Engo Eyewear Engo 2 sport smartglasses

The Engo 2 Sport Smartglasses from Engo Eyewear may not be 'just' sunglasses, but they still offer good optics – alongside a clever heads-up-display which works either with its associated app or your Garmin, Apple, Sunnto or Android device. It's pretty high-tech, and while it's a fair investment they aren't excessively expensive – standard glasses with no display can cost similar.

At just 40g the Engos are barely noticeable on your nose; in fact, they don't feel any different to standard sunglasses.

As glasses their performance is good. The lens wraps nicely around the face to keep out the breeze, plus the curved shape doesn't distort your view. They're vented too.

The nose piece can be adjusted for fit, and the Ergo 2s don't move about on rough sections of terrain or when you have your head dropped on a descent. The arms provide enough pressure to keep the glasses in place without being over the top.

As a pair of glasses, I can't really fault them, and I like the way that Engo has managed to incorporate the technology while still keeping them looking like standard sunglasses.

There are two sizes available. These are the larger option with a deeper lens designed to maximise coverage for cycling (and for larger heads), while the smaller size has a lens 12mm shallower.

Unlike the Everysight Raptor glasses that I reviewed back in 2018, the Engos don't have a built-in GPS of their own. These purely display whatever metrics are being sent from your device via Bluetooth.

An app a day

As for pretty much everything these days, the Engos require you to download an app – ActiveLook in this case – in order to set everything up. You can also use the app to record an activity, while displaying the metrics on the Engo's screen.

Like me though, you may well be using a dedicated device for recording your rides. The Engo is compatible with Apple, Sunnto, Android and Garmin devices. I use the latter primarily, so everything to follow will be based on that collaboration.

The ActiveLook app has decent instructions on how to connect your devices. In my case those were a Garmin Edge 530 and a Fenix 6 Pro watch, the latter being the one I use the most.

First up you need to go to the Connect IQ store from the Garmin Connect app and install ActiveLook on your device. From there it is a matter of opening the settings for the relevant activity – in my case Bike & Run – and changing one of the data fields to ActiveLook. Boom, your glasses now display those metrics.

That's numberwang

You can tweak which particular measurements you want displayed, and while it takes a bit of time, once set you shouldn't have to touch it again. Everything from speed, time, power or heart rate is catered for, plus all of the other usual data fields.

There are various pages you can use and, if you have the gesture sensor switched on, a handwave in front of the lens will scroll through the pages.

Connections between the Engos and my Garmin devices were faultless, and I never had problems with them dropping out.

The Engos work well on the bike. The display is directed onto the right-hand side of the lens, but actually appears in your vision slightly to the left of centre, and towards the upper part of the lens. It is only visible to your right eye, though.

The display is a yellow-orange colour which I never found distracting, and it's bright enough for easy reading in daylight. When travelling into direct sunlight it can be a bit trickier to read, mind.

Battery life is around 12 hours, and a full recharge takes in the region of three hours. It uses a charger that connects by way of magnets, with the contacts remaining open to the elements. Neither rain nor sweat have caused any issues, though.

Included in the box are the glasses, a travel case (on which the zip instantly failed), a soft case, a cleaning cloth, a charging cable and a retainer strap.

Value

Judged simply as glasses they are good, if not necessarily any better than something like Galibier's Regale Ultra Optics for £46. But then, they're not just normal glasses.

All of this tech doesn't come cheap, predictably, and these are £286.68. Mind you, the latest set of Oakley Katos I reviewed were £245 without any heads-up display.

Those Raptors I mentioned earlier were £699, although that was with GPS and a camera built in. It's hard to tell whether that company is even still going, however.

Basically, smart glasses are still relatively rare, and we haven't tested any others to compare them to.

Overall

If you're looking for a heads-up display, you can't go far wrong with the Engos. They give you all the information you need without having to look at your watch or computer, and that makes them an ideal companion for those who are racing, or need to give the terrain their undivided attention. If the technology is worth the premium, then these will be for you.

Verdict

Look stock but actually have a heads-up display – these are effective and give a clear view of your ride data