AI glasses can't replace mobile phones. Instead, they aim to "eliminate" traditional glasses.

Currently, AI glasses don't aim to replace mobile phones. Instead, they rely on intelligence to "eliminate" traditional glasses.

Just in the past two months, 20 models of AI glasses have been launched in the Chinese market. Among them, there are large companies such as Baidu, Lenovo, and Quark (Alibaba), as well as startups like Rokid and Yingmu Technology, and traditional eyewear manufacturers like BOLON and Libai (Huiming Eyewear).

If there's one thing these AI glasses with diverse backgrounds have in common, it's that they've found their target users: those who wear glasses daily. In other words, AI glasses have found their product fulcrum: to make a good pair of glasses first.

In the news of these glasses' launches, many people mentioned a promising picture in interviews: Currently, there are 500 million mobile phone users globally, while there are 2 billion people who wear glasses.

The decision - making process for myopic people to buy AI glasses is indeed simpler. Many people already spend several hundred or even a thousand yuan on glasses. By adding a bit more money, they can turn their glasses into smart hardware.

The logic is very reasonable, and this market is huge!

"In the future, everyone will need a pair of AI glasses," said Wu Jia, the vice - president of Alibaba Group and the president of the Intelligent Information Business Group, at the Quark glasses launch event.

Quark just launched its own AI glasses at the end of last month. This round of the "Hundred Glasses War" actually started to heat up in the second half of last year. The participants are far more than just traditional mobile phone manufacturers. Currently, there are mainly five types of participants:

Firstly, mobile phone manufacturers, such as Huawei, Xiaomi, and Meizu;

Secondly, Internet giants, including Alibaba, ByteDance, Baidu, etc.;

Thirdly, the "veterans" who have been making AR glasses, such as Rokid, XREAL, Thunderbird Innovation, INMO, etc.;

Fourthly, new car - making forces that can quickly transfer in - vehicle AI assistants, such as Li Auto and NIO;

Fifthly, eyewear manufacturers who want to learn from the cooperation model of Ray - Ban and Meta. For example, BOLON glasses mentioned above cooperates with Rokid.

The market has become very lively. Data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that the global shipments of smart glasses are expected to reach 12.8 million units in 2025, a year - on - year increase of 26%. Among them, the Chinese market will exceed 2.75 million units, a year - on - year increase of as high as 107%, ranking first in the world.

At first glance, it seems like a large number. However, compared with the annual mobile phone shipments of 100 million units, it's just a drop in the bucket.

In recent years, the global sales of myopia glasses have been stable at around 700 million pairs, showing a slow and steady growth trend. The sales of sunglasses are slightly higher than those of myopia glasses and are expected to exceed 1 billion pairs by 2035.

Some people have always believed that AI glasses will ultimately replace mobile phones. People often ask when the "Apple moment" of AI glasses will come. For example, since the emergence of WeChat, Douyin, Taobao Mobile, and Pinduoduo, smartphones have become an indisputable choice in the Chinese market. Another example is that when WeChat launched the red - envelope function, it became a "killer - level" feature that made everyone want to download WeChat.

However, the killer - level application of AI glasses has not emerged. That is to say, the current problem with AI glasses is that they haven't found a function that makes them indispensable.

Smart glasses are still a long way from becoming mainstream hardware. Currently, AI glasses clearly don't aim to replace mobile phones. Instead, they rely on intelligence to "eliminate" traditional glasses.

First, Make a Good Pair of Glasses

There may be many standards for a good pair of glasses, but the most basic requirements must be comfort and fashion.

For technology companies, collaborating with traditional eyewear brands is a more straightforward approach. Last month, Rokid jointly launched new products with the traditional eyewear brand BOLON.

In this regard, Meta is a pioneer. After years of inactivity in the smart - wearables market, Meta launched AI glasses four years ago, breaking the deadlock.

According to Wellsenn XR data, the global sales of AI smart glasses reached 2.34 million units in 2024, with the main contribution coming from Ray - Ban Meta smart glasses, whose cumulative sales in 2024 reached 2.24 million units.

Many people even think that the success of Ray - Ban Meta is mainly due to Ray - Ban, a brand that is almost synonymous with sunglasses in the United States.

However, in reality, traditional eyewear brands can bring fashionable looks but can't fully solve the comfort problem.

The key lies in weight. The Ray - Ban Meta weighs 49 grams (this year's new product is a bit heavier), which is much lighter than previous AR equipment. The Apple Vision Pro weighs between 750 and 800 grams.

Subsequent products have been trying to reduce weight, but the mainstream products still weigh over 40 grams. Ordinary myopia glasses weigh between 20 and 30 grams. Although the weight distribution can be adjusted through industrial design, according to user reviews, most people think the comfort level is still a bit lower after long - term use.

If there is a breakthrough in weight, functions have to be sacrificed. This year, the eyewear brand Libai (LIPO) also launched AI glasses, with the weight controlled at around 15 grams. However, this pair of glasses doesn't even have a photo - taking function.

The market doesn't recognize such AI glasses with overly simple functions. Meta's first pair of glasses failed in this way.

In September 2021, Meta collaborated with the eyewear brand Ray - Ban to jointly launch the first - generation smart glasses, Ray - Ban Stories, which could take photos and play audio. However, the market response was mediocre.

In September 2023, the second - generation co - branded product, Ray - Ban Meta, was launched, equipped with the Meta Llama3 large - model, realizing core AI functions such as real - time translation, scene recognition, and voice Q&A.

Ray - Ban Meta has set a new product form for AI glasses: daily glasses + large - model capabilities. In a new market, the emergence of standardized product design means the whole industry will follow.

All products are looking for the "sweet spot" between cost and performance. The prices of mainstream AI glasses are mostly around 3000 yuan. Compared with myopia glasses, this price must be supported by useful or cool functions.

Products with relatively simple functions are more affordable and have a certain demand. At the Quark glasses launch event, Jin Xian, the person in charge of Quark's intelligent terminal products, said that compared with traditional glasses, one of the current demands for AI glasses is a pair of glasses with digital functions that can meet the needs of taking photos and listening to music.

In addition, users definitely have requirements for the appearance. If efforts are spared in appearance or design, the glasses will be criticized for being unfashionable, and people won't have the desire to wear them.

Another issue is battery life, which is also a point that users have complained about a lot. The battery life of mainstream products launched this year generally reaches 7 - 18 hours. Of course, different functions have a great impact on battery life, but it is basically sufficient.

Moreover, both Xiaomi and Quark have equipped charging glasses cases, and Quark has also designed replaceable battery - powered temples, which are incremental improvements to the battery - life problem.

Currently, the AI functions of AI glasses mainly include navigation and translation. Products with screens will also add some AR functions such as teleprompter and object recognition.

These functions are still a bit far from the virtual - real interaction that users imagine. Some users jokingly call them the "refrigerator, color TV, and big sofa" of AI glasses, which can also provide usage and emotional value.

However, it's imaginable that the combination of AI and AR has a huge development space. This is also considered by the market as the future evolution direction of AI glasses.

Free Your Hands

Actually, AI glasses have a currently most obvious and irreplaceable function: freeing your hands. Just press a button, and the glasses can automatically record audio and video. Even the cheapest smart glasses in the 1000 - yuan range are only equipped with this function.

At the Quark glasses launch event, He Tongxue, as a representative of video creators, recalled that when he first started shooting videos in college, to shoot first - person perspective videos, he had to hold the camera with his mouth.

There are also many other solutions to this problem now. One is wearable mini - cameras. Insta360, DJI, and GoPro all have mature solutions. For example, the DJI Osmo Action 4 is priced at around 1600 yuan, with a resolution of up to 4K, a video - shooting battery life of up to 150 minutes, and the ability to withstand cold environments.

Another is handheld stable cameras. When paired with a stand, they can get rid of the need to hold the camera by hand. Although the shooting quality is higher, they are indeed not as convenient as wearable devices.

The advantage of glasses is that you can shoot immediately with a single press. They are convenient and natural to use when you don't have time or it's inconvenient to take out your phone. For example, they are particularly useful when recording unboxing videos that require both hands to work simultaneously (in theory, ordinary people also need to shoot videos as evidence when buying expensive items online).

There are also situations such as going out to play with children or pets, where you need to keep your hands occupied, and visiting exhibitions where the visual information is very dense and holding a phone to record throughout is not conducive to social interaction. These are all ideal usage scenarios for smart glasses.

However, if we start from this demand point, smart glasses still can't fully meet the demand. For example, when users want to record videos continuously, battery life becomes a problem. The single - recording duration of Meta glasses is limited to 3 minutes, and that of Quark and Rokid glasses is limited to 10 minutes. Although there is no official statement, according to previous blogger tests, Rokid glasses can support continuous recording for about half an hour.

Generally, the duration of meetings is more than 40 minutes (for example, the free continuous usage time limit for Tencent Meeting is 40 minutes). If you want to record large - scale meetings or participate in longer - duration activities, AI glasses are still not reliable enough.

However, the industry is indeed making rapid progress. In fact, the evolution from 3 - minute to 10 - minute recording and from 2K to 3K resolution only took half a year. Therefore, the improvement of this ability can be expected.

In addition, AI glasses are also causing more disputes over privacy and portrait rights, as well as anxiety about "being recorded." As mentioned in the following Xiaohongshu post, if everything you say and do during a meeting is recorded, do people have the freedom to be free from having their old mistakes dug out and their language flaws scrutinized?

Of course, all current AI glasses are equipped with very obvious indicator lights that light up as soon as recording starts, so the situation of being secretly filmed is very rare.

However, some people wonder if there will be a situation where someone blackens or covers the light and then takes pictures in more sensitive places such as baths and changing rooms?

It can be said that the advantages of smart glasses are convenience and concealment, and one of their disadvantages may be that they are too concealed.

We Will All Wear Glasses in the End

What is the real future of AI glasses? In the medium term, they will be the AI entrance. The ultimate form, according to the current evolution path, is AI + AR, that is, wearable equipment that realizes the fusion of virtual and real worlds with the help of large - model capabilities.

The AI glasses currently available on the market are the best - performing comprehensive choices after balancing multiple factors such as comfort, performance, and price. There is a technological gap between the current products and the real wearable equipment.

However, this idea is from the seller's perspective. If we consider from the buyer's perspective, in many vertical fields, pain points can be solved without technological breakthroughs.

Searching for AI glasses on social platforms, the hottest post is about AI glasses for the blind. This is a project by an UP master named AI Research Lab - Brother Fan. He wore AI glasses customized for visually impaired people and simulated a blind person's outing. The AI would remind him to avoid obstacles on the blind path, and in the supermarket, he could get the vegetables he wanted according to the glasses' guidance.

Using limited functions to meet segmented needs, products of this kind are not yet seen in the market. Perhaps this is a future market space.

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