Oakley's Split Thump: the relentless pursuit of fail

We're not sure why Oakley keeps gluing MP3 players to semi-fashionable sunglasses and expecting us to be impressed, but they've gone above and beyond this time by calling the latest model the Split Thump. Apart from sounding like a kitchen accident, it's the same old Thump concept you know and avoid, only this time with controls integrated into the O logo and detachable earpieces so you can just be a straight-up Oakley guy instead of a giant Oakley nerd. Pricing should make you feel similarly chumpish, with 512MB going for $249, 1GB for $299, and 2GB for a whopping iPod touch five Zune 30s Archos 605 $399. Coming your way in black and white soon, according to Oakley.

[Via Acquire, thanks, Bernard]

[dpjax @ Nov 5th 2007 8:21PM]

the dog likes them!

[Jeff @ Nov 5th 2007 8:49PM]

lol I was thinking exactly the same thing .....

Dog the Bounty Hunter likes them.

[brad @ Nov 6th 2007 8:18AM]

Best Engadget article of the month/year....i laughed really hard on this one guys...great job

[jperry @ Nov 5th 2007 10:34PM]

Cause I am the dog...the big bad dog...


Gotta love South Park.

[Billy Fiul @ Nov 6th 2007 1:48AM]

THE BOUNTY HUNTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[calvin @ Nov 5th 2007 8:22PM]

mm i want one.

[Kasi Viswanath @ Nov 5th 2007 8:25PM]

I couldn't control my laughter after reading the post. Damn, it was so funny.

@Nilay, it would have been much fun, if you had written "and a whopping 2GB for"

[Bee Hatch @ Nov 5th 2007 9:09PM]

I could have sworn you said 'daughter'.

[Jeff @ Nov 6th 2007 1:26AM]

I've been reading Engadget for years, and while I've always generally enjoyed it, this is the first time you guys got me to laugh. I got up to "kitchen accident" and couldn't stop myself. Good work. :)

[TMF @ Nov 5th 2007 8:34PM]

I could taste the satire seeping out of this post...

Keep up the good work!

[tealfixie @ Nov 5th 2007 8:40PM]

it'd be cool if they were BT and you could use them for phones and such...

and im sure the polarized lenses have something to do with the price... not to mention that expensive O logo

[Michael @ Nov 5th 2007 8:46PM]

@ tealfixie

Good idea! If these babies had some Bluetooth A2DP goodness, they'd be much more useful, because tools that wear sunglasses indoors and talk on their cell phones nonstop would have the perfect fashion accessory!

[Justin B @ Nov 5th 2007 8:54PM]

Or when you're running outdoors and don't want to have your mp3 player and phone.

[Richard @ Nov 6th 2007 10:54AM]

They already make a bluetooth pair, just don't have removable earphones.

[huh @ Nov 5th 2007 8:48PM]

I hate to fill for Engadget's lack of imagination once again, but Hmm, maybe Oakley wants to be there when video glasses become the norm?

[Blake Bowen @ Nov 5th 2007 9:08PM]

If oakley cared about video glasses they'd be making them. Plenty of companies already do.

[huh @ Nov 5th 2007 9:17PM]

@Blake Bowen, Sony tried a long time ago but are not present today. There are lots of players, but none are really brand name. Seriously, how else can you explain their efforts I'm not making a joke. The Thump line is a really bad concept on its own, there are so many better ways to listen to audio, but none simpler for video.

[Mile @ Nov 5th 2007 8:56PM]

They match that new ASUS mini laptop.

(Sorry, I'm just a tad down because there was no new ASUS engadget news item today)

[Sean D. @ Nov 6th 2007 1:02AM]

This post from earlier today should cheer you up:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/05/newegg-mistakenly-ships-out-five-eee-pcs-for-the-price-of-one/

[Jon Miller @ Nov 5th 2007 9:03PM]

Anyone else read "Split Thumb" in the headline?

[Bee Hatch @ Nov 5th 2007 9:07PM]

Oakley is just crap on all fronts. This is the pinnacle though. I wouldn't be seen dead with Oakley specs of any kind. You're only allowed to wear them if you have blond highlights in your brown hair and intend to keep them in said hair for 70% of the time while they sit on top of your big stupid head.

There is a small astrix on the storage sizes which Engadget have failed to see. The small print states '1gb, of hip-hop only, actual formatted capacity less'.

Also, all new BMW's come with a recharging port for them built in.

[Apitt @ Nov 5th 2007 9:39PM]

May I ask what kind of glasses you wear?

I agree some styles they make are mullet wear, but I wear their Rx frames.

[Reid Conti @ Nov 5th 2007 11:10PM]

I love my Oakleys, and yes, I wear them when I'm out rocking my BMW. But no, I don't highlight my hair or wear trendy clothes or conform to any of your stereotypes. Oh yeah, and there's no effing way I put my sunglasses in my hair. I thought the point of sunglasses was to help you see BETTER, not to rub them against your hair and gunk them up.

Also, not only are MP3 player sunglasses stupid, every pair Oakley has ever made have been hideous.

[primetime4 @ Nov 5th 2007 9:12PM]

It's funny how every single brand blogged about on engadget has some kind of hate group following it.

[Josh @ Nov 5th 2007 10:13PM]

I have 3 pairs of oakleys and i still hate these sunglasses - they are ass ugly.

[Chiablo @ Nov 5th 2007 9:18PM]

And if Apple made it, the Engadget team would collectively orgasm and have 8 posts a day about it, including an always pointless in-depth unboxing!

[Dylan K @ Nov 5th 2007 9:28PM]

It seems like it would be uncomfortable to wear.

[az_runner @ Nov 5th 2007 9:29PM]

Hey these things look a lot like a pair of oakley sunglasses my friend just bought. I almost bought them too, they're called hijincs. Apparently they are very popular. I loved the style, but they were a bit big on me. Hopefully these are a bit smaller in terms of lens size when compared to the hijincs.

Pretty slick though. Those look like a normal pair of sunglasses, you can't even tell. If you haven't ever tried one of these on, you're missing the whole point. I've been running in an older thumb and they rocked. Much more useful than an iPod in the same situation, I think.

[primetime4] you right it is weird. These people must all be rayband lovers or something.

[Randall Bennett @ Nov 5th 2007 9:46PM]

I think A2DP would make these a lot more interesting, although on the real, I still couldn't figure out how to rock them without laughing.

[Ryan E. @ Nov 5th 2007 9:48PM]

Brilliant!! Sunnies and MP3. The perfect beach wear.
Luv the removeable speakers and the icons as the buttons.

Gimme. Gimme.

[Thomas @ Nov 5th 2007 10:31PM]

You know, I enjoy reading Engadget most of the time, but sometimes it just becomes readily apparent that the writers on this site don't always get it. If the product is in it's third iteration, something tells me sales are hitting the numbers Oakley would like to see. Plus, I don't think the target market is a bunch of tech geeks who sit in front of their computers a large part of the day. (I'm not excluding myself in that comment.) Something tells me that if I'm running ten miles a day, training on a bicycle, or climbing a rock face, it might be nice to have my music and NO CORDS to get in the way. Just a thought.

[Mike @ Nov 5th 2007 10:32PM]

The O-ROKR and O-ROKR Pro from Oakley are what a few commenters have asked for - Thump-like sunglasses with bluetooth A2DP support.

I have to defend Oakley a little for their electronic glasses. I enjoy cycling, and appreciate the ability of these products to not actually rest in the ear. You can adjust the speakers to hover outside of your ear, giving you music without blocking noises from the outside world. It's a relatively safe way of enjoying your music without riding deaf, or annoying the rest of the world.

Now, if only they were slightly less ugly.

[alex @ Nov 5th 2007 11:20PM]

Thanks for pointing that out.
I think I'll consult with my fashionistas on whether or not those are cool looking.

[alex @ Nov 6th 2007 12:06AM]

Fashionista update: only "Dog wears crap like that"

[Mr Yuk @ Nov 6th 2007 9:23AM]

I have a pair fo the Bluetooth version and they work very well. Useful when driving and skiing.

[Mr Yuk @ Nov 6th 2007 9:24AM]

What's up with http://www.warezcat.com/. They seem to be an exact copy of engadget without the ads (which by the way I'm fine with since I know they pay for your great work)

[huh @ Nov 6th 2007 10:12AM]

@Mr Yuk: Very interesting. Too bad it still has the snarky, ill-informed comments. ;)

[John @ Nov 5th 2007 10:50PM]

You guys are forgetting how cheap these ugly glasses get when they aren't top o' the line, my first gen thumps? 89$ brand new, and I've even been complemented on the looks from non-dawg watchers :)

[BrettB @ Nov 5th 2007 11:05PM]

While I'm not big on the looks of the glasses, I can see how they fill a certain niche market of people who spend a lot of time exercising outdoors. I'm pretty sure they limit this to the style of glasses because the tech has to go somewhere and wire frames won't cut it. I personally hate my headphone wires and will be glad when they finally come out with decent earphones that go wireless at the size of my Shure E3c's. It'll probably be a while, but until then, this is a decent option if you fall into the niche they are shooting for.

[Bent Cardan @ Nov 6th 2007 12:22AM]

Clearly these things are not walking down the street with. It's for skiing or snowboarding. I love listening to music when I ski.

[az_runner @ Nov 6th 2007 1:17AM]

You know I think they are for both walking down the street and snow boarding.
I mean hey, if you take the speakers out, what you have is a pair of sunglasses.
Essentially what you get is your normal sunglasses for everyday use and then when you want music, like when you go snowboarding, you have that too.

[charlie @ Nov 6th 2007 1:18AM]

the oakley 'chav' edition, all it needs is a burberry version

[fred @ Nov 6th 2007 6:25AM]

i permanently associate them with that redneck dog the bounty hunter.
now its much worse of an association.

[Wayne @ Nov 6th 2007 8:05AM]

Manny Ramirez has probably already pre-ordered this bad boys.

[Alien Grey @ Nov 6th 2007 8:57AM]

Make a toilet with an mp3 player attached and I'm sold!

[LinuxISortaRules @ Nov 7th 2007 4:12PM]

I think Apple is working on something like that called an iPotty.

[Neil @ Nov 6th 2007 10:14AM]

I got a pair of O ROKRs dirt cheap and wear them everyday to and from work. The stereo is loud so it is easy to hear people, but not damaging to the ear. The BT works great with my phone and the music sounds good too. Usually headphones from phone offer less than stellar performance, but these sound awesome.

With that said the splits up above look stupid and are way overpriced. My O ROKRs cost me $50 online (yes their genuine, love me some Craig's List) and for that price are worth it. The asking price however is borderline insane with a little bit of nutso thrown in for flavor.

I know no one asked for it, so my $0.02 have now been donated to charity.

[Ayle @ Nov 6th 2007 4:12PM]

Why not go for the bone sound conduction? No need for earphones...

[Jono @ Nov 7th 2007 6:46PM]

Split Thump - Sounds like a kitchen accident.. hilarious line, coffee nearly came out my nose..

Also sounds like there are a few Oakley employees here...

[N @ Nov 10th 2007 3:23AM]

Wow,

You guys here sometimes just dont get it do you?? Too much time on butts sitting at computers. Ask any professional athlete if they have heard of the Oakley thump line and they will grin and say, yeah man, those things are AWESOME! I'm a rower, runner and cyclist. The Thump pro's are a godsend, a brilliant sunglasses that pack sound far superior to the ipod. These are just moving the line forward. Now when I finish my ride and go to a cafe for breakfast or hit the beach, off come the speakers and I have a normal pair of sunglasses on. I just DONT understand the amount of hate these can generate...maes no sense.