What does it mean to make eyewear for people who want to stay present? Since the launch of L’Atitude 52°N, journalists and reviewers have explored that question from different perspectives, from the company’s travel-first vision to the real-world experience of wearing the BERLIN frames. The Departure Collection is built around staying present and movement, exploring unfamiliar streets, enjoying new conversations, seeing unexpected views, and witnessing the moments worth keeping.

BERLIN brings a bold navigator silhouette and an expressive, urban character, while MILAN takes a softer, more classic approach designed around everyday comfort and understated style. They are different frames, but they share the same purpose, bringing useful technology into glasses that people genuinely want to wear. Camera capture, open-ear audio, voice control and Goya AI sit quietly within that design, ready when needed without pulling attention away from the world ahead.

A New Player in the Smart Glasses Space

Some of the earliest coverage looked beyond specifications and asked what L’Atitude 52°N is trying to bring to the category. Writing about the Departure Collection, TechInside looked at the experience behind the team, its Berlin design influence and an approach that brings privacy, travel and everyday wear into the same product. The publication ultimately described the collection as “one of the most coherent propositions in the segment this year,” pointing to a product shaped around a considered combination of form and function.

Birte Keller at Netzwelt saw similar potential, writing that “the German approach could give the Meta Ray-Ban serious competition.” After trying the glasses at IFA 2025, the publication highlighted ideas that give L’Atitude 52°N its own position in the category, particularly local media storage, the visible privacy LED and the Intercom Strap, which allows groups of up to eight people to communicate without an internet connection. Together, the two articles look at a young brand entering an established category with a clear idea of what its eyewear should offer and how it should fit into the world around the wearer.

A Striking and Exciting Addition

Other writers spent time with BERLIN itself, testing how its design and smart features hold up once the glasses move from a product page into everyday life. At WIRED Italia, Diego Barbera tested BERLIN in a category shaped by established names. His review highlighted the ambition to preserve the appearance of classic sunglasses while integrating a broad set of smart features into the frame.

At IFA 2026, BGR selected L’Atitude 52°N as one of its five coolest new gadgets from the show, with design standing out as a defining part of its appeal. “What sets L’Atitude apart is its trendy design,” wrote José Adorno, pointing to BERLIN’s larger silhouette, the softer, rounded form of MILAN, and the choice of frame and lens combinations. Alongside hands-free capture, Live Translation and the AI Tour Guide, BGR presented a collection with a visual identity that distinguishes it in a growing category.

The Best Reason Yet To Consider

Some of the most revealing coverage asks what happens once the glasses leave the specification sheet and enter the places they were designed for. Lauren Wadowsky at Gadget Flow approached the Departure Collection from the perspective of someone who regularly travels through Europe, considering how Live Translation and the AI Tour Guide could change the experience of moving through an unfamiliar city. Her conclusion was clear: “If I were choosing smart glasses specifically for travel, L’Atitude 52°N’s Departure Collection would be on my short list.”

In his review for Android Headlines, Alexander Maxham took a camera-first view. He described the 12MP Sony IMX681 camera as producing “some really incredible photos,” while also highlighting its 107-degree field of view and the flexibility to capture in both portrait and landscape. It is a perspective that brings the focus back to one of BERLIN’s simplest ideas: keeping a moment without first reaching for a phone.

Two Frames, One Direction

For now, most hands-on press coverage has centred on BERLIN, the frame reviewers have taken into the world, worn during travel and measured against some of the category’s most recognisable names. MILAN expands the Departure Collection with a different silhouette for people drawn to a softer, more versatile shape, giving the collection another expression of the same design-first approach.

Together, BERLIN and MILAN express the direction of L’Atitude 52°N: eyewear with different personalities, built around the same belief that technology works best when it helps you look up, move freely and stay connected to what is happening around you. The frame comes first. The intelligence is there when the moment calls for it.

Explore the Departure Collection, discover BERLIN, or meet MILAN.