3. Usability

There are controls on the tops of the left and right stems. On the left side are two buttons for raising and lowering volume. On the right are three buttons for forward, on/off and backward functions.

The ear buds rotate and move in different directions. They fit surprisingly well and don't go too deep into your ear. They can also quickly be flipped up and out of the way, so you can answer your cell phone for example. The sound reproduction is good - and loud.

In fact, this brings up a safety matter: be careful with the volume, as it is easy to blow out your ears. Ah, the perils of being a product reviewer! In particular, you should never put the Thump on your head before turning it on: you might have left the volume on high the last time you used it. If you find your ears being "blasted" it will also take a relatively long time to rip the glasses off, since the ear buds are rotated inwards. I quickly learned that it is wiser is to turn the Thump on and adjust the volume before putting them on.

We weren't able to do a fair battery test because the Thump doesn't seem to have a loop function. When it reaches the last song, it simply stops. Informally, we've have listened to about four hours worth of music without having to recharge. Oakley promises up to six hours of battery life.

Conclusion

The Thump sunglasses are a great first try for Oakley. Transferring music into the device is a no-brainer. The device also has an added bonus of being an emergency USB keychain.

It is only a matter of time before the capacity is increased and other features are added. We would love to see Bluetooth-enabled Thumps that could pause the music automatically, while you answer your cell phone.

The only major drawback seems to be the price: $395/$495 is a lot of money for eye protection and MP3 playback. But if you have the money to spare, the Oakley Thump sunglasses are a good way to get quality eye protection and a decent MP3 player, all rolled into one.