Is Epson Moverio BT-200 The Smart Glasses For Many?

Epson Moverio BT-200 – A Review

Watching 3D movie in a cinema house is not at all impressive, at least for me. Why? Because I hate wearing those 3D glasses. Although it adds a realistic feel while viewing your favorite action movie, but most of the time it irks me and makes me dizzy.

The Epson Moverio BT-200 is among the augmented reality glasses in the market today, which aims at providing “new world of entertainment, manufacturing, medical science and more” as what they claim.

So let us see.

The Look & Feel

Since I’ve never got to hold the once anticipated but now ditched Google glasses, I’d say that this AR wearable from Epson has that edgy look.

But the moment you wear it, its bulky and clunky build becomes more evident. It has a 1.3 x 7.1 x 2.2-inch dimension (excluding the plastic arms) and with a 3.7-ounce frames.  That big and heavy, especially for those who are not regular users of glasses. One factor that other versions and models from competitors are boasting of, is the weight.

Moverio is 3D supported, which I find cool. Watching movies, playing games or browsing the net with its 24 bit-color (16.77 million colors) with an LCD size of 0.42 inch wide panel (16:9) and 960 x 540 resolution display are cool as well.

Functionality

Compared to other AR wearables, Moverio won’t paralyze your overall vision while using it as it is a see-through over the glasses. So you don’t really have to be stationary when on it. And this positively contradicts in a way, to the 3D glasses that I hated. Though heavy but the visual is more than good.

It has its own pre-installed Moverio Apps Market, but I spent most of my time browsing the net. Connecting online via wifi was easy-peasy but the browsing is a bit exhausting to be honest. You have to keep your finger moving and tapping the attached track pad every time you type a URL of any desired website to visit. As a first timer user of such a track pad, I really find it cumbersome. Not to mention that it is infinitely attached to the actual Moverio unit. It is detachable, yes, but not when you are using it. But there’s a good side of this track pad. It’s light and very responsive.

Performance

The OS Android [4.0.4] version is a bit outdated already for an Android platform like this one. But don’t fret as it can be updated via network.

With approx. 6 hours battery life with impressive specifications like a 1.2GHz dual core processor and 1GB RAM, although not the ideal specs, are good enough for this kind of wearable technology.

Feature

The VGA camera that is located on the right side of the gadget takes a so-so video quality. But is useful enough when taking videos while driving or trekking somewhere. More to go Epson for a “4K-like” video quality.

Its Surround Dolby Digital Plus didn’t disappoint along with the provided detachable earphones. It’s very audible.

Connectivity

Again, WiFi and Bluetooth are efficient. So as the file transfers and the fast charging capability with its On-The-Go (OTG) USB charging port.

It also has external memory slots for microSD (max.2GB) / microSDHC (max.32GB), which functions well and are very useful.

To answer the question, Is Epson Moverio BT-200 The Smart Glasses For Many? I’d say No. I would agree that this piece of technology is a promising one and that Epson will bring more wow factor on to its next versions soon. This current model is fit for “office and by manual workers use, like delivery people and field doctors”. But since it carries entertainment and games, some percentage of users or would-be buyers then would include yuppies and gamers. Especially those drone fanatics. 🙂

But, with the price of $699.99, I’d finally say, why not give it a try. As other competitors have prices way higher than of Moverio’s. Think of that sunny vacation in the Maldives. Sun bathing and Moverio? That would be great, isn’t it?!

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