Starting from 78 yuan and the top - end model priced at 450 yuan, Huaqiangbei has entered the AI glasses market.

In the first half of 2025, both tech giants and emerging startups launched AI glasses in quick succession, kicking off the "Battle of a Hundred Glasses 2.0".

On May 21st, Google announced a collaboration with Chinese AR glasses company XREAL to release a new - generation AR glasses, Project Aura.

On May 25th, Lawaken launched three models of AI glasses: City, City Air, and View. The City AI smart glasses start at just 699 yuan.

On May 27th, Thunderbird released four models of AI glasses: V3, Air 3s, Air 3s Pro, and X3 Pro, with prices ranging from 1,499 to 8,999 yuan.

On June 26th, Xiaomi launched its AI glasses, with the base model priced at 1,999 yuan.

On June 30th, Rokid Glasses started prioritizing shipments to F - code users (first - batch rush - buying users), priced at 2,499 yuan.

Besides hardware manufacturers and tech unicorns, internet giants like Meta, ByteDance, and Baidu have also joined the fray. If the first "Battle of a Hundred Glasses" a few years ago was a carnival for niche geeks, then the "Battle of a Hundred Glasses 2.0" could be the real opportunity for AI glasses to break into the consumer market.

As of now, only the parrot - green version of Xiaomi's newly launched AI glasses, priced at 1,999 yuan, is in stock. Rokid's AI glasses, priced at 2,499 yuan, are only being shipped to a small number of users on a priority basis. AI glasses are not yet widely available in mainstream retail channels. However, in the far - reaching Chinese consumer electronics supply chain end - Shenzhen's Huaqiangbei, the situation is completely different: Local source manufacturers are offering 300 - yuan "alternative" products, and a single store can sell over a thousand units per month on average.

On platforms like Xianyu and 1688, there are many AI glasses labeled as "Huaqiangbei top - spec" or "factory direct sales". Looking through the merchants' pages, these products not only have functions like taking photos and voice interaction, seemingly similar to leading brands at first glance, but also offer same - day shipping.

The average price of AI smart glasses on Xianyu is around 300 yuan.

The "Battle of a Hundred Glasses" is in full swing, and it's Huaqiangbei, known for its imitation products, that's active in the market. Yicai Business School interviewed eight Huaqiangbei dealers selling AI glasses and source factories producing them. These merchants told us that they're not sure about the future market for AI glasses, but it's always right to quickly follow the leading brands.

"The wholesale price is 235 yuan, and it can be even cheaper for bulk orders."

As those at the forefront of the "consumer electronics trend", Huaqiangbei sellers were the first to follow the AI glasses trend. The products they offer are not only low - priced but also feature - rich.

On platforms like Xianyu and 1688, the prices of AI glasses originating from Huaqiangbei range from 70 to 450 yuan, mainly divided into two styles: AI shooting glasses and AI audio glasses.

In terms of functionality, AI shooting glasses can play music, make calls, take photos and videos, perform real - time translation, and recognize objects. They are more expensive, with prices ranging from 100 to 450 yuan. AI audio glasses only support recording, translation, and voice dialogue. Although they are also connected to large AI models, functionally, they are more like Bluetooth glasses similar to Bluetooth earphones and are much cheaper, with a minimum wholesale price of 78 yuan.

According to Xianyu merchant Yueya (pseudonym), the best - selling product currently is the AI shooting glasses priced at around 280 yuan, which come standard with a 5 - megapixel camera and 32GB of storage. "Including both the physical store and online sales, we can sell twenty to thirty units a day."

Xianyu merchant Xiaola (pseudonym) told Yicai Business School: "Most of the AI glasses on the market currently have a 5 - megapixel camera. The 8 - megapixel ones just started selling on Xianyu this month. As soon as they were launched, many people inquired. Most consumers buy them to try out, and some buy them in bulk to resell. In some places, they can be retailed for 699 yuan. It's mainly because of the information gap, and many places haven't been exposed to them yet."

Xiaola said that if you order more than 50 units of the 5 - megapixel configuration at once, the price can be 240 yuan per unit. Merchant Xiaob (pseudonym) on 1688 said they can offer them at 235 yuan, and the price can be even lower for larger orders.

These are just the dealer - level prices. If you buy directly from the source factory, the price of AI glasses with shooting functions can be as low as 190 - 200 yuan per unit.

Even in Huaqiangbei, "you get what you pay for" holds true. According to Huaqiangbei merchants, the price of AI glasses is positively correlated with specific parameters such as pixel, storage, battery life, and compatibility. For example, AI shooting glasses priced in the early hundreds of yuan only have a 2 - megapixel camera, while those priced at 399 yuan usually have a 5 - or 8 - megapixel camera. The more expensive ones not only have a higher pixel count but also better compatibility and sensitivity. They can be compatible with vivo and Hongmeng systems in addition to Apple and Android.

Yicai Business School learned that AI glasses with a 5 - megapixel camera and 32GB of storage are the "best - selling hits" in Huaqiangbei. The 8 - megapixel ones are the "advanced models", and currently only a few manufacturers are producing them, with shipments expected by the end of this month.

Comparing the "Huaqiangbei - style" AI glasses with leading brands like Xiaomi, Thunderbird, and Rokid, they seem to have all the necessary features.

However, although Huaqiangbei - style AI glasses have a significant price advantage, sometimes costing less than one - tenth of leading brands, there are obvious gaps in terms of battery life, chips, large AI models, and cameras. Huaqiangbei - style AI glasses can only meet basic daily needs, such as first - person shooting and voice interaction, which is far from enough for users who need to wear them for long periods or have high requirements for picture quality and AI capabilities.

Consumers who actually spend money are not unaware of this.

Consumer Nana (pseudonym), who bought a Huaqiangbei - style AI shooting glasses, said that the cost - performance ratio is quite high: "The picture quality isn't very clear when zoomed in, but it's sufficient for daily first - person use." Xiao Q (pseudonym) said there are problems such as high video recording latency, slow export speed, low voice wake - up rate, and rough APP adaptation, not to mention the poor software - hardware synergy experience. All in all, they work, but not very well, yet they still work.

Photos taken by Huaqiangbei AI glasses

It's precisely the "high cost - performance ratio" that provides consumers with a low - cost opportunity to try out new products. Different from the high return rates of leading brands, most consumers who buy Huaqiangbei AI glasses choose to keep the products. On the one hand, it's because of the merchants' after - sales policy of "only repair, no return". On the other hand, consumers generally think that buying AI glasses for a few hundred yuan is already a great deal. "What more could you ask for?"

In addition, Huaqiangbei's shipping speed of "same - day shipping, drop - shipping for single units" has successfully attracted consumers who are impatient with the long pre - order cycles of leading brands. It's reported that Rokid's latest AI glasses started accepting pre - orders at the end of last year, and they're still being shipped in small batches. The deficiencies in software and hardware configuration can be forgiven by consumers in the face of the low price and the "instant purchase, instant possession" experience.

By offering products at supply - chain cost prices and taking advantage of the time difference with big brands, Huaqiangbei AI glasses have captured a certain consumer demand and indirectly helped the brands screen users. Those who don't like the wearing experience of AI glasses after trying Huaqiangbei products are discouraged, while those who still want to buy are even more eager.

"If we wait for the product to mature before launching, the market will be occupied by others."

The reason why Huaqiangbei is called the "consumer electronics trendsetter" is that its profit - making logic is always "speed" - it focuses on whatever is popular and abandons what's not immediately.

In the case of AI glasses, Huaqiangbei manufacturers and dealers are also waging a "lightning war".

Chen Yifan, the person - in - charge of Shenzhen Jindongfang Electronic Co., Ltd., a source factory for Huaqiangbei AI glasses, told Yicai Business School: "Currently, we haven't been developing AI glasses for a long time, and the products are constantly being updated and iterated. It's normal to have some minor bugs in the early stage. But if we wait for the product to mature before launching, the market will be occupied by others."

In terms of the production model, Huaqiangbei factories mainly focus on integration, that is, the integration of components and product assembly. The core chips and key components are all purchased externally, and the software system is also developed through outsourcing. Under this model, standard models can be mass - produced within a week. For customers with special customization requirements, it takes three months from the confirmation of the plan to mass production.

"The current orders are queued up, and we can't produce such a large quantity at once." Chen Yifan explained to Yicai Business School. This is because AI glasses need to be continuously iterated based on user feedback. If large - scale mass production starts too early, it will be difficult to remedy any problems that arise.

For now, Huaqiangbei merchants still think AI glasses are popular and want to cash in on the trend. However, this may not be the case in three months.

The smart ring was once very popular in Huaqiangbei. Due to the need to stock various sizes to fit different users' fingers, it tied up too much cash flow in inventory. Coupled with consumers' strong demand for personalized styles, the smart ring has gradually faded from the mainstream consumer market and is no longer a key product for Huaqiangbei manufacturers.

Similarly, Huaqiangbei, which operates on a quick - win strategy, won't give AI glasses much time - after all, making money is the top priority.

However, the good sales of Huaqiangbei products indicate that there is a demand for AI glasses. Whether it's for technological exploration or to meet specific rigid needs, Huaqiangbei has helped big brands validate the market.

It's just that Huaqiangbei manufacturers are ready to move on to the next hot trend at any time, while leading AI glasses manufacturers have to fight to the end.

Recently, it was reported that Meta invested a whopping $3.5 billion (approximately 25.2 billion yuan) in the parent company of Ray - Ban, EssilorLuxottica, the world's largest eyewear manufacturer. Among domestic AI glasses manufacturers, Yang Longsheng, the CEO of Yingmu Technology, mentioned in an interview with Intelligence Emergence that they set up a 50 - million - yuan fund just for cultivating native applications for AI Agents. Although Thunderbird, Rokid, etc. haven't publicly disclosed their specific R & D investments, it's clear from their intensive financing in the past three years that the early - stage R & D is costly.

Rokid's parent company, Lingban Technology, has completed 8 rounds of financing in the past three years.

Money has been invested, and marketing has been effective. However, due to technological and cost limitations, the product strength of big brands isn't unassailable. After raising consumers' expectations, AI glasses are a case of "the ideal is beautiful, but the reality is harsh".

Looking through user feedback on social media, a large number of "warning posts" point out hard - hitting problems with AI glasses, such as unstable Bluetooth connection, severely reduced battery life, translation delays, and serious ghosting and chromatic dispersion. Many users said that the delivery time was repeatedly postponed, and they received a semi - finished product after waiting for half a month.

When talking about the existing problems, Chen Yifan told us: All electronic products need continuous debugging in the early stage. However, the update and iteration speed of domestic AI glasses is very fast. New products are usually launched every few months, and leading brands also need to seize the market.

However, the long time between the launch of new products and actual mass production not only slows down the pace of AI glasses in creating a new market but also leaves consumers' needs unmet. To truly expand the AI glasses market, capabilities in technology R & D, factory production capacity, and ecological operation are all indispensable.

Epilogue

As for whether there is really a large market demand for AI glasses, different parties have different opinions.

According to IDC's prediction, the global shipments of smart glasses in 2025 are expected to reach 14.518 million units, among which, the shipments of the Chinese smart glasses market are expected to reach 2.907 million units, a year - on - year increase of 121.1%. Globally, major consumer electronics and technology brands are also actively following up and iterating.

However, Yoky (pseudonym), a former employee of a leading domestic AI glasses brand, said bluntly: The current AI glasses are a false demand because the technology is not yet mature. In an ideal scenario, AI smart glasses should be an independent terminal entrance on par with mobile phones. However, current AI glasses not only rely heavily on mobile phone apps but also have a heavy body and thick lenses, resulting in a poor wearing experience.

In Yoky's view, the core user group should be those who already need to wear glasses, rather than users without a wearing habit using them in daily life. In the future, AI glasses will become mainstream wearable devices, but it will take at least