Review: Oakley Thump Pro

30/08/2007
By Staff Writers
In Cybershack Reviews

If you’ve ever thought that carrying both your sunglasses and your music player is a hassle, then this might be the product you’ve been wishing for.

I can barely see what I’m doing as I write this product review for the Oakley Thump Pro sunnies and that’s testament to their sun guarding abilities. If you’ve ever thought that carrying both your sunglasses and your music player is a hassle, then this might be the product you’ve been wishing for. Unfortunately I doubt that you’ve ever been in that state of mind, and whether or not you think the concept is gimmicky these are some pretty impressive musical sunnies.

We all know Oakley for their fashionable sports style sunglasses and unfortunately these are based on the less fashionable style where the lenses are half framed. You can also see from the images that the arms are substantially thicker then usual; this is obviously for housing the electronics that make up the music player component.

If these don’t match to your fashion taste then it might be worth taking a look at the Thump or Thump 2 models which are less sporty and more street smart. However all the Thump models are based on one design, the Bottlecap. If you’ve seen the whole range and none of them match your taste then possibly this shady musical may end here.

In terms of installation it’s dead simple, you plug the slightly cooler than usual Oakley USB cable from your sunglasses into your computer and then drag your music files directly onto the Oakley’s which will appear as a memory device. Also, once it’s plugged in it will start charging the internal battery and you can expect to get about 6 hours of battery juice once it’s fully charged.

There’s a wide selection of supported file types including: AAC, MP3, and WMA DRM 9. This will ensure that nearly everyone is catered for and you won’t have to waste time converting your files to a different format.

In terms of audio quality the small ear phones are on par with the higher end consumer Sennheisers and one advantage of this product is that you can actually position the ear buds to increase the bass. By putting them a little further in your ear you will notice far more bass, put them on very loosely and you can still hear the environment around you. This is only made possible because the ear buds are attached to the arms of the sunglasses.

The functionality of the music player is minimalist, you can fast forward, change volume, and there’s an equaliser that doesn’t appear to do anything. However in the end it’s all you really need from a pair of sunnies that are catered towards the athletes and consumers on the go. The lenses are also apparently bullet proof, but I wouldn’t suggest you go out testing this feature.

These sunnies are available in 256MB, 512MB, and 1GB. These are appropriate sizes when you consider what their main uses are. This device serves a particular market, it’s not a prosumer music player and it’s not going to be the most attractive set of sunnies. On the other hand they are very unique and practical, not to mention sound better then anything Apple has thrown are way.

So next time you talk to someone wearing a sporty pair of Oakleys just remember that they may not be listening to you.

Pros