Techware Lab Reviews Sportsman Eyewear
Sportsman Eyewear’s Take
Sportsman Eyewear is a company that would rather let their end product speak for itself. Check out the video at the top, produced by Sportsman Eyewear, that shows what these glasses can do.
PackagingPackaging of the Sportsman Eyewear was actually better than expected. All of the lenses, the frame of the glasses, and all other components that could be damaged during shipping, fit perfectly into the included hard case. Both pairs of glasses come with interchangeable lenses, that allow you to properly change them in and out, so that you can wear them in multiple conditions. Each item had a plastic wrapper, reassuring that your product is unscratched and is indeed new. The boxes on each pair are completely different looking. Although I assume that this is to help distinguish the two during inventory, it is nice to be able to look at the box and know that you indeed have the correct model.Wearing the GlassesBoth pairs of the Sportsman Eyewear glasses are comfortable to wear. Only one individual I had wear the glasses claimed that they were uncomfortable and would not be comfortable wearing them on a daily basis. I must point out that the back of the frame (the part that goes beyond your ear) is a little tight, but it is intended to be that way to hold the glasses still during rapid movement. I actually took the glasses on a road trip, leaving my normal glasses behind, and was surprised at the ability to wear these full time.
About the Sportsman Eyewear 440/465Both models of the Sportsman Eyewear glasses record directly to a MicroSD card using the integrated 3 Megapixel lens. The operation and setup of the glasses is surprisingly simple. Once you unwrap the glasses, you simply plug them in, let them charge up, and you’re good to go. Fortunately, the glasses are directly to the point. You do not need to install any third party software to read, write, or edit the files, which is an extremely nice feature.
As mentioned, the video is written directly to a MicroSD card, that is included in the kit. For those that know something about flash memory, the card that was included with ours was a Kingston 4GB MicroSDHC Class 4 memory card. Although this is more than necessary for most circumstances, a larger card would allow you to use the glasses to their full potential. Luckily, the glasses support up to 8GB memory cards which would theoretically allow for up to 4 hours of video, or a full charge worth if video. As for the class 4 memory card, we would like to see a class 6 come with the unit, although this may not be necessary.
The design and fit of the Sportsman Eyewear glasses are similar to a pair of Oakley Flak Jacket sunglasses. Normally I would say that they are trying to copy the design, but it is not close enough to even be mistaken for a pair in person. When you wear the glasses, your field of view is not interfered with – a good thing if you want to wear these while you ride your motorcycle, shoot in a competition, or anything else that would require you to actually see out of your eyes. They do seem to be a bit of a tight fit in the rear, but I assume this is to make sure the glasses stay as still as possible.
TestingWOW! Let me get that out of the way. I was absolutely blown away by the image quality of these glasses. I was expecting a grainy, jumpy, less than ideal video, that was depicted in the promotional video. The video was much better. Given it is NOT HD quality, but for standard definition, I was impressed. Thirty-five frames per second means that you are going to experience blur with extremely fast movements, but the Sportsman Eyewear adapts quickly and gets the new image in focus before you know it. Going from outside daylight to indoors is not an issue either. The brightness adjusts quickly and seems to never loose focus and adapt . As with all technology, performance is not 100% constant and can change based on different conditions. Of the 7 or so hours of video recorded during testing in multiple environments, actual frames per second rendered was between 29 and 36 frames per second (average taken from video recorded and exported to computer). The video does break up sometimes during quick movements, but that is almost to be expected.Taking these glasses to the firearm range is an experience in itself. Watching the video, you feel like you in a real life game of Modern Warfare 2 (that’s a reference for you gamers). You will have unique videos that will allow you to make improvements by seeing what exactly you are doing wrong. As gunfire is loud, we were glad to see that the Sportsman Eyewear could handle it without destroying the microphone or heavily distorting each shot fired. This is one situation where the clear lenses come in handy. If you are shooting indoors, you can simply change the lenses to use them as safety glasses and call it a day.
From the Law enforcement standpoint, Sportsman Eyewear has potential to be extremely useful. Unlike an in dash camera, an officer can wear these and use the video as evidence for what he/she has seen on the job. These glasses could also be useful in a hostile situation to keep a video record of what happened from the officer’s point of view. As we have no police officers on staff, we were unable to test this scenario, only speak with officers on their standpoint.
The Class 4 MicroSD card included with the Sportsman Eyewear was plenty fast enough to handle the data that it had to process. At the end of the video, the light indicating that it was processing and saving would light for around one second and then you would be able to begin recording or taking pictures again. Although a Class 6 card would be a little nicer to have, the glasses may not be able to use it to its full potential, thus making it little more than novelty factor to say that your memory card is Class 6. The included 4GB MicroSD card was able to hold one 1hr 51min of video before it stopped recording. The battery was able to stay charged for the entire time the card was recording meaning you don’t have to worry about running out of battery before you run out of memory.Although it is nice and convenient to have a rechargeable battery, the fact that you can’t carry an extra battery in case it dies, or buy an extended battery pack to prevent it from doing so, is a little inconvenient.
The Sportsman Eyewear glasses are not only a video recorder, but also a hidden digital camera. If you simply give the glasses a quick push of the “play/pause” button, the 3 megapixel lens takes a snapshot of what you see.
Conclusion
When I received the Sportsman Eyewear, I was expecting to have to bash it a little. After using them for an few days, I honestly couldn’t find an area to complain. They are comfortable, do exactly what they claim, and do it well. The multiple types of interchangeable lenses allow you to adapt the glasses to your environment. With this ability, there an infinite number of uses for these. From law enforcement purposes and firearms training, to recording your newborn child or spying on your significant other by leaving them on the table when you leave, everyone could find a useful way to incorporate these into their life. With a price tag of $269, the Sportsman Eyewear is affordable for most and cheaper than a regular digital camcorder, however we would like to see these glasses a little more affordable. Not because they aren’t worth the money, simply because we think everyone should be able to afford one.
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