I went to get a pair of AI glasses and found that people with myopia don't need to use AI glasses? (With a guide to getting glasses)

Smart glasses can be regarded as one of the most eye - catching products in 2025. The various implementation plans present a completely different bustling scene compared to the mobile phone market next door.

However, against this backdrop of vitality and fierce competition, as a user who needs to wear myopia glasses all day long, the primary consideration before purchasing a recent smart glasses product is "whether it can help me see clearly", which far outweighs all the fancy AI features.

In other words, whether "everyone with vision impairment can enjoy the fun of technology" is actually a very important factor for intelligent eye - worn devices. It is also worthy of attention from everyone, including those with normal vision, because it reflects the degree of attention that manufacturers pay to users.

Image | VR Gyroscope

This time, using the Xiaomi glasses in our hands as a starting point, we have sorted out the lens - fitting processes of several major "intelligent eye - worn products" on the market, hoping to provide some support for your purchase decision if you're still hesitating:

TL;DR (Too long; didn't read)

• Most smart glasses products currently on the market offer first - party lens - fitting services, but the partners vary.
• Myopia of - 600 degrees and hyperopia of + 800 degrees are a dividing line. Beyond this range, the options for lens - fitting will decrease.
• Most mainstream products support users to purchase and install third - party lenses by themselves. The lens - fitting process is basically the same as that of ordinary frames.
• There are fewer third - party options for special - shaped clip - on lens sets (such as the Thunderbird Air 3), and some brands do not provide independent purchase channels officially.

We Fitted Several Pairs of AI Glasses and Compiled This Lens - Fitting Guide

First, I need to briefly introduce to readers with normal vision who (fortunately) have never experienced the medical lens - fitting process how ordinary glasses are fitted. This will facilitate the comparison of the lens - fitting processes of various smart glasses or headsets.

Taking the four most common situations in daily life: myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and presbyopia as examples, the lenses used to correct these vision impairments are usually called prescription lenses. That is, lenses that are effective only after being examined and prescribed by an optometrist. They are also called refractive lenses because of their working principle.

In contrast to refractive lenses are plano lenses, which simply serve a protective or decorative purpose and do not bend light. For example, common sunglasses, sports protective glasses, and polarized glasses used to eliminate water surface reflections when fishing all belong to the broad category of plano lenses.

The principle of polarized glasses is the same as that of the circular polarizing filter (CPL) used in cameras.

Under the current business model, the act of "fitting glasses" has changed from a one - stop service in the hospital to a very fragmented commercial activity. Buying a frame, having an eye examination, and custom - making lenses can be three unrelated steps.

For example, you can buy a pair of Bolon pure - titanium frames on JD.com, then make an appointment for a professional eye examination at the nearby eye hospital. Finally, use the optometry form on Pinduoduo to custom - make Zeiss ZeRui lenses. After sending the frame to the merchant for grinding and lens installation, you're done.

On this basis, we will find that the process of buying smart glasses and fitting lenses is not really more complicated.

Xiaomi Smart Glasses

Different from several other smart glasses on the market, Xiaomi is also involved in the glasses and lens - fitting business. Specifically, you can directly buy frames from third - party brands and custom - make prescription lenses in the Xiaomi Youpin app. The process is basically the same as buying glasses online after having an eye examination at the hospital.

Xiaomi Smart Glasses also promotes cooperation with Shanghai Mingyue Glasses this time, including free eye examinations during the initial sales period. After our investigation, if you need to match prescription lenses, there are several purchase and lens - fitting channels:

Buy the regular version of Xiaomi Smart Glasses directly on the e - commerce platform. After receiving the frame, treat it as an ordinary frame, go to the hospital for an eye examination, and then go to a physical store to custom - make lenses and have them ground and installed on - site.

Buy Xiaomi Smart Glasses in the "Mingyue Glasses" store on the e - commerce platform. You only need to provide your current optometry form, and you can buy the finished glasses with installed lenses at a combined price. However, the types of Mingyue lenses you can choose from are relatively limited.

Buy the regular version of Xiaomi Smart Glasses at a Xiaomi Home store. The clerk will guide you to take the frame to a glasses store that cooperates with Xiaomi (such as Boshi Glasses). The glasses store will specifically provide Mingyue lenses. After that, the process is the same as offline lens - fitting, and the lens - fitting cycle is one to two weeks.

Generally speaking, the lens - fitting process of Xiaomi Smart Glasses is not special at all. You can completely treat it as an ordinary glasses frame without any special functions and follow the normal lens - fitting process. It is very friendly to third - party lens - fitting.

At some Xiaomi stores, after buying a frame, the clerk will guide you to a nearby glasses store to complete the lens - fitting.

As for the cooperation with Mingyue lenses promoted by Xiaomi, unless you already have a very comprehensive third - party optometry form and choose to buy directly from Mingyue Glasses' online store, it is less convenient than fitting third - party lenses by yourself. The waiting period is longer, and the types of lenses and coatings are not as rich as when you fit the lenses by yourself.

In addition, the online lens - fitting service provided by Mingyue Glasses can only fit myopia lenses up to - 600 degrees. If your myopia degree exceeds 600, or if you have special requirements for pupillary distance, astigmatism, and lens functions, it is safer to buy the glasses directly and then go to a glasses store for an offline eye examination and lens - fitting.

Another thing to note is that the two electro - chromic lenses launched by Xiaomi this time do not support refractive lens fitting. If you have both the need for a certain degree and color - changing function, you can only buy the regular version of Xiaomi Smart Glasses and then custom - make photochromic lenses with a certain degree separately.

Thunderbird V3 & V3 Slim

It has to be said that after the release of Xiaomi Smart Glasses, the popularity of the Thunderbird V3 series seems to have risen again. Because compared with Xiaomi's "no design is the best design", Thunderbird has obviously made some designs.

Thunderbird V3 Slim (left) and Xiaomi Smart Glasses (right) | Gabriel

As a pair of smart glasses without a display function and default - equipped with plano lenses, the lens - fitting process of Thunderbird V3 and V3 Slim is basically the same as that of Xiaomi Smart Glasses, except that there are no partner glasses stores:

Buy the regular version of Thunderbird V3 glasses directly on the e - commerce platform. After receiving the frame, treat it as an ordinary frame, go to the hospital for an eye examination, go to a physical store to custom - make lenses, and have them ground and installed on - site.

You can buy Thunderbird V3 with customized Zeiss lenses in the Thunderbird flagship store on JD.com. You can directly fill in four indicators: degree, pupillary distance, axis position, and astigmatism according to the optometry form to custom - make lenses.

You can choose lenses with two refractive indices: 1.6 and 1.67, priced at 2499 and 2749 yuan respectively. You will receive the finished glasses with installed lenses.

Compared with Xiaomi, the online lens - fitting service of Thunderbird V3 is more transparent, and it can support a higher degree range than Mingyue lenses. The lens - fitting service on JD.com supports myopia from - 2000 to hyperopia of + 850 degrees. Although the final price is higher, it is more flexible.

Of course, if you are price - sensitive, directly buying the regular frame and then buying lenses offline is always a more cost - effective option. According to a user interviewed by ifanr who bought both Xiaomi and Thunderbird glasses, he only spent 298 yuan to custom - make a pair of 1.56 Essilor MoJie lenses for his Thunderbird V3 Slim offline.

Ray - Ban Meta

Although Ray - Ban Meta glasses are not available in China, their lens - fitting methods are basically the same as those of Xiaomi and Thunderbird, mainly divided into two paths: "custom - making directly online" and "replacing lenses offline by yourself".

In addition to Ray - Ban's offline channels, Meta has also opened a physical store dedicated to selling glasses in Los Angeles | Retail Dive

Compared with Xiaomi or Thunderbird, the advantage of Ray - Ban Meta is that Ray - Ban itself is a professional glasses manufacturer. Therefore, there are many more types of lenses available from the first - party. Whether it is prescription lenses or plano lenses, there are many different types and styles to choose from:

However, after such a set of operations, the total price of the Ray - Ban Meta Wayfarer, which originally costs 299 US dollars, plus Ray - Ban's prescription lenses will exceed 450 US dollars, even without choosing any special color - changing process or coating. The problem of high first - party lens - fitting costs still exists.

In other words, for Ray - Ban Meta, it is still more cost - effective to only buy the regular version of the glasses and then fit and replace the lenses by yourself. Take the prescription lenses launched by the third - party lens manufacturer VR WAVE specifically for the Ray - Ban Meta frame as an example. A pair only costs 90 US dollars:

Apple Vision Pro and Other XR Glasses

Strictly speaking, the Xiaomi Smart Glasses, Thunderbird V3 series, and Ray - Ban Meta mentioned above actually belong to the same type of product, that is, smart glasses with voice - operation functions but no display function. In addition, there is another type of intelligent device in the form of glasses - intelligent XR glasses.

1. Apple Vision Pro

Represented by the most iconic Apple Vision Pro, most current AR products adopt a design that completely separates the display component from the refractive lenses. The popular XREAL One at the beginning of the year, the Thunderbird Air 3s series, the MYVU glasses with a monochrome text display function from Meizu, and the Meta Quest headset all belong to this category: