# Insta360 is building smart glasses that move the battery off your face

Source: https://idevice.com/insta360-is-building-smart-glasses-that-move-the-battery-off-your-face
Published: 2026-09-26

> A granted patent puts the battery in a pack on your body, cabled to the frames. Insta360 says the pitch is hands-free video, not an AI assistant.

Insta360 has confirmed to The Verge that it is working on AI smart glasses. There are no specs, no price and no date yet.

What exists is a granted patent for "wearable glasses," as [Android Headlines reports](https://www.androidheadlines.com/2026/09/insta360-smart-glasses-battery-design-comfort-first.html). It takes the battery out of the frames. A thin, flexible cable runs from the glasses to a pack worn somewhere else on the body.

Meta does the reverse and puts the batteries in the temples of its glasses. That weight sits on your ears and the bridge of your nose for as long as you wear them. Move it to your body and the frames can feel much closer to an ordinary pair. The cost is a wire running down your neck.

Co-founder Max Richter said that if Insta360 ships glasses, the goal won't be an assistant you talk to. It will be hands-free video for creators who find filming on a phone awkward.

Insta360 makes the best-known 360-degree cameras and holds a 43% share of detachable action cameras. A camera on your face is a short step from a camera clipped to a helmet. The company is pushing on other fronts too. It has opened a flagship store in Times Square, it is working on mirrorless cameras, and it builds 3D Gaussian splatting software. Glasses would be one more front in its fight with the older camera makers.

Filming a whole bike ride or a whole hike takes far more battery than a pair of temples can hold, and a pair that gives out after a few minutes is no use to a creator. If recording time is what you're selling, a cable to your pocket is how you get it. It is clunkier than a sealed pair of frames, and plenty of people will say no to a wire. The ones who film for an hour at a time may not.

Companies patent designs they never ship, and Insta360 hasn't said this is the one it will use. Read the cable as the idea the company has on file, not a promise. Only one outlet has written this up so far, and its account rests on the company's confirmation and the patent.

Most rivals are selling the same thing right now: an assistant in your frames. Insta360 is betting people want a camera first. For anyone who films on the move, that could turn out to be the more useful pair.

## Sources

- [Android Headlines](https://www.androidheadlines.com/2026/09/insta360-smart-glasses-battery-design-comfort-first.html) (Android Headlines)