Is the "AI glasses," which often cost thousands of yuan, a toy or a tool?
Recently, AI glasses have witnessed an unprecedented boom. Internet giants, automobile manufacturers, and traditional eyewear brands have collectively flocked to the AI glasses market. Companies including Xiaomi, Baidu, Alibaba, Li Auto, Rokid, Yingmu Technology, and Thunderbird Innovation have all launched AI glasses products, vying for the next - generation human - machine interaction entry point.
On November 27th, Quark, a subsidiary of Alibaba, launched a total of six models of AI glasses across two major series, S1 and G1, in Beijing. These glasses are equipped with the Qianwen large - model, integrating ecosystems such as Alipay, Gaode, and Taobao into the wearer's field of vision. Officially positioned as a "portable super assistant".
On December 3rd, Li Auto's Livis AI glasses will also make their official debut, featuring the concept of an "on - the - go Li Auto assistant". With dual cameras and a pickup, it can remotely control the car, identify music by sound, and take first - person perspective photos, officially sounding the horn for automobile manufacturers to cross into this field.
On one hand, Internet giants are leveraging their ecosystems to seize the entry point. On the other hand, automobile manufacturers are turning AI glasses into "extras on wheels". The "battle of a hundred glasses" at the end of 2025 is about to fully ignite. Perhaps 2026 will be the first year of AI glasses.
01
AI Glasses: An Expanding "Cake"
1. Scale
According to IDC data, in the first half of 2025, the global shipments of smart glasses reached 4.065 million units, a year - on - year increase of 64.2%. Today's AI glasses are moving from the concept verification stage to the critical point of large - scale commercialization. AI glasses are expected to become an important carrier for AI applications. Their features of freeing hands, enhancing perception, and connecting the virtual and real worlds will reshape the way of human - machine interaction.
The market size of the Chinese market in 2025 is approximately in the order of tens of billions of yuan. In Q2 of 2025 alone, the shipments reached 664,000 units, a year - on - year increase of 145.5%.
Data from market research institutions shows that the long - term potential of AI glasses is still highly regarded, and the industry scale will exceed 100 billion yuan within three years.
2. Bubble
The narrative around AI glasses is becoming more and more grand and diverse. While capital is painting a rosy picture, the overheating of emerging industries will inevitably bring about bubbles. We should view AI glasses rationally.
Currently, AI glasses are still in the functional verification stage. "Trying something new" is the main reason for users to experience them.
In the first half of this year, the sales volume of smart glasses on the JD platform increased by more than 10 times year - on - year, and a new product was launched on average every nine days. However, statistics from industry institutions show that the return rate of AI glasses on platforms such as JD and Tmall is about 30%, and on the Douyin platform, it is as high as 40% - 50%.
Behind the high return rate, "lack of functional practicality" is the core issue reported by consumers. The fact that users put the glasses away after use also consumes consumers' enthusiasm.
The annual sales volume of traditional glasses in China is about 120 million pairs per year, and the overall consumption scale of glasses has exceeded 200 billion yuan. Approximately 360 - 400 million people wear frame glasses (including those for myopia, hyperopia, and presbyopia) in daily life, accounting for about 30% of the country's population.
Traditional glasses are undoubtedly a huge market, and glasses are an essential necessity for myopic people.
Today's AI glasses lack technological revolution and new business models. They are more like a combination of some mobile phone functions on glasses, with AI assistance for use, only providing a human - machine interaction entry point rather than a new ecosystem.
02
Are AI Glasses Toys or Tools?
1. The Impossible Triangle
AI glasses face an impossible triangle of performance, lightness, and battery life.
Stronger computing power requires a chip with higher power consumption, which will shorten the battery life. Longer battery life requires a larger battery, but this will increase the weight. Lighter weight is a prerequisite for all - day wearing, but it will limit the battery capacity and heat dissipation space.
This means that different players have different trade - offs for AI glasses.
Looking at the currently launched AI glasses, there are mainly two solutions for battery life. The mainstream one is to use clumsy but larger temple arms, sacrificing aesthetics and lightness to solve the problem. For example, the already - launched AI glasses such as Xiaomi AI Glasses, Xiaodu AI Glasses, and Thunderbird V3 can be described as having "wide temples and thick frames" compared to ordinary glasses.
Another solution is the removable battery design adopted by Quark AI Glasses, which ensures the aesthetics of the glasses themselves. The removable battery, combined with a portable charging device, solves the battery life problem to a certain extent. However, having to carry the battery and a portable battery - changing case means a slight compromise in terms of lightness.
Before the "super battery" is invented, neither of the above two solutions is perfect, but they are the two common choices in the industry.
2. Weak Intelligent Interaction
Smart glasses are not a new concept. In 2012, Google's Project Glass, with its technological appearance and functions such as taking photos and uploading, sending and receiving text messages, and querying weather and traffic conditions just by blinking, sparked a booming smart glasses craze.
However, due to the problems of high price and few applications, the popularity of smart glasses has only recently picked up again.
Compared with past smart glasses, the new - generation AI glasses that integrate AI capabilities have been greatly expanded from the perspective of intelligent interaction. Traditional capabilities such as taking photos, recording videos, and making calls have been retained, while capabilities such as payment, navigation, and object recognition provide more usage scenarios. However, according to some reviews and user feedback, they still fall within the scope of weak intelligent interaction.
Quark AI Glasses are deeply integrated with applications such as Taobao, Alipay, and Gaode. The "price recognition" function can identify products and display the prices of the same products on Taobao. The navigation of Gaode Map on the mobile phone can be projected onto the glasses through the connection between the two terminals. Alipay's glance - to - pay function can also be used directly through the glasses, making its application scenarios more diverse.
Especially with the support of AI, you can ask questions by voice, and the glasses can answer and even display the answers. However, considering the size issue, all components such as the battery, chip, and hardware need to be configured in a very small space. Therefore, the intelligent interaction ability is still much weaker than that of smartphones and smartwatches, which dampens the enthusiasm of more users.
3. High Price
If being bulky, ugly, and having weak intelligent interaction are the shortcomings of AI glasses, the relatively high price compared to other digital products is the only reason that keeps many users who like to "try something new" out of the market.
Even though it has many shortcomings, some novel features still arouse people's interest. However, the generally high price makes many potential users hesitate.
According to the semi - annual report of smart glasses on JD, the average price of smart glasses in the first half of 2025 dropped from over 2,000 yuan to about 1,500 yuan. However, to buy a "decent" AI glasses, 2,000 yuan is just the starting price. Take Quark AI Glasses as an example. For the S1 and G1 series, the lowest price for an S1 with a micro - display is 3,799 yuan, and this is only for a monochrome display. If your budget is less than 2,000 yuan, you can only buy the G1 without a micro - display. Although the two series of AI glasses were launched together, there is a huge difference in both the user experience and functions between the ones with and without a display.
Compared with smartphones and smartwatches, where you can buy a basic model for 500 - 600 yuan, the current pricing of AI glasses is generally too high.
As a digital enthusiast, affected by these three problems, I still want to wait and see. After all, it costs nearly 4,000 yuan to buy a somewhat practical AI glasses, and the services provided by ordinary AI glasses are still quite limited. In this situation, it's better to wait and see.
03
The Way Out Lies in Voice Interaction and Micro - Display
Compared with Google's earliest Project Glass, today's AI glasses have made significant breakthroughs in practicality and are gradually becoming a new - generation intelligent hardware category with great potential.
The good news is that Google and XREAL's jointly developed new Project Aura is rumored to be released at the end of 2025 and go on sale in 2026.
Undoubtedly, with the R & D investment and promotion of many technology giants, AI glasses are a category with greater potential than smartwatches. Because you only need to wear AI glasses on your eyes, and they have an instant - use feature. When using a smartwatch, you need to raise your hand to see the screen and use the other hand to operate, which is far less convenient than the former.
However, AI glasses also have their own shortcoming, which is the inability to perform touch operations. In fact, from the usage characteristics of the new - generation AI glasses, voice interaction is a naturally suitable interaction method for them. For example, with the Alipay payment function of Quark AI Glasses, the owner can directly wake up Alipay by voice (if the voiceprint does not match, outsiders cannot), combining security and convenience.
It can be said that the boundary of the voice interaction method is the boundary of AI glasses. Although there are buttons on AI glasses to control some mainstream functions, more diverse scenarios require in - depth cooperation of voice interaction.
For current AI glasses, whether they are equipped with a micro - display makes a huge difference in terms of experience and practicality.
Take navigation as an example. Whether you are holding a mobile phone or raising your hand to look at a smartwatch or smartphone, it's not very convenient. If you can use AI glasses, it will be very relaxing. However, without a micro - display, users can only use the navigation function through voice prompts from AI glasses. After having the display function, users can directly see the navigation instructions on the glasses, and the difference is significant.
Similarly, whether it's AI object recognition or connection with large - model capabilities, ordinary AI glasses can only provide voice prompts, while AI glasses with a micro - display can directly display text and even pictures on the small screen.
In our daily life scenarios, it's not very convenient to operate a smartphone or smartwatch with your hands, especially during commuting, driving, or traveling. Smart glasses that can be simply hung on the ears have a natural convenience advantage. However, these advantages need to be supported by more diverse voice interaction and micro - display capabilities.
In any case, AI glasses are now showing the charm of hardware categories such as smartwatches and smart speakers in the past. Currently, their capabilities are still relatively weak, and they cannot yet serve as a powerful tool for human - machine interaction. However, the potential they show is already very attractive.
When it sheds the attribute of a toy, it will surely be the time for its own explosion.
This article is from the WeChat public account "Shi Tianhao's Observation" (ID: shitianhao01), written by Chen Cong and Shi Tianhao, and is published by 36Kr with authorization.