Google Glass may have crashed and burned, but at least it showed smart glasses can work, and sometimes even be useful. Now that Glass is out of the picture (for now), others are taking the idea of a connected headset and running with it.
In the case of the Recon Jet, which has been in the works for over two years, it’s literally running with it. The Jet is a smart headset made for fitness fanatics, probably most succinctly described as "Google Glass for sports."
The Recon Jet costs $699 and has a lot in common with Glass: It has a tiny screen that you see in just one eye, it connects to your phone to feed you things like maps and notifications, and you interact with it via a touchpad.
Another feature the Jet shares with Glass is really crappy battery life, but that’s less of a problem since it isn’t meant to be worn all day. The idea is you’ll slip it on at the beginning of a run or bike ride, then take it off (or shut it off) when you’re done.
Head of design
As much as the Recon Jet is conceptually similar to Google Glass, you’d never mistake them for each other. First of all, the Jet is built into a pair of badass sunglasses that evoke Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator. The Jet’s display is fitted *below* the right eye instead of above it, like with Glass.
The glasses are heavier than your average shades, but not by much. They’re comfortable to wear, and they don’t bounce around when you’re active, like I feared they might.
Recon Jet review
The Jet’s screen is nice and sharp — I never had a problem reading it. The main way you interact with it is through the tiny touchpad and a couple of buttons. Swiping the touchpad lets you scroll through options and pressing the button selects whatever you’re highlighting.
I let a few people try out the Recon Jet, and they all got the hang of it within a few minutes. The Jet doesn’t have the same voice interaction as Glass (there’s no equivalent of “OK, Google”), so navigation was crucial, and Recon got it right. However, I think the company made a bad call in making the touchpad so tiny; it’s hard to find just by touch — especially mid-run.
Jet power
Google Glass did a lot of things — connect to social networks, bring you headlines, and relay your emails an text messages. Recon Jet is much more specialized: It’s focused almost entirely on feeding you real-time stats as you exercise. If you’re running, you’ll see your pace, distance traveled, time elapsed and elevation gain... all scrolling through the display as your run. For cycling, you can add cadence to the list.
The Jet will even tell you your heart rate, though it’s not equipped with a sensor; you’ll need to connect a chest-strap monitor. Your compatibility may vary, however: The Bluetooth monitor I had lying around wouldn’t talk to the Jet, even though it would connect with my iPhone.
Since the screen is a tiny display module, not a prism like on Google Glass, it inherently occludes your vision a bit — but not as much as you’d think. Since your other eye has nothing blocking it, you can still see just fine, just with a floating display in front of you.
IMAGE: MASHABLE, LUKE LEONARD
The Jet can do a lot: You can take photos and videos, call up maps, and even control the music you’re listening to. It has a tiny speaker, but it’s really only meant for audio cues — you’ll still need headphones for music.
That’s great, but it’s not the most elegant experience. Putting aside the inherent weirdness that goes along with operating something on your face, the Jet is sometimes unnecessarily clunky. Sometimes you have to navigate across 2 or 3 menus to do what you want — which is annoying at best and downright dangerous at worst.
The Jet also isn’t that social. You can share activities to Facebook, but that’s about it.The Jet also isn’t that social. You can share activities to Facebook, but that’s about it. Even though I was able to capture photos and videos as I ran, but there’s no easy way to share them out. The company says future software updates will open up more ways to connect with friends.
We’ll see. I like what Recon’s done with the Jet, but as I used it I often felt as if I was using a consumer product that was made circa 2012. To use it properly, you need to download both a desktop app, Recon Uplink, and a smartphone app, Recon Engage. In 2015, a smartphone should be all you need.
The Engage app is well designed, but it’s not exactly seamless. I prefer Imperial units, but to switch from metric you need to adjust a setting on both the device and the app. Sharing my run to Facebook directly from the Jet never worked. It’s that Also, the app doesn’t integrate withApple Health — something that may have even solved my heart-rate monitor problem.
Still compelling
So, yes, the Recon Jet has lots of room for improvement. But it excels at its core mission: Giving you real-time feedback during a workout. Normally when I run, I make adjustments to my pace based on how I’m feeling. Even when using an app — say, RunKeeper or Nike+ — getting that feedback usually requires an awkward button press, at the very least. And one wrong move with your finger will result in an interrupted workout.
IMAGE: MASHABLE, LUKE LEONARD
With the Jet, knowing your pace is as easy as a glance. I was constantly adjusting, pushing myself to make sure I didn’t fall under a certain threshold. When you work out with the Recon Jet, upping your game becomes instinctive. You end up in a constant competition against the ultimate rival: yourself.
There are tons of devices that can track you, but the Jet is the only one that quantities your activities and feeds them back to you in real time. If this is the future of working out, bring it on.
Recon Jet
The Good
Badass design • Easy to navigate • Real-time activity tracking enhances workouts
The Bad
Clunky software experience • No Apple Health integration • Kinda weird-looking
The Bottom Line
Despite some rough edges around the experience, the Recon Jet’s ability to bring continuous real-time data into a activity is compelling to any athlete.
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