Other smart glasses we’ve tested
We’ve tested several more pairs of smart glasses — some good and some bad.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Reno Air 3S Pro for $299: TCL-owned RayNeo offers several models, and I’ve tested several. The latest Air 3s Pro Glass has a 201-inch virtual screen (1080p, 120Hz, 1200 nits), but the 46-degree field of view lets it down a bit. Color vibrancy and brightness both offer big upgrades over previous releases, like the Air 2s and the older TCL Reno Air 2 XR glasses, and you can see almost the entire screen clearly (even after adjusting, I had to move them down a bit to my nose to avoid blurring down). You will also need lens shades to use them in bright environments. Although they are cheaper than our other virtual screens, I found them inferior in design, fit, and comfort. Reno has added a few more on-device options, including spatial sound, but it doesn’t work well for me, although the standard sound is fine. Reno’s software required for 3DOF is still poor and unpolished. It’s a good virtual screen value for the money, and is perfect for watching movies and light gaming, but if you want more from your smart glasses, I’d choose a different pair.
Chamelo Music Shield for $260:With a brilliant touch-control tint capability that enables you to adjust according to conditions, and with a built-in Bluetooth speaker for music, the Chamelo Music Shield could be your sporty street. You can adjust these dimmable glasses from 17 to 63 percent light transmittance (reflected almost clear) by sliding your finger across the right temple. The sound quality is good for glasses, but even cheap wireless earbuds sound better, and these are expensive due to their limited functionality.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Lucid Reebok Octane for $199: Designed in partnership with Reebok for cyclists and runners, these lightweight Bluetooth sunglasses feature silver polarized lenses, good-quality speakers, and 8 hours of battery life. I enjoy listening to music and podcasts while hiking and I love that you can hear the world around you. Sound leakage isn’t too bad, so people you pass by won’t be bothered. They also have physical controls that are much easier to use than touch controls, even when your hands are wet (they’re also water resistant). You can take calls, get directions and ask your favorite AI assistant questions. Lucid has been making Bluetooth sunglasses for many years and offers a wide range of different styles. We also tried the Lucid 2.0 Bluetooth sunglasses a few years ago.
Rokid Max 2 Glasses for $429:Spider-Man style lenses give these comfortable smart glasses a bit of character, though they won’t be to everyone’s taste. They feature a 215-inch screen (1080p, 120 Hz, 600 nits, 50-degree FoV) and boast a diopter dial for focus adjustment, but I struggled to eliminate blurring around the edges, and instead of stylish electrochromic dimming, there’s a clip-on plastic blackout shield. I also tried the Rokid Station 2, which adds an Android TV interface for accessing entertainment apps, but also adds a trackpad and an air mouse for easier control. The original Rokid Station was a more basic portable Android TV.
Don’t bother
Here are the specs that fell short.
Holiday Glasses for $499: While these may be almost perfect for thick regular glasses with a clever Ring controller and a small unobtrusive display, I can say with confidence that these are not the future of smart glasses. After spending several uncomfortable hours attempting to make the display readable, all I got was a headache. The ring seemed like a smart idea, but it’s big, ugly, plastic, loose, and frustrating to use. The listening AI is slow, and it’s really painful to try and see the useless texts it spits out. The sound quality and battery life are equally terrible.
Amazon Echo Frames for $300: Amazon Echo Frames (3/10, Wired Review) are a bit old now, but you can still buy them. Too bad they don’t do much. They work as sunglasses, filter out blue light and are IPX4-rated. Tech-wise, they have a speaker and microphone on each temple, and you can use them to query or command Alexa, as you would with a smart speaker, but there’s no camera here, making them much less capable than the similarly priced Ray-Ban Meta Glasses.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Asus AirVision M1 for $399: I was excited to see Asus launch smart glasses, but the lack of fanfare was a red flag. My first impressions of the lightweight design were promising, and the M1 offers a 100-inch virtual display and an impressive 1,100 nits of brightness. Designed to plug into your phone, laptop, PC or handheld gaming device like the ROG Ellie via USB-C, the M1 also has built-in speakers and a microphone. Sadly, the refresh rate maxes out at 72Hz and is limited to 60Hz unless you use the AirVision software, which also enables you to select different modes (work, gaming, infinity), adjust the screen position, and set the interpupillary distance (IPD). I found that the in-focus sweet spot was small, and most of my virtual screens were blurry no matter how much I tweaked the settings, making them inconvenient to use, especially for work. There’s also a basic plastic shield to block light rather than electrochromic dimming, and the speaker quality is decidedly average, making me wonder why the price is so high.
Solos Airgo Vision for $299: Powered by ChatGPIT With a built-in AI assistant, the Solos Airgo Vision adds a camera on top of the Bluetooth-connected speaker to the rest of its range. Give it unfettered access to your location and photo library, and it can describe what you’re looking for. The most obvious use cases are translation and navigation, although I’m not convinced of the accuracy of its suggestions. The design is interesting, with large temples with smart and interchangeable frames. There’s no virtual screen or HUD, but you can get prescription lenses, and they look relatively normal. Sadly, the photo and audio quality is terrible, and the touch controls are frustratingly complicated. The app is also power hungry and asks for too many permissions. The Ray-Ban Meta glasses do the same thing better.
Power up with unlimited access wired, Get best-in-class reporting and exclusive client content that is too important to ignore. Subscribe today.
<a href