.twitter.com/UB8QNrp6FJ
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) January 27, 2017
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Gather 'round & do your dance @OhioState_WBB
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Watch Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.vs Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.on Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.@BigTenNetwork #GoBucks | @Spectacles pic.twitter.com/SaYfdwsbk0
— Brutus Buckeye (@Brutus_Buckeye) January 29, 2017
A robot manhoop based on the mind of @JHarden13 took over the @HoustonRockets game last Friday. Check it. #Trollibball. pic.twitter.com/Tb8St52lSO
— Trolli Candy (@Trolli_USA) January 23, 2017