Oakley Thump MP3 Sunglasses

Reviews: Multimedia

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Mike McCormick
Kurtis
Oakley
Feb. 23, 2005

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Testing

The Fit

Not all Oakley sunglasses are created equal. I quickly found that I was unable to get the ear buds in my ear while the glasses fit comfortably on my head. Though the ear buds are free to pivot in and out as well as be adjusted fore and aft, they did not fit in my ears all that well. So the ear buds were placed close to my ear for comfort. There were no problems hearing the music at any time and they remained quite comfortable for the remaining tests. The Thump never slipped off my nose, no matter how sweaty I managed to get. The lenses do a great job of shielding your eyes from dirt and debris. While talking with the Oakley Thump hotline (yes, Oakley has a hotline specifically for the Thump, 1-800-969-2895), I learned that the Thump meets ANSI regulations for safety glasses, even though the owners manual does not recommend Thump for use as protective eyewear. The protective rubber piece over the USB connection was sometimes difficult to close and would occasionally open up during normal use.

File Transfer

In this respect, the Thump functions like an ordinary pen drive. Simply plug into a computer running Windows ME, 2000 or XP (it also works with Apple, though that wasn't tested) and the drivers are automatically loaded. If you are still running 98SE, Thump can be run but requires a driver be installed first. Thump has a mini USB 2.0 port which will allow you to quickly fill it up with musical goodness. I was able to fill the 247 Mb of usable space in 5 minutes flat. The MP3 files were transferred 45 seconds faster than my SanDisc cruzer micro USB 2.0 pen drive. However, I am stuck with only USB 1.1 ports; hopefully you can do better. The USB connection also serves as the battery charger for the Thump; one hour for a quick charge (4 hours of operation), or three hours for a full charge giving up to 6 hours of operation. In case you're wondering, Thump can also be used as a storage device for electronic files just like a pen drive. I recommend buying a charger from Oakley since it can be somewhat annoying to keep your computer on for 6 hours just to charge the battery.

Sound Quality

Since Thump has tiny ear buds, the bass is a bit lacking as one would expect. The equalizer seemed worthless to me. Maybe I am not a sophisticated music appreciation snob, but the only thing I noticed when I turned the equalizer on was the volume getting louder. There was no noticeable difference in sound quality. Several times I had checked the equalizer setting just to be sure I was not turning the volume up or down.

Endurance Testing

The first endurance test that I took the Thump out for was a two-hour bike ride. I was pleased to see that the glasses fit nicely over my helmet straps. Placing the volume fairly low (audible, but I still wanted to be able to hear cars approach), I set out for the ride. From the start, the Thump was keeping the tunes playing. When my speeds reached about 20 m.p.h. it occasionally seemed like the ear buds were causing extra wind noises that I was not accustomed to hearing with normal sunglasses. The wind sound, though not that loud, made it a bit difficult to hear the conversations made by other cyclists. Increasing the volume of the music could easily drown out the rustling noise as well as traffic. On some of the more intense portions of the ride, I overheated and fogged the lenses. A slight annoyance, but by flipping the lenses up, the glasses defogged in less than 30 seconds. This is a great feature for the Thump; it sure beats wiping the fog off with your shirt and smudging the lenses.

The second endurance test that was conducted was an hour and a half run. Running with the Thump seemed no different than wearing normal sunglasses. They stayed on my face and did not slide around at all. With all the jostling from running, there were no skips in the music. Of course this is expected, since Thump doesn't contain a hard drive and all the storage is stored on solid-state memory. Running with the Oakley Thump is great, especially if you like to crank the tunes on a run. In fact, the biggest thing to be concerned about while running with Thump is being caught in the rain. Oakley states, "Using Oakley Thump in or near water or other liquids, or in wet locations, may cause electric shock and serious injury. The frame is not waterproof." Though the Oakley rep claims that they can handle some moisture, which may shorten the life of the glasses, this tester was not about to hop in the shower to see whether the manual or rep was right.

Battery Test

After fully charging the Oakley Thump, I went to check the actual battery life of the unit at a normal listening volume. During the test, the Thump turned themselves off twice before finally sputtering out at the 6 hour mark. After talking to the Oakley hotline once more, they had me reset the glasses and update the firmware again. After the reset, all was well and the Oakley Thump did not turn itself off. The rep I spoke with told me they had never heard of the Thump turning off randomly during use like this, and if resetting hadn't worked they would have gladly let me swap my pair for a new one.

Customer Service

Normally I don't consider a company's customer service record and tech support abilities when I buy a product, but I have to say all of my interactions with Oakley were terrific. I was able to talk extensively with the tech support and they were more than happy to help. By offering tips, outright product exchange, and even telling me about advances on their next model of MP3 glasses, I felt like a valued customer. (Yes Oakley's next model, called "Razor Wire," will have Bluetooth capabilities, so if you want to get wireless to the extreme, you may want to wait for these bad boys to hit the market.)

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Page 1: Introduction & First Impressions
Page 2: Taking a Closer Look
Page 3: Testing
Page 4: Conclusion

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24 User Comments

1 - Posted by mike on February 23, 2005 - 6:36 pm

My first review... snif snif. Damn this cold sucks.

2 - Posted by Kurtis on February 23, 2005 - 6:40 pm

Yeah I've got a cold too... you must have attached it to your email along with the review. Damn you! *sniffle*

3 - Posted by mike on February 23, 2005 - 8:21 pm

The only way to send a virus baby. Hidden .exe

4 - Posted by kamesen on February 24, 2005 - 3:42 am

Snazzy, convenient, high-tech...BUT CAN THEY MAKE TOAST?! I'd be tempted to try them out...if only I could find that extra 500 bucks I had lying around...

5 - Posted by Kurtis on February 24, 2005 - 9:42 am

lol. welcome to the forums kamesen, and I'm sure that the $500 will turn up somewhere!! ;-) ;-)

6 - Posted by J2T on February 24, 2005 - 9:45 am

Oh, so that who is throwing the cold around. I'm fighting one too...though I am sitting here at work feeling like I have the flu coming on as well.

7 - Posted by Kurtis on February 24, 2005 - 9:46 am

isn't that weird that the whole country is getting sick at the same time? everyone but my dentist friend, he's got the immune system of... a horse... or something...

8 - Posted by kamesen on February 25, 2005 - 1:57 am

Thanks : ) I'll keep my eyes open for the cash. ...*starts digging around under my couch cushions some more*

9 - Posted by PennyManDeux on February 27, 2005 - 12:17 pm

Those rock! If I had the cash... oh man...

WHAT? YEAH!

10 - Posted by MaNiAk21 on February 27, 2005 - 1:00 pm

Or you could buy a nice pair of sunglasses and a nice flash mp3 player and not look like something from Star Trek. :)

11 - Posted by mike on February 27, 2005 - 1:28 pm

I am glad someone read between the lines. Go get an Ipod-mini and a pair of oakleys and spend the rest of the $$$ on women and beer. You'll be much happier.

12 - Posted by J2T on February 28, 2005 - 8:44 am

I personally thought this was a stupid product the first time I saw it and a waste of money. And to me it looks tacky as hell.

13 - Posted by PennyManDeux on February 28, 2005 - 7:26 pm

I think they are cool. If I was athletic or something I would love those. Otherwise I agree that they are a bit over the top.

14 - Posted by Kurtis on February 28, 2005 - 9:29 pm

I look stupid as crap in them, as I do with most Oakley sunglasses :-D

15 - Posted by SlipSand on March 3, 2005 - 4:31 pm

Wait you got those for free? To review? You must be stylin now man.

16 - Posted by freespo on March 21, 2006 - 8:44 pm

Two patents can be searched on Chinese Intellectual Property Office http://www.sipo.gov.cn against Oakley's Thump mp3 eyeglass and Razrwire sunglasses.
The Chinese patent Nos. 200530061016.5 and 200530059453.3 respectively.
Oakley always liked to suit others, but instead this case it will be suited again, just another hard task after American lawyer Mr. Weyer has launched patent suit against it with a 1990s patent. ( Weyer vs. Oakley link http://www.redherring.com/article.aspx?a=15190 )
Sale of Thump may be deemed an infringement on patents. Be careful.

17 - Posted by Kurtis on March 21, 2006 - 8:50 pm

I don't think the consumer is responsible lol... if Oakley infringes on patents, that's their own deal, customers don't know or care who owns the patents for the products they use

18 - Posted by blackjet on March 22, 2006 - 3:46 am

You know how I know they're cool?

Dog The Bounty Hunter wears them! ;-)

19 - Posted by Rich on March 22, 2006 - 8:34 am

As for patents in China, unless they apply for a US patent, then patent protection isn't afforded here. Of course, if you want to sell in China, then you will have to abide by their patent law. But the end user is not responsible for a product that infringes on someone elses patent, only the person or entitiy which sells the infringing product. Of course, if you have a product that uses a service, such RIM, then a shutdown of the company could have repercussions on the end user.

20 - Posted by mambo on March 23, 2006 - 8:44 am

Thats gangsta b*atch! :D

21 - Posted by blackjet on March 23, 2006 - 11:21 am

he's my hero ;-)

".....now kids if you see a man in a red shirt running this way you shout for uncle Dog!"

22 - Posted by freespo on November 24, 2006 - 12:26 am

Patents protect new technology for innovativeness. Oakley must obey the laws, such as Chinese laws. Such patent owners (more than two) have rights to suit Oakley and let its THUMP and Razrwire in illegal situation. Compensation and loyalties can be decided by the courts. Though, there are many more patents and applications for patents in other countries except for US.

23 - Posted by rickikool on March 13, 2007 - 6:09 pm

these glasses were sold in other parts of world in the 1960s then these clowns come and say they own technology can you say land of oppourtunity

24 - Posted by Max Slowik on March 15, 2007 - 6:33 pm

The Chinese and US patent offices are Best Friends 4 Ever now. China is seriously interested in protecting IP. Weird, though.

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