Snapchat Spectacles come to the UK

According to Snapchat, Snapchatters spend an average of 25 to 30 minutes a day using the social networking site, sending photos, drawings and videos to friends that are only briefly available before they disappear. With this multimedia messaging service, the company have changed the way we interact with those around us, enabling and encouraging their users to be frivolous, and now they’re offering people the chance to shoot these life snaps in a whole new way.

Snap Inc created a pair a of “smartglasses”, or Snapchat Spectacles, with an inbuilt camera that can record for up to ten seconds, which they released in America in September last year. Even if these devices won’t enhance the experience of online games and apps such as Facebook, Minecraft, the Spectacles will enable users to make new memories in a new, and almost instant, way. As the specs are synced to your phone, videos will save straight away and by using the Snapchat App these ten-second circular recordings can be edited before being sent to friends. The case that comes with the glasses also doubles as a wireless charging device, so users can charge their batteries on the go.

Having proved a success in the US, Snapchat Spectacles have now launched across Europe and are priced at £129.99 in the UK. As with most things these days, they can be bought online, directly from the makers or from Amazon (though at an increased price). But Snap have also supplied a set of pop-up vending machines called Snapbots. These bright yellow booths will be positioned in countries across Europe for those wishing to buy this latest product. At the moment there are two in London, but as they will be travelling around buyers can track them on the Snapbot website. For the sunglasses themselves, buyers can choose between black, teal or coral – the coloured options are as bright as the Snapbots – so you can certainly make a statement whether you’re filming or not, depending on how daring you feel.  

Questions were raised about privacy issues when this product was first introduced, but the designers jumped through this hoop by putting a small round set of lights on the frames that flash to let others know when you are recording. Since the sunnies were launched some users have called for a better way of sharing their clips with their other social media platforms and followers, rather than having to import videos from their Snapchat App, while others have commented on the 10-second time limit of recordings being too brief. However, the popularity of these fashionable filming devices is sure to keep on rising; though these Spectacles are pricey, users are loving this hands-free, personal and playful approach to documenting their memories and antics.

The editorial unit
Photo: Courtesy of Snapchat