On - the - spot at WAIC: What new features do the smart glasses that make users queue up for a try have this year?
In 2025, artificial intelligence technology continues to develop at a rapid pace, and AI hardware has become a popular field.
Not long ago, OpenAI made a move, acquiring a wholly - owned AI hardware company for $6.5 billion, which sparked intense discussions. Even before OpenAI's move, capital had already started to invest in AI hardware companies.
According to data released by Ruishou Pro, in May 2025, there were 87 financing events in the artificial intelligence industry in China's primary market. Among them, the most popular sub - field was artificial intelligence hardware, with a total of 42 investment and financing events.
At this year's WAIC, the trend of AI hardware becoming the new "direction" was also quite obvious. Companies are no longer competing on "large - model parameters" but have shifted to the "competition of scenario - based applications". Many AI hardware products appeared at the booths of large - model companies, helping them more intuitively demonstrate the implementation of large - model products.
Smart glasses are one of the most attention - grabbing segments in AI hardware. Previously, Alibaba, which was rumored to enter the AI glasses market, chose to launch its first self - developed AI glasses, the "Quark AI Glasses", at WAIC.
Additionally, Rokid, XREAL, Liweike, and Hailiday also brought out their best products to participate in the exhibition, making a strong presence at this year's WAIC.
The performance of smart glasses brands at WAIC is also a microcosm of the entire industry, with large companies joining one after another and small companies forging ahead bravely.
As one of the entrances to the next - generation super hardware, the smart glasses industry is developing rapidly.
According to data released by iResearch, in 2023, the global shipment volume of AI glasses was only 340,000 units, while in 2024, this figure reached 2.34 million units. It is estimated that by 2028, the global shipment volume of AI glasses will reach 20 million units; in 2024, the annual sales volume of AR glasses reached 286,000 units. It is expected that in 2025, the sales of AR glasses in China will reach the next peak.
However, a broad market prospect and numerous possible implementation scenarios do not mean that the industry still has time for companies to "grow wildly".
For smart glasses brands, only by finding more implementation scenarios and achieving commercialization can they truly gain a foothold.
Long queues for the smart glasses experience at WAIC
At this year's WAIC, apart from the booths with robot performances, the exhibition areas of AI/AR glasses companies probably had the longest queues.
As a product that has only become popular in recent years, many consumers still don't know what smart glasses can do and what the experience is like after wearing them.
Several smart glasses companies participating in this exhibition displayed their latest and most practical products, which is one of the reasons why visitors are willing to queue up for the experience.
Among them, Rokid displayed the AI + AR smart glasses product Rokid Glasses, which was launched in November last year; Liweike displayed the LAWK View travel - shooting version AI shooting smart glasses and the LAWK City series AI smart glasses, which were launched in May this year; XREAL displayed the split - type AR glasses product XREAL One Pro, which was just launched on July 22; Halliday's AI glasses made their debut at WAIC.
Alibaba also officially joined the "battle of a hundred glasses" at WAIC and launched its first self - developed AI glasses.
The products displayed by the participating brands can be divided into two categories. One category includes products like Rokid Glasses, the LAWK View travel - shooting version, the LAWK City series, and Quark AI Glasses, which mainly focus on replacing some functions of smartphones, such as taking photos, listening to music, and having AI voice chats.
Rokid's exhibition hall at WAIC 2025. Image source: Rokid's official WeChat public account
The other category includes products like XREAL One Pro and Halliday AI Glasses, which mainly focus on display.
Since they belong to different categories, the focuses of competition among these brands also vary.
Among them, Rokid, Liweike, and Quark are competing on whether their products are practical for daily use.
The situation of Rokid Glasses is similar to that of Quark AI Glasses. Both aim to make AI glasses, like smartwatches, take on more basic functions of smartphones and have more useful features.
Currently, both products have a full range of functions, including mainstream AI glasses functions such as calling, music playback, translation, and meeting note - taking. And Alibaba is involved behind both of them. For example, both have established partnerships with Gaode Maps and Alipay, supporting real - time navigation guidance and having the function of "one - glance" payment.
However, during the display process, the two brands have different focuses.
Rokid Glasses mainly demonstrate the product's intelligent interaction ability in specific scenarios. For example, it allows foreign tellers and visitors to wear Rokid Glasses, enabling visitors to experience seamless communication in two languages, and lets singers wear Rokid Glasses to experience the teleprompter function.
Quark AI Glasses mainly show how Alibaba's application matrix will empower this product. For example, in addition to supporting Gaode Maps navigation and Alipay payment functions, this AI glasses can also compare prices on Taobao and have business travel reminders from Fliggy.
Quark AI Glasses' exhibition hall at WAIC 2025. Image source: Quark APP's official video account
Liweike pays more attention to the lightweight attribute, with the slogan: "No AI glasses weighing more than 40 grams."
For example, the LAWK View travel - shooting version weighs only 38 grams, and the frameless City Air version in the LAWK City series weighs only 23 grams. Compared with Rokid Glasses, which weighs 49 grams, Liweike's AI glasses products are closer to ordinary lightweight glasses.
Of course, a lighter product also means that it may not have as many functions as the other two brands, but it can still complete basic functions such as language photo translation, intelligent Q&A, real - time translation, and AI note - taking.
XREAL One Pro and Halliday AI Glasses focus on the display attribute of the products.
One of the biggest features of the AR glasses XREAL One Pro is that it has increased the field of view from 50° in the previous generation to 57°. It's like placing a surround - style virtual TV in the center of the human eye's field of view, increasing the display area of the picture by 38%.
In addition, XREAL One Pro can turn the screen into a 32:9 ultra - wide screen. After turning on the ultra - wide screen mode, almost the entire field of view inside the glasses will be filled with the picture, and the display effect is somewhat similar to the IMAX screen in a cinema, with a certain curvature, which is very suitable for watching movies or laying out work processes.
Halliday focuses entirely on display. The AI glasses it displayed at WAIC removed common functions on other AI glasses, such as cameras and audio broadcasts, and mainly retained the visual functions of the product.
In addition, Halliday AI Glasses also made a difference in the imaging method. Instead of using the "MicroLED + waveguide" display solution, it directly forms an image on the retina. Since the information is not projected on the lens and the optical module is hidden in the upper - right corner of the frame, others can't tell that the user is wearing an AI glasses.
It can be said that for AI/AR glasses products to attract users to experience at the exhibition, practicality is more important than a sense of technology.
What are smart glasses competing on this year?
In the past year, inspired by RayBan Meta, more AI glasses brands have started to launch glasses products that can be used in daily life.
At the end of last year, Rokid launched the new - generation AI + AR glasses Rokid Glasses; XREAL launched the first AR glasses with built - in edge computing power, XREAL One; Shanjike Technology launched the first mass - produced AI shooting glasses in China, the Shanjike AI Shooting Glasses.
Domestic tech giants have also joined the battle. Baidu launched the Xiaodu AI Glasses at the Baidu World Conference; Meizu launched two AR smart glasses, the StarV View and the StarV Air2.
This year, there are more players in the industry, and more smart glasses products have been officially launched.
First, at the CES in January, AI glasses manufacturers started a "battle of a hundred glasses". Thunderbird Innovation, which has always focused on smart TVs and AR glasses, displayed the AI shooting glasses V3 and the AI + AR waveguide glasses X3 Pro during CES and equipped the products with a customized large AI model, officially entering the AI + AR glasses field.
Thunderbird X3 Pro. Image source: Thunderbird Innovation's official WeChat public account
Xiaomi, which announced its entry into the AI glasses market last year, showed results in June this year by officially launching the Xiaomi AI Glasses, which are equipped with a 12 - megapixel high - definition camera and support video calls and live - streaming on third - party apps.
The XREAL One Pro, Liweike's LAWK View travel - shooting version and LAWK City series, Halliday AI Glasses, and Quark AI Glasses mentioned above all made their debut this year.
In addition, Samsung and Apple have also announced their entry into the market. Samsung's AI glasses are expected to be launched in September this year, and Apple is expected to launch its first - generation AI glasses in 2026.
If last year, smart glasses companies were competing on the starting speed, and although there were benchmarks in the industry, most players were still exploring, and most of the products on the market were AI audio glasses and AI shooting glasses.
Then this year, most companies have targeted AI display glasses, that is, AI + AR glasses, and are trying to become the creator of the industry's "iPhone moment".
Compared with traditional AR glasses, AI + AR glasses should not be too heavy, have a more daily - looking appearance, have stronger battery life, not require additional devices, have higher freedom, and not cause dizziness or damage to eyesight.
This requires companies to accelerate the competition in technology.
The core components of AI glasses mainly include chips, optical display modules, and image sensors.
Most AI + AR products use Sony's IMX681 image sensor, which has 12 million pixels. AI glasses focusing on photography may have a higher pixel count. For example, Shanjike's shooting glasses have 16 million pixels.
Since they need to support many large - model products, companies have all adopted chips with strong AI processing capabilities and are also "quietly competing" on low power consumption.
For example, Rokid Glasses and Thunderbird X3 Pro are equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 chip. Quark AI Glasses are also equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 chip, but it also has a dual - core design with a low - energy co - processor; Halliday AI Glasses are equipped with the intelligent wearable chip from Juxin Technology, which also has low - power consumption and high - computing - power performance.
Most AI/AR glasses products use the "MicroLED + waveguide" display solution. XREAL and Halliday have made many technological breakthroughs in optical display.
For example, XREAL One Pro is equipped with the self - developed next - generation optical engine, X Prism, which can achieve a more compact structure, higher light efficiency, and a wider field of view coverage; Halliday AI Glasses are equipped with the DigiWindow technology provided by Gyges Labs to achieve invisible display.
XREAL One Pro. Image source: XREAL's official WeChat public account
In addition, a product competing on performance has emerged in the industry, which is the Thunderbird X3 Pro.
This product not only has the basic functions of AI glasses, such as Q&A, music playback, calling, translation, navigation, and image recognition, but also has an AI Agent store where users can download various AI applications. At the same time, it has developed a new beta - version Android virtual machine system, allowing users to experience using apps like Douyin and playing games like Honor of Kings on the glasses.
In addition, Thunderbird X3 Pro is equipped with the world's smallest full - color Micro - LED light engine and has developed the RayNeo waveguide technology, which can achieve full - color display. It is understood that full - color display is a core difficulty in the production of Micro LED micro - displays. Thunderbird X3 Pro can be said to have refreshed the ceiling of the display effect of AR glasses.
In the past two years, smart glasses have been developing at an accelerating pace. Any new technology and new experience may be realized in the next product.
Implementation scenarios and commercialization are still the keys
Although smart glasses companies are trying to add more functions to their products, they still need to pay attention to two key factors in this process: implementation scenarios and commercialization.
The importance of these two factors can be seen from the rise of the industry.
Smart glasses truly became a promising field last year. That year, an AI glasses that didn't look very high - tech, RayBan Meta, became a huge hit.
According to data released by Wellsenn XR, the global sales volume of AI glasses in 2024 was 2.34 million units, and RayBan Meta accounted for 2.24 million units.
The reason why this AI glasses became popular is not because it did well in "AI", but because it did well in "glasses".
Compared with other heavy and ugly smart glasses on the market at that time, RayBan Meta only weighs 49 grams, has a very fashionable design, is priced at less than 3,000 yuan, and has functions such as photography, Bluetooth earphones, and voice assistants. It can be said that the success of RayBan Meta is because it gave consumers sufficient reasons to pay.
