The best smart glasses (aka the best AR glasses) offer a whole new way to interact with apps and the internet. You no longer have to look at a screen to view digital images: you can shoot them directly into your eyes; superimposing digital images onto your view of the real world opens up endless possibilities for entertainment, information, education and entertainment.
For example, imagine seeing map directions in a real space, or experiencing how new furniture will look in your actual home. Some models also allow you to take photos and videos of what you see, have speakers for listening to music, and microphones for making phone calls. Some can also be connected to a PC, PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X for gaming, and even the cheapest smart glasses can be used to watch movies.
But, before you get too excited, I should point out that this technology isn’t here yet. Even the best-augmented reality glasses (not to be confused with the best VR or mixed reality headsets) are still in the prototype stage. It’s all reminiscent of early iPad tablets, or the first smartwatch ever to hit the market. However, some, like the Nreal Air smart glasses, are regularly updated to improve the experience.
The best smart glasses right now
When you connect a pair of Nreal Air AR glasses to your smartphone, you can view content on a giant display that appears to be suspended in mid-air in front of you: the equivalent of viewing a 201-inch screen.
In that sense, the glasses, which were first announced last September and are now available in the US, UK, Japan and South Korea, resemble one of the best VR headsets out there. However, compared to those bulky devices, the Nreal Air AR glasses are ultra-light and portable. Plus, you can still see the normal surroundings around the display (albeit dimly lit), rather than being fully immersed in the virtual world. You can even view multiple monitors side by side if you want to multitask.
In short, these are the best AR glasses for viewing entertainment content…but be warned, this is the beginning and end of AR capabilities. After all, the glasses don’t actually have cameras. As such, it’s best to think of them as an alternative second display for your phone; one that practically floats in your field of view.
Still, that’s pretty cool in its own right, and perfect for gaming. That means you get a huge display that only you can see, and two speakers for audio. You can view it anywhere, even in low-light conditions. That means you can spend a long bus or train journey watching a movie on a big screen (looks like it). Again, you can technically do this with a VR headset, but you’ll completely cut yourself off from the world around you; whether it’s a conductor trying to punch a ticket or a thief trying to steal your wallet.
Perhaps the biggest downside to these glasses, though, is that they don’t have their own batteries; you have to plug them into the smartphone they’re paired with. It’s both a physically clunky experience and drains your phone’s battery pretty quickly. Again, the only way to control the glasses is through your smartphone.
The Snap Spectacles 3 AR glasses are great for social media. You may have stayed away from Snapchat or never joined the filtered social network in the first place. But it’s still hugely popular, and its parent company Snap is at the forefront of AR development. So this month’s announcement of the new Snap Spectacles 4 is big news: the first in the series to offer augmented reality in real-time.
Unfortunately, this new model is not yet for sale. Beyond that, you can only buy the current model of the Snap Spectacles 3.
Released in 2019, the biggest selling point of the glasses is that they feature two cameras in addition to two speakers and four microphones. This means that in addition to taking normal photos and videos, you can also capture 3D images, which can be viewed through the included Cardboard viewer.
The resolution is impressive: 1728 x 1728 pixels for stills and 1216 x 1216 pixels for video at 60fps. You also get four microphones, which provide powerful audio capture. In addition, there is 4GB of flash memory on board, enough for up to 100 3D videos or 1,200 3D photos.
As you’d expect from Snap, you can also apply tons of cool filters to your photos and videos. But frustratingly, you can only do this after importing them into Snap: you can’t see the filters appear in real life. Still, they’re cool, and if you’re into that sort of thing, the eyewear design is a real fashion statement in itself.
Engo Glasses The Engo 2 is designed for those who love to exercise and track stats. Today, many of us out for a run or a bike ride use technology to help us stay on track and measure our performance. But not only is looking down at the screen all the time disrupting your rhythm, but it can also lead to an accident if you keep your eyes on the road for too long.
The Engo 2 aims to solve this problem by putting your real-time data such as heart rate, power, pace, distance traveled, time elapsed, elevation gained and other details directly in your field of view.
Even better, you don’t have to fiddle with your smartphone if you want to change the information on the display. Just swipe with your hand in front of your glasses. Plus, you’ll get up to 12 hours of battery power on a single charge, the glasses are water, sweat, and dust resistant, and you can set them up on both Android and iOS phones.
Sounds impressive, right? Unfortunately, these smart glasses, which launched last September, aren’t great in practice. This is because, unless they are in the correct position on your nose, the image will quickly become blurry. That’s hard to hold on to when you’re running or cycling. They’re also bulkier than regular glasses, making them a drag on your performance. In its current form, the glasses can sometimes have a hard time distinguishing hand swipes from other things in the field of view.
But while they’re not perfect, they’re definitely the best AR glasses available for physical activity right now. If you’re feeling bored with your routine and want to liven it up a bit, you might want to try it. After all, there’s a 30-day trial, so if you really don’t like them, you can always return them.
AR glasses are not just for fun but offer huge potential to make people more efficient and productive at work. Lenovo leads the way here. However, while everyone is raving about their upcoming glasses, the T1, expected to launch later this year, their current ThinkReality A3 smartglasses still offer a lot to developers and early adopters to enjoy in the workplace. Try AR.
Originally released in September 2021, the glasses offer a 200p stereoscopic 8D display with 3 nits of brightness, allowing you to create and customize your workspace through augmented reality. There’s also a 54MP camera for video, hand tracking, three noise-canceling microphones, and integrated stereo speakers. The waterproof level of glasses reaches IP<> quality.
Note, however, that while there is a USB port, there is no audio jack. And there’s no onboard battery, either: the glasses need to be plugged into a compatible phone or computer to work.
Launching in May 2021, the Ray-Ban Story is pretty basic. Created by Facebook, they feature two 3MP cameras that pair with your smartphone via Bluetooth and are essentially a stripped-down version of the Snap Spectacles<> (second on our list).
They allow you to play music, answer calls, take pictures and shoot 30-second video clips and import them to your smartphone. They come with 4GB of storage, enough for 500 photos or 30-plus video clips. There are two speakers and three microphones.
You can capture still images at 2592 x 1984 pixel resolution and capture video at 1184 x 30 video at 1184 fps. But overall, the specs aren’t as impressive as the Snap Glasses 3…so why settle for these glasses?
Honestly, the main reason is aesthetic appeal, as they do look like standard Ray-Bans, which most fashion-conscious people generally consider a design classic. They’re also slightly lighter, slightly less expensive, and come in sizes ranging from XXS to XXL to fit all faces perfectly.
What are smart glasses?
What are smart glasses for?
Are Smart Glasses Worth Buying?
What is Google Glass?
Is Apple making smart glasses?
Are there new smart glass models coming soon?
There’s just one problem: These haven’t hit the market yet. Plus, many of the best-augmented reality glasses in recent years, from North’s Focals to Google’s Glass Enterprise Edition 2, are no longer on sale. So if you’re keen to try out some smart glasses right now, we’ve listed above the best glasses you can actually buy today.
At the risk of repeating ourselves, we should stress that none of these are particularly good, and they all have their problems. But they’re available, so if you want to get your hands dirty with AI and other smart features, they’re basically the only game in town right now.
