How we score, and what we never claim

Every product on Shade & Signal carries a score out of 10 on each of four or five metrics and a weighted overall. This page is the whole method: where the facts come from, how they turn into scores, how the “best for” awards are decided, and — most importantly — what the scores are not.

What the scores are not

Units we claim to have tested: none. We do not run a lab, we do not own a shelf of review units, and no sentence on this site says “in our testing.” Sites that do test — Android Central, Tom's Guide, Wareable, UploadVR — are cited by name wherever we use a number they measured. Our scores are editorial judgments made from those published facts, weighed for the buyer who is comparing models on paper before a considered purchase. They never appear in structured data: there is no Review or rating markup on this site, because a score built from other people's measurements should not be presented to a search engine as a product rating.

Where every fact comes from

1. Manufacturer specs — Meta's newsroom and help pages, Amazon's device page for Echo Frames, Even Realities' spec sheet — for resolution, video modes, rated battery, IP rating, lens and prescription options. Meta's store pages block server-side fetching, so where we could not read them directly we cite a reputable spec table (Android Central, UploadVR) that reproduces them.
2. Measured numbers — battery hours under real use, weight on a scale, frame dimensions in millimeters — from the named review that measured them, with the reviewer's conditions stated. Where the rated and measured numbers differ (battery is the classic case), both appear, labeled.
3. Market, legal and privacy facts from primary sources first: Meta's own capture-LED FAQ, court and regulator announcements, the lawsuit filings as reported by TechCrunch and Fortune.
4. Unverifiable = say so. If a spec is not published — the Echo Frames' weight, for example — the row says “not published” rather than a guess. Where sources disagree (the Gen 2 prescription range is quoted three different ways), we show the disagreement and tell you to confirm at order.

The rubrics

Each product category has its own weighted rubric. The weights favor what the spec-comparison buyer is actually deciding on. A score of 10 means the best available in the category on that metric today; 5 means adequate; below 5 means a real limitation you should know about before buying.

What each metric means

• Camera & capture — sensor resolution, field of view, video modes and clip limits, stabilization, and low-light performance as reported by reviewers. A centered lens scores above an offset one for first-person video.
• Audio & mics — open-ear speaker loudness and leakage, microphone count and call clarity as reported, wind handling.
• Battery & case — the rated hours, the measured hours under heavy use, how much the case adds, and charging speed. Rated and measured are both shown on the product card.
• Fit & lens options — sizes available, weight, adjustable nose pads or temples, prescription range, Transitions / polarized / clear options, and whether an optician can adjust the frame.
• Everyday value — what you get at the launch price tier relative to the category, plus ecosystem: iOS and Android parity, whether it is sold on Amazon, how often it gets software updates.
• Display usefulness (display glasses only) — what the display actually does day to day: captions, navigation, viewfinder, notifications — and whether it is worth the weight and price it adds.

How “best for” awards are decided

Each roundup ranks the products that fit its question by overall score, then the first-column criterion for that question breaks ties and can override: on the big-heads page a wider frame beats a higher overall; on the prescription page a wider prescription range wins. The #1 pick of each roundup is the “category winner” shown on the homepage. Every pick — including the winner — carries a “skip this if” line, because no pair is right for everyone.

When the lineup is re-checked

The lineup was last checked against manufacturer pages and current retail listings on September 21, 2026. Meta Connect 2026 takes place on September 23-24, 2026, and new frames are expected; every roundup and comparison is re-verified immediately after any Meta or EssilorLuxottica launch event and at least quarterly otherwise. When a model is discontinued or replaced, the page says so with the date rather than quietly swapping the pick.

What “Check price on Amazon” means

We do not print prices. A price printed on a page goes stale within days, and a stale price is worse than none. Every button opens the live listing. Where the site quotes a launch price — “launched at $379 in September 2025” — it is dated and sourced context, never a claim about today's price. If the site ever displays a live price, it will come from the retailer's own data, be stamped with the date it was checked, and disappear automatically if it is more than 48 hours old.

Corrections

If you find a spec we got wrong, a model we missed, or a measurement that has been superseded, email mike@blackironathletics.com. Verified corrections are fixed within seven days and dated on the page — see the editorial policy.