Is the smart glasses race already over?

The race is on!

2026 is set to be the year for the smart glasses race with so many new contenders from Google, Samsung, Amazon and Apple all now joining the fray to challenge the market leader Meta with their Raybans and Oakley's. It is my honest opinion there's already a clear winner before the race has even begun and these glasses arrived in 2025.

Break it down!

 

Meta Ray-Ban / Oakley

All of the global tech giants mentioned above have some cross-over with their smart glasses offerings. It's no surprise that Meta is focusing heavily on social media users and content creators by offering AI embedded smart glasses, armed with a camera for hands free recording, real time text translations and the ability to identify objects in the world around you. They obviously come with a microphone and open-ear speakers. You could argue these are somewhat more stylish due to the partnership with Ray-Ban and Oakley. The latest update introduces a heads-up display in the right lens for notifications and simple navigation.

 

Apple

Apple's smart glasses are rumoured to arrive in early 2027 so if you're already embedded in the Apple ecosystem you've still got a little while longer to wait. These are following a similar approach around the use of AI and visual intelligence, using cameras to process your environment. Typical capabilities will be identifying landmarks, having Siri answer your queries and translating conversations in realtime in over 20 languages. These will of course come at a premium price tag.

 

Google

Google aren't so much manufacturing their own smart glasses, they already did that with the Google Glass years ago and have taken learnings from it. Instead Google's approach is to develop the software to power them - Android XR with Gemini AI built in. The Android XR platform follows a similar story to the above to brands by acting as an AI assistant to process the environment around you, however will offer deep integration with other Google products like maps and workspace.

 

Samsung

Samsung are incorporating Google's Android XR whilst also partnering with Qualcomm to deliver the processor of their Galaxy Glasses. Their aim is to be a direct competitor to Meta, however the glasses will need to be paired with a smart phone via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to act as the "brain" to handle the processing of your environment. The aim here is for the smart glasses to be as light and slim as regular glasses, offering stylish designs with all day comfort, or however long the battery will last. 

 

Amazon

Of all the corporate giants Amazon are taking a slightly different approach, focusing almost entirely on voice and audio rather than heavy visual AI processing. These are essentially a wearable Alexa, allowing hands-free phone calls, listening to books, music and podcasts, seamless control of smart home devices, and all the other every day functionality that Alexa currently offers.

 

What's the problem?

Maybe I'm being cynical, but I don't see the real world problems that these glasses are aiming to address, particularly when they're coming with expected price tags ranging from $200-$800. 

These glasses have nothing to offer that your phone doesn't already do. Yes they offer the convenience of not having to take your phone out of your pocket, unlock the device and find the app, but what you're trading that for is yet another device that you'll be carrying around with you. You'll likely have to carry the case too as this also works as a portable battery (much like we have with earbuds). It's expected that a lot of these devices will last anywhere from 4 to 8 hours with mixed use (significantly reduced when you're recording videos), and fast charging from the case is expected to get you to 50% in just 20 minutes. 

The privacy of these devices is also one to watch, with Meta being in hot water not only for the devices not being obvious when they're recording, but also for sharing lots of sensitive recordings with third party contractors who were tasked with further training their AI. 

So who's the winner?

They're by no means perfect but have an excellent framework on which to build. The glasses in question are the XREAL One Pro (although other flavours are available). 

So what makes these glasses different? Whilst the corporate giants are targeting a wireless market, XREAL, Viture, RayNeo and Rokid are taking a different approach. These smart glasses plug into other devices like smart phones, laptops, tablets, Steam Decks, Nintendo Switch's and anything else that uses a USB-C / Thunderbolt / Display Pass through port to provide a huge display right in front of your face. You might think that having a cable there would be a nuisance it's actually barely noticeable. What is noticable however is the clear crisp sound of the bose speakers! The glasses are also packed with four active noise cancelling microphones in the frame so you're heard loud and clear whether it's a meeting or a gaming session with your mates. 

 

So what else can they do?

Actually quite a lot. They're useful in the following real world scenarios:

  • You work from home with limited space for a desk and monitor
  • You want a bigger screen for your handheld gaming sessions
  • If you need to focus the glasses come with 3 levels of transparency:
    • fully transparent (within a certain distance)
    • semi transparent so you can see your surroundings outside of the screen edges
    • Focus mode where it blacks out the outside of the screen boundary. This is particularly great for gaming sessions.
  • You travel a lot for work and want a second/bigger screen, offering an ultra wide screen for several windows at once
  • If you're wanting to watch a training video whilst practicing at the same time you can snap the video to the left or right side of your view
  • The screen can be anchored in place or you can have it "follow" so it's always in your field of view
  • Plug into your smartphone to turn it into a desktop
    • Android Desktop for Pixel 8+
    • Samsung DeX from the Galaxy S8 series
  • Watching Netflix, Disney+, Prime and any other entertainment. It's like having a cinema attached to your face.
  • Cloud gaming on the go with Amazon Luna, Xbox Game Pass and Nvidia GeForce Go. All you need is a phone, your glasses and a controller. 

This entire article was written from my Pixel 8 Pro using the XREAL One Pro glasses and a portable bluetooth keyboard and mouse. 

 

By no means perfect

I'm not going to pretend it's been a flawless experience. The cable provided by XREAL with their glasses unfortunately doesn't meet the specifications that Google and Samsung deem necessary, so after a few minutes of being plugged in the glasses would lose connection and I was left scratching my head thinking they were bust. It turns out you just need a better USB-C cable. Below is the link the one I purchased for plugging into my Pixel 8 Pro. 

The other problem I've encountered is that I the glasses killed the VPN connection on my work laptop. The VPN is provided by the Cisco AnyConnect software talking to Okta. I received an error from the VPN telling me that it didn't allow multiple network connections. This is because when plugged in the glasses have their own network connection to check for firmware updates. It is possible to disable this by going into developer mode, I just never bothered because I didn't want to have to keep disabling and enabling it. 

Other Accessories

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Please note that the following accessories are compatible with all XReal Glasses including:

XREAL have taken a modular approach when it comes to adding a camera to the smart glasses. The 12MP camera, dubbed XREAL Eye, can be purchased separately and connects just under the nose bridge of the glasses allowing you to take pictures and video recordings of whatever you're looking at.

XREAL avoid the privacy concerns faced by Meta due to the camera not being permanently attached to the glasses. It's also very obvious from the design that the XREAL's are smart glasses, whereas the Meta design could easily be mistaken for a normal pair of glasses/sunglasses.

Another useful accessory is the XREAL Beam Pro. This is a mobile like device that comes with XREAL's Nebula OS installed (built on Android). The Beam is a powerful cheap alternative to a smart phone. This device offers a simpler way to update the firmware on the glasses - although you can also update from a browser or the Nebula Android App. I'd argue for the price this is a great device to have as an alternative mobile though, whether you want to separate work and personal devices, or just have as a portable device to give to keep your child entertained. There are a number of options when it comes to the Beam Pro: