HTC’s $499 Vive Eagle costs $200 more than the cheapest Ray-Ban Meta and records lower-resolution video (1512×2016 versus Meta’s 3K). What HTC sells for the extra money is choice and privacy: you can use VIVE AI, Google Gemini, or ChatGPT, and AI notes are encrypted and stored locally before optional cloud processing for summaries. According to Counterpoint Research, Meta holds about 84% of the display-free smart glasses market. HTC still hasn’t announced what VIVE AI Plus will cost after the included 24-month trial ends.