The Xiaomi AI glasses are here, but how far away is the "era of smart glasses" from us?
The high - profile debut of Xiaomi AI Smart Glasses is an important step towards the era of smart glasses. However, there are still several key thresholds to cross before the real "popularization era" arrives. Perhaps only through the competition in the "battle of a hundred glasses" can we find the "smartphone moment" in the field of smart glasses!
A few days ago, the wave of enthusiasm sparked by Xiaomi's "Full - Ecosystem Launch Event for Cars, Homes, and Smart Devices" still seems to be lingering. The order backlog for the Yu7 has even extended to the middle of next year.
At the launch event, in addition to the Yu7 attracting significant attention, the Xiaomi AI Smart Glasses priced from 1,999 yuan also became another highlight.
Currently, netizens have received the physical products. According to various reviews, the online evaluations of these glasses are mixed. Some people believe that the glasses offer high cost - performance in terms of both appearance and core functions. However, many people are once again skeptical about current privacy and security.
In terms of advantages, the selling points of every AI product must include aspects such as intelligence, convenience, interactivity, and security. For AI smart glasses, users may place more emphasis on functions like object recognition by large - scale modal models, translation, and scan - to - pay. Xiaomi has indeed taken these functions into account.
However, some users believe that in order to make the glasses as light as possible, the battery capacity will be reduced, which leads to concerns about battery life. In addition, some netizens have mentioned whether the popularization of AI glasses means that we are about to enter an era of "total exposure" and whether the situation of secret filming will become more rampant.
As of now, the Xiaomi flagship store on JD.com shows that the sales volume of these glasses has exceeded 10,000 pairs. On Tmall, over 4,000 pairs have been sold, and on the Xiaomi Digital flagship store on Douyin, over 5,500 pairs have been sold. There are reports that nearly 50,000 units of Xiaomi AI glasses may have been sold in three days, setting the fastest sales record for Chinese AI smart glasses. As of 14:00 on July 2nd, the Xiaomi AI Smart Glasses topped the hot - selling list of XR devices.
Has Xiaomi Glasses Reached the Price Bottom? Is the Inflection Point Coming?
With the sudden rise and continuous popularity of Deepseek, the AI industry has indeed reached an unprecedented peak this year.
Lei Jun's words "Technology is not something out of reach but should serve the people." are once again reflected in the AI glasses. Xiaomi AI Smart Glasses have truly hit the price bottom, with a starting price of 1,999 yuan, while the comparable product, Ray - Ban Meta, is priced at $299. Netizens have exclaimed, "Xiaomi is stirring up the market again!"
Xiaomi's "market - stirring" move may mark a crucial turning point for AI glasses from high - end products to mass - consumer goods. As stated at the launch event, these glasses are positioned as "personal smart devices for the next era" and may become the first pair of smart glasses for young people today.
It is reported that Xiaomi has managed to "bring down" the price by reducing costs in various components. For example, it uses domestic Micro - OLED screens instead of Sony screens, abandons independent computing power and relies on mobile phone projection, and adopts a common - mold design to cut costs. For the first time, it has incorporated basic AI functions into a product priced under 2,000 yuan.
However, it is certain that the 1,999 - yuan AI smart glasses can attract many technology novices to give them a try. They can attract users with a relatively low price, leading users from trial to regular use.
On the other hand, the launch of Xiaomi AI Smart Glasses may accelerate the entry of domestic mobile phone manufacturers into the smart glasses industry.
In fact, Huawei officially launched the HarmonyOS - powered Hongmeng Smart Glasses at its winter flagship product launch event in 2021, which support real - time interconnection with mobile phones, tablets, and other devices. However, Huawei is still restricted by the chip issue and currently cannot find a suitable chip other than those from Qualcomm.
It is reported that the mainstream chip solution for high - end AI smart glasses in the market is Qualcomm's AR1 chip, which holds a market share of over 80% and can meet strong AI requirements.
There are reports that Apple's first AI glasses are expected to be launched in the second quarter of 2027, with an annual shipment volume of 3 - 5 million units.
According to data from WellsennXR, the sales volume of global AI smart glasses (excluding XR - integrated products) is growing rapidly. In 2023, it was only 210,000 pairs, but it is expected to reach 4 million pairs by 2025, starting to penetrate the traditional glasses market. After 2030, as the technology matures further, the penetration rate of smart glasses will accelerate, approaching 5%. By 2035, the penetration rate will exceed 70%, and they are expected to replace smartphones as the next - generation general - purpose smart terminals.
The industry generally believes that compared with other companies, mobile phone manufacturers may have a greater chance of success when entering the smart glasses industry. Mobile phone giants represented by Xiaomi and Huawei have obvious advantages in terms of capital, supply chain, brand power, and ecosystem.
The entry of mobile phone manufacturers into the AI smart glasses industry may not represent the inflection point of the maturity of the smart glasses industry, but it is undoubtedly an inflection point for more people to learn about AI smart glasses. Only with more users' attempts and understanding can smart glasses truly become popular.
Who Will Be the Final Winner in the "Battle of a Hundred Glasses"?
Looking back at the development history of smart glasses on the market, after several rounds of innovation, there have been technological updates in the field of smart glasses in terms of artificial intelligence, miniaturized hardware, and interaction.
The concept of AI smart glasses can be traced back to Google Glass. At the Google I/O Conference in 2012, Google Glass made a stunning debut in its "Explorer Edition", becoming the first consumer - grade product that truly combined AI with the form of glasses and entered the public eye.
However, Google's glasses caused great controversy due to their ability to take pictures at any time. They were once nicknamed "Glasshole". Coupled with problems such as short battery life, lack of application ecosystem, and high price, Google announced in 2015 that it would stop selling the consumer version, and the first wave of enthusiasm for consumer - grade AI smart glasses faded away.
Due to factors such as technological bottlenecks, lack of application ecosystem, high costs, and privacy issues, the market development went through a long period of stagnation. It was not until recent years that AI smart glasses have regained popularity.
In September 2023, Meta collaborated with Ray - Ban to launch the Ray - Ban Meta Smart Glasses, which achieved a balance between AI interaction and hardware lightweight, quickly becoming a best - seller. The sales volume exceeded 300,000 units that year.
At the CES 2025 held at the beginning of this year, "Approximately 60 Chinese companies and over 80 overseas companies participated in the AI glasses - related exhibitions, displaying nearly 50 types of AI glasses products, including pure - audio AI glasses, AI audio + shooting glasses, and AI + AR glasses. It was truly a 'battle of a hundred glasses'. The launch of these glasses has undoubtedly pushed the popularity of the domestic AI glasses market to a new height.
Currently, the domestic AI glasses market is clearly divided into three tiers. Among them, Thunderbird Innovation has ranked first for three consecutive years.
According to the 2024 China XR Market Sales Data Annual Report released by RUNTO at the beginning of this year, Thunderbird Innovation ranked first in the Chinese consumer - grade market in 2024 with a market share of 35.6%. This is also the third year that Thunderbird Innovation has won the first place in the Chinese consumer - grade AR market share.
Previously, there were reports that Thunderbird Innovation has established two R & D and manufacturing headquarters in the Yangtze River Delta region and will continue to conduct research and development on cutting - edge technologies such as full - color MicroLED, SLAM, and large - scale models to further expand its technological advantages in the consumer - grade AI + AR field and form a competitive barrier.
It is worth noting that although the "battle of a hundred glasses" is in full swing, the R & D of AI glasses manufacturers still has a long way to go on the basis of consolidating the "foundation".
The subsequent AI smart glasses are represented by Xingji Meizu and Xiaodu, which are trying to break through in specific scenarios. In short, they have started to apply AI smart glasses to real - life scenarios. For example, Xingji Meizu, relying on the Geely Automobile ecosystem, focuses on the "AR - HUD in - vehicle scenario" and has in - depth cooperation with Lynk & Co and Zeekr models. Xiaodu focuses on the K12 education market. Based on computer vision and natural language processing technologies, it can accurately identify students' knowledge gaps in interdisciplinary learning and provide personalized solutions for each learning obstacle, reshaping the cognitive efficiency boundary of traditional learning scenarios.
With the entry of mobile phone manufacturers such as Huawei and Xiaomi into the AI smart glasses industry, the interaction between mobile phones and glasses not only provides a good functional experience for AI smart glasses but also enables seamless audio transfer between glasses, mobile phones, computers, and even cars, giving users an extremely smooth experience.
According to the forecast of Sigmaintell, the global market volume of AI smart glasses will reach 5.7 million units in 2025, a year - on - year increase of up to 110%. The main factor contributing to the rapid growth in the short term is consumers' curiosity about new products.
The launch of a new product will indeed attract a wave of new consumers. Just like the current popularity of Xiaomi AI Smart Glasses, but after the "three - minute enthusiasm", the product can only maintain its sales volume by relying on its own "charm".
Will Smart Glasses Be the Next - Generation "Mobile Phones"?
In February this year, at the High - Quality Economic Development Conference in Yuhang District, Hangzhou, Zhu Mingming, the founder and CEO of Rokid, gave a speech wearing Rokid glasses. He displayed his speech manuscript on the glasses and used a ring on his hand to turn the pages, achieving a "manuscript - free" speech and setting off a new trend.
According to the online monitoring data of RUNTO, from January to May this year, the retail sales volume of smart glasses (including AR) was about 300,000 pairs, and the data is continuously rising. The annual sales volume is expected to exceed one million, with a year - on - year growth rate of over 130%.
In addition, according to the forecast of IDC, the global shipment volume of smart glasses will reach 12.05 million units in 2025, a year - on - year increase of 18.3%. Among them, the shipment volume of audio and shooting glasses without display function will reach 5.47 million units, a year - on - year increase of 101.9%.
This indicates that the smart glasses market will surely experience an explosive growth this year. Whether it was the popularity of Rokid glasses before or the recent "scramble" for Xiaomi AI Smart Glasses, it can be seen that the smart glasses market this year will definitely develop more than in previous years.
Mark Zuckerberg said at the Stripe Sessions 2025 Conference in May this year, "AR glasses are the ultimate carrier of AI and have great investment potential in the next decade." He also said, "Glasses are the perfect carrier for artificial intelligence because they allow AI to see what you see, hear what you hear, and communicate with you all day long."
Microsoft has also stated that after adding visual processing to large - language models, AI can achieve functions such as understanding images in the open world, visual description, multi - modal knowledge, understanding of scene text, document reasoning, code programming, time reasoning, abstract reasoning, and emotional reasoning.
From this perspective, smart glasses are equipped with relevant hardware such as displays, earphones, cameras, and WiFi and Bluetooth modules, and have functions such as audio, shooting, and wireless communication. Using them as a replacement for mobile phones can truly "free users' hands".
However, the current pain points of smart glasses, such as battery life, interaction, and privacy, still need to be solved urgently.
At the supply - chain level, the current mainstream waveguide solution still faces two major bottlenecks: insufficient light transmittance and high mass - production costs. More importantly, the market for smart glasses' main control chips is mainly dominated by international giants such as Qualcomm. The R & D and production of domestic manufacturers are relatively lagging behind. The high dependence on imported chips leads to weak bargaining power and great pressure on cost control.
In terms of battery life, the battery capacity of smart glasses is generally only 150 - 450 mAh, and the battery life under high - load conditions is less than 4 hours. Moreover, it fluctuates significantly depending on the usage scenario and hardware configuration. At the same time, the battery accounts for 20% - 30% of the total weight of the device, seriously restricting the device from achieving the goal of being lighter than 50 grams.
In addition, the hidden shooting function of AI smart glasses is often criticized by users. People always feel that since the glasses are always worn on the face, it gives a sense of "being monitored at any time". In 2012, Google Glass caused great controversy due to hidden shooting. Abroad, wearers were asked to take off their glasses or were refused entry in public places such as bars and restaurants. Some wearers were even physically attacked for wearing the glasses in bars. As a result, Google Glass finally withdrew from the consumer market.
In April this year, Meta updated its privacy policy: Unless users actively turn off the "Hey Meta" function, the camera function is always enabled, and the company will regularly analyze the captured content.
Xiaomi AI Smart Glasses have taken this issue into account. After use, it is found that when users take a photo or record a video, the breathing light will light up, allowing users to clearly know that the glasses are in the shooting state, avoiding problems such as accidental operation or privacy leakage.
Even so, a large number of netizens still express concerns about privacy leakage and question whether the glasses may continuously collect data about the user's surrounding environment and interactions.
Therefore, in the short term, AI smart glasses still need to rely on mobile phones for ecosystem and software development and are difficult to become independent devices. Moreover, to enrich their AI + AR technology, they still rely on the mobile phone ecosystem. If the content is scarce and the interaction experience is poor, users will stop using them after the novelty wears off.
Overall, the high - profile debut of Xiaomi AI Smart Glasses is an important step towards the era of smart glasses. However, there are still several key thresholds to cross before the real "popularization era" arrives. Perhaps only through the competition in the "battle of a hundred glasses" can we find the "smartphone moment" in the field of smart glasses!
This article is from the WeChat official account "New Business Review" (ID: xinzhainews), author: Lin Mu. It is published by 36kr with authorization.