Oakley O ROKR Review by Ubergizmo

I’ve been testing the O ROKR for a couple of months now and it’s time for the review. It’s is a pair of sunglasses with integrated Bluetooth 2.0 (BT) stereo headphones. This fruit of the collaboration between Oakley and Motorola exists in 3 colors: Black, Bronze and White. It receives and plays audio broadcasted by another Bluetooth device such as a phone or an MP3 player. This is the latest generation of Oakley “wearable electronics”, the previous ones where the Thump and Razrwire Series. So how good is it? Here’s the answer…

Let’s start with the appearance: The sunglasses are quite fashionable, provided that you have the proper head size (it comes in one size only). Luckily, I do. The sunglasses are also very light – lighter than they look (and lighter than my Oakley X-metal Series). They are made of quality materials (even though it’s plastic) and that’s not a surprise as Oakley made a reputation for itself doing this.

A quick inspection reveals a few controls (on the top of each branch) that are quite simple to use:
Left: Volume Up/Down and Call
Right: Next/Previous song and Play/Pause.

The O ROKR can be charged via a mini-USB plug. I have to applaud this decision because I want a standard connector to charge ALL my devices and the mini-USB is my chosen one! From now on, any gadget that uses a proprietary charging connector will loose some precious uber-points.

Bluetooth
People who see the O ROKR for the first time immediately assume that it can contain MP3 files. That’s not the case: the device needs to receive music via Bluetooth from another device. To do that it must be first paired with that other device. I paired it with a Motorola Q smart phone (supports Stereo BT). It was really easy and worked immediately.

Audio Quality
Once connected, I tried to place a few calls and played media files. The quality is simply excellent. I tried many Bluetooth headsets (Motorola HS850, HS820…) and quite frankly I wasn’t really happy with any of them. The O ROKR has two advantages: first, the headset goes into the ear, not on the ear (like the HS820). Secondly, it works on both ears at the same time. These two factors contribute to a much better sound quality. It’s a real pleasure to use it as a phone headset.

Possible improvements
The O ROKR is really good but there are a few things that I wish where different:
• It’s hard to remove the sunglasses with the headsets plugged in your ears. Try that when you’re driving into a tunnel…
• No MP3 player function: having a stand-alone MP3 capability is better. Please make it come back.
• It’s big even when it’s folded: not always possible to have it in the pocket.

Conclusion
The O ROKR fuses cool sunglasses with a high-end stereo Bluetooth headset in one light but slightly bulky package. It’s a bit expensive ($249), but the cool factor and the top performance have a price. However, at the end of the day, the Oakley O ROKR is the best Bluetooth Headset that I ever tested, period. It’s just frustrating that MP3 players still don’t support Bluetooth natively.

Oakley O ROKR Product page

Get a second opinion, read these reviews
Mobile-Review: Motorola O ROKR - another sun glasses boost
MobileMag: Oakley O ROKR with NaviPlay iPod Transmitter
ilounge: Oakley O ROKR Bluetooth Eyewear
Game-boyz: O ROKR

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