XREAL's Aura glasses go on sale at $1,099, $180 under the announced price
Xreal's Aura is $1,099 until December, then $1,279. You're also wearing a cable to a pocket puck, which is the real tradeoff.
Yesterday
ROKID
Rokid's $750 Color glasses take on Meta Ray-Ban Display without a wristband
Rokid's Color glasses weigh 55 g, about 14 g lighter than Meta's Ray-Ban Display, and you can steer them with a ring or your eyes.
Monday, Oct 26
Even G2 gets a $649 tortoiseshell model and an update that remembers your work
G2 owners get the 2.4.0 update, which lets Even AI answer from your past conversations. Even Realities says Brown 2 is its lightest G2 yet.
Thursday, Oct 22
SMART GLASSES
Victoria bans smart glasses from every school starting in 2027
Smart glasses are being locked out of schools before they've even become mainstream consumer devices. If the category can't operate in classrooms, its growth trajectory just got a lot steeper.
Thursday, Oct 15
XREAL 1 Pro+ glasses launch at $599 with much brighter screens
XREAL's new 1 Pro+ costs $599 and nearly doubles brightness to 1,200 nits, with the same chip and field of view.
Wednesday, Oct 14
SMART GLASSES
Nothing is preparing two pairs of smart glasses, and only one has a camera
Roland Quandt says Nothing has two pairs coming in 2027, one with a camera and ChatGPT and one that only plays audio.
SMART GLASSES
Alibaba launches Qwen Glasses N1 with a 50MP camera and eye tracking for payments
Alibaba's Qwen Glasses N1 start at 2,999 yuan, about $450, which is no cheaper than Meta's Ray-Ban glasses.
Wednesday, Oct 7
SMART GLASSES
Norway plans to propose a temporary ban on smart glasses in public places
Norway wants the glasses ban in parliament as soon as possible, and a panel to define which glasses count comes afterward.
XREAL's Aura glasses start at $1,279 and ship in mid-November
Xreal priced the Aura $20 under Meta's VR Glasses, and it's the one shipping this year.
Friday, Oct 2
SMART GLASSES
Hans Anders stops selling smart glasses in Belgium and the Netherlands
A major European eyewear retailer stopped selling smart glasses in Belgium and the Netherlands over privacy concerns.
Thursday, Oct 1
SMART GLASSES
Newsom vetoes the California bill that would have required recording lights on smart glasses
California's governor vetoed a bill banning secret recording through smart glasses, calling its wording too broad.
Tuesday, Sep 29
INMO AIR 3
INMO's AIR3 Smart Glasses Are Recalled Over Burns and Overheating
INMO's AIR3 smart glasses are recalled after wearers reported burns from overheating near the face and ear.
Saturday, Sep 26
SMART GLASSES
Insta360 is building smart glasses that move the battery off your face
Insta360's smart glasses route the battery off your face and down a cable to your body so your nose doesn't pay for the compute.
Friday, Sep 25
Snap Specs go on sale this fall for $2,195, with no pocket puck
They cost $2,195 and ship this fall. Everything runs in the frames, and Snap rates the battery at about four hours.
Tuesday, Sep 22
Meta holds 94% of the display-free AI glasses market Apple is reportedly chasing
Meta owns 94% of AI glasses with zero displays. Apple's 2027 entry can't come soon enough for everyone tired of Ray-Ban's privacy scandals.
Nuance's $829 glasses double as FDA-cleared hearing aids
EssilorLuxottica's $829 Nuance Audio Plus frames just got FDA-cleared as hearing aids. Turns out "glasses that listen" isn't creepy when that's the point.
Friday, Sep 18
SMART GLASSES
A 93-gram tethered headset just raised $1.29 million on Kickstarter
93-gram micro-OLED passthrough glasses hit $1.29M on Kickstarter after blowing past a $50K goal in minutes.
Snap Specs cost $2,195 and ship this fall to developers first
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel calls disguised smart glasses creepy, defending the Specs' bold, unmistakable design as a deliberate privacy choice.
Thursday, Sep 17
Xreal's Aura glasses ship this fall under $1,500
One hour in Xreal Aura's Android XR glasses and Rita El Khoury's already ditching the headset.
Wednesday, Sep 16
You can try Snap's $2,195 Specs at Verizon stores, but they still have no ship date
Snap's $2,195 Specs do most of a headset's job with no puck or cable, and the apps finally feel worth using.