An astounding number of startups and established companies are selling or working with smart glasses.
We often report on Ray Van and Oakley Metagrasses, Google announces plans to take over them, and Apple reports on smart glasses for work. These tech giants have priority access to key components such as modern chipsets and can leverage existing device and communications ecosystems, as well as first-party AI models to enhance the appeal of their products.
However, the work of small and medium-sized businesses in smart glasses space is also worth noting. In this article, we want to make you realize what they are doing. Some participants have been relatively recent, including HTC’s launch of Vive Eagle in Taiwan, but they’ve been on the market even before Facebook and Essilorluxottica launched the Ray-Ban storyline.
The Ray-Banmeta was not the first smart glasses with a camera. Facebook itself launched a failed Ray-Ban Story two years ago, and nine years before that, a startup called Pivot Head released glasses with a 1080p camera in the center.
The first and mostly legitimate camera glasses were epiphany eyewear shipped in 2013 by a startup called Vergence Labs. Snap, behind Snapchat, acquired Vergence Labs a year later and used the technology to ship the first three generations of glasses from 2016 to 2019.
Epiphany Eyewear (2013) and Snap Spectrum (2017)
But the pivot heads, epiphany and glasses were all camera glasses, without speakers or meaningful onboard computing.
Meanwhile, since 2019, early adopters with invitation-only early adopters and mainstream consumers since 2020, Amazon has been shipping echo frames with speakers and microphones for music/audiobooks/podcasts and interacting with Alexa assistants. However, echo frames do not have any kind of cameras.
It was Meta and Esilol Luxottica, which used Ray-Ban Story in 2021, first paired with cameras, speakers and microphones in normal, good-looking glasses with Ray-Ban Story.
Amazon Echo Frame and Ray-Ban Story (2021)
Today there are Chinese startups selling Ray-Ban metaclones, and many Chinese startups where companies all over the world offer their own take on displayless smart glasses.
Some of the key displayless smart glasses that compete with the Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta HSTN are:
Solos Airgo V2
- AI Model: chatgpt / claude / imini / deepseek
- price: $300
- release: Q4 2025
- availability: global
Xiaomi ai glasses
- AI Model: Xiaoai
- price:~$300
- release: July 2025
- availability: China only (for now)
HTC Vive Eagle
- AI Model: gemini / chatgpt
- price:~$550
- release: September 2025
- availability: Taiwan only
Mentala Live
Within Displassless Smart Glasses, Mentra Live has an open source OS and SDK that allows developers to develop apps freely and easily.
- price: $300 (pre-order fee is $250)
- release: December 2025
- availability: US only
Wave camera glasses
An important “feature” of waves is that there is no camera LED, so you don’t know when to record.
- price: $300- $500
- release: 2026
- availability: global
Jioframes
Jio is India’s largest mobile network and is reportedly considering shipping cheap Horizon OS headsets in the country.
- price: TBA
- release: “Immediately”
- availability: India only
There is a lot of hype in the launch of Meta’s Monocular Head-Up Display (HUD) glasses, the codename HyperNova, but there are already multiple smart glasses with HUDs.
HUD means a small, fixed-placement display that can provide contextual information such as notifications, turn-by-turn direction, AI output, translation, and more, normally (but not always) distributed via waveguides.
we it’s not The “bird bass” optics are farther away from the eyes than real glasses, so here, including virtual monitor glasses such as Xreal and Viture, darken the view of the real world, so it cannot be used as all-day eyewear or sunglasses.
| Full color | binocular | |
| Meta (reportedly) | ✅ | ❌ |
| North Focus | ✅ | ❌ |
| Even the G1 | ❌ | ✅ |
| Brilliant Lab Hello | ✅ | ❌ |
| Coarse glasses | ❌ | ✅ |
| Xrai AR2 | ❌ | ✅ |
| inmo go 2 | ❌ | ✅ |
| Haride glasses | ❌ | ❌ |
| Amazon’s (reportedly) | ✅ | ❌ |
North Focal (Cancelled)
North was the company that first shipped normal-looking consumer HUD glasses in 2019, called Focals, for $600.
The North Focals display was in full color, but it was a monocooler. This provided a full-color image, but was only offered on one eye, like Meta’s upcoming HUD glasses.
The focus of the North had a somewhat cult following in our industry and was undoubtedly very ahead of their time.
Google acquires North’s Focals Smartglasses Business
Google has confirmed it has acquired North and its Focals SmartGlasses Platform. Recently, reports have spread that an acquisition is ongoing, and Google has officially confirmed the move. “Today we are announcing that Google has acquired North, a pioneer in human computer interfaces and smart glasses.
In 2020, Google acquired North and Focals 2.0 was cancelled. North’s DNA is present in monocular HUD glasses in Google and Samsung reference designs today and will be displayed in I/O 2025. However, no products with HUD or Google-powered products have been announced yet.
Even the G1
Even in reality, it is a Chinese startup with German subsidiary. Earlier this year we shipped the G1, the first truly regular smart glasses with a HUD.
The G1 is binocular, but in monochrome. This means that it provides an image for both eyes, but this image consists of only one green color.
Two G1 styles.
The dual 640 x 200 green-only microrefray is enlarged with a 25-degree field of view and has a brightness of approximately 1000 nits.
Due to the lack of cameras and speakers, even the G1 focuses on use cases for text display, such as acting as a teleprompter, translation and providing subtitles for actual speeches, and displaying turn-by-turn navigation.
Two G1 styles are worn.
Even the G1 weighs only 40 grams, starting at $600 in the US. Two different styles are available. One has a circular lens and the other has a more rectangular design.
Brilliant Lab Hello
Brilliant Lab is a Singapore-based startup and is already in its third product.
The first thing called the Monocle in 2023 was a thick but light lens attached to existing glasses. The second, known as the second frame, arrived last year and had a monocular HUD of colour that was very visible externally on the lens. Last month, it revealed a third pre-order called Hello and opened.
Brilliant Lab Hello
Halo’s display is in full color, but monocular. This means that it provides a full-color image, but only one eye. The display module above the right lens can be clearly displayed externally and with diopter adjustments.
Brillation Labs Halo has bone conduction speakers for private audio, two microphones with audio activity detection, and a “low power optical sensor” designed for vision-enabled AI models rather than capturing images and videos.
Out of the box, Halo can talk to AI called NOA, and has an SDK for apps on connected Bluetooth devices such as smartphones, taking advantage of the ability to use microphones, speakers, image sensors and limited LUA scripts.
NOA AI also has a “vibe mode.” This allows you to create your app without explaining what you need and coding.
Brilliant Lab Hello
Halo weighs just 40 grams, and can be pre-ordered for $300 and should ship in the fourth quarter of this year.
Haride glasses
The Halliday glasses were shipped in limited quantities earlier this year.
They are both monocular and monochrome, showing only green colours from one eye.
Halliday glasses usually cost $500, giving some early buyers a lower price.
Coarse glasses
Rokid has been manufacturing XREAL-style display glasses for years and recently launched its first regular HUD glasses.
The rough glasses are binocular but monochrome. This means that it provides an image for both eyes, but this image consists of only one green color.
The rough glasses will cost $600 and should begin shipping in September.
Amazon (reportedly)
Earlier this week, the information reported that Amazon is also working on monocular HUD glasses.
According to the report, Amazon is working on two HUD glasses models. One is for consumers and the other is for delivery drivers.
Amazon is reportedly working on Echo HUD glasses
Amazon is planning to launch its own monocular HUD glasses, which it hopes to ship in late 2026 or early 2027.
According to the report, the distribution driver’s HUD glasses are bulky and have a monochrome display, but the consumer HUD glasses are refined and the display is in full color.
According to the report, Amazon hopes to ship delivery driver glasses in mid-2026, with the first production run of around 100,000 units. Consumer glasses will then continue either late 2026 or early 2027.
There are currently no true AR glasses in the West. In other words, there are glasses that look somewhat regular and allow virtual objects to be placed in real spaces in the consumer market.
As mentioned earlier, you can purchase 6DOF (locally tracked) virtual monitor glasses such as XReal and Viture, but these “bird bass” optics are farther away from the eyes and darker real world views than real glasses, making them impossible to use as eyewear or sunglasses all day long.
Rayneo X3 Pro (China only)
In China, startups like TCL-backed Reineo have shipped true AR glasses for about a year.
I reviewed the Rayneo X2 and found that technically a true pair of AR glasses, but a very narrow 25-degree vision and very bad position tracking mean that it’s not just a serious AR product.
Rayneo X2 Review: Are the first AR glasses good?
The Rayneo X2 is technically the first standalone AR device in the True Glasses Form Factor and a note from a history book. But is that something good? Read and research our reviews.
Since then, Rayneo has launched a successor called the X3 Pro. I haven’t had the chance to try the X3 Pro yet, but it has the same narrow view, but is reportedly excellent in positional tracking.
The glasses weighing about 80 grams have been transported in China, worth around $1,300 since May.
Snap Specification (2026)
Snap, the company behind Snapchat, announced in June it plans to launch a completely standalone consumer AR glasses called Specs.
We believe it will be the culmination of the company’s ten years of work on smart glasses. SNAP unveiled three generations of non-AR camera glasses between 2016 and 2019, a few years ago for the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses, and in recent years have released two AR glasses development kits called Spectacles.
SNAP says it will launch consumer AR glasses called specs in 2026
The company behind Snapchat says it will launch a completely standalone consumer AR glasses next year called Specs.
The first AR Spectacles Development Kit available to selected developers in 2021 had a 26-degree field of view, 30 minutes of battery life, and weighed 134 grams. The second-generation AR Spectacles Dev Kit was released in September for interest developers to rent for $100 a month, increasing their field of vision to 46 degrees and battery life to 45 minutes, but increasing the weight to 226 grams and introducing a bulkier design than pushing the limits of what can be described as a true eyeglass style element.
Both AR Spectacles Development kits feature the Hand Tracking and Run Snap OS, a lightweight custom OS built specifically for AR, developed using Snap’s lens studio software for Windows and MacOS.
Compared to current development kits, Spiegel claims that the specs released as a product in 2026 “have a much smaller form factor with just a small portion of the weight and more capacity.”
