Photo credit: Alibaba
Alibaba began selling its Qwen N1 and N1 Pro smart glasses in China on October 13 after a Hangzhou event, with pre-orders open since late September. Standard packages start near 2,899 RMB ($433) for the N1 and 3,399 RMB ($508) for the Pro, though subsidies and launch offers can bring the lower model closer to 2,200 RMB ($329). Both models land in the same price band as Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses and are listed on Taobao, Tmall, JD.com, and Douyin.
iFixit recently opened up two pairs of Chinese smartglasses to test a common industry claim. Manufacturers often say devices this small and water-resistant simply cannot offer user-replaceable batteries. The team bought a Quark AI Glasses S1 and a set of Rokid Glasses to see if that held up. Both models pack an internal battery plus a separate external pack that attaches for longer runtime. Both run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 processor with 32 GB of storage and use micro-OLED projectors to put information in front of the wearer’s eyes. Their internal layouts, however, tell two very different stories.
Caviar has spent years turning ordinary phones into rolling gold sculptures that draw stares on any street. Now the company has set its sights on Meta’s Ray-Ban smartglasses and named the result Odyssey. Only twenty-four pairs will ever exist, a number chosen to match the books in Homer’s epic. Each one leaves the workshop with hand-worked metal, black enamel, and a charging case wrapped in genuine alligator leather.
Meta just launched its own line of smart glasses built with EssilorLuxottica, the same partner behind the popular Ray-Ban Meta models, called Meta Glasses. These new frames skip the big designer branding on the temples and focus instead on lower prices, more style choices, and fit tweaks that should work for more face shapes. The base models start at $299, while a special collaboration with Kylie Jenner costs $399.
Snap started taking preorders today for its first consumer augmented reality glasses. Called SPECS, the new hardware carries a $2,195 price tag and ships this fall in the United States, United Kingdom, and France. The company built these as a standalone wearable computer that overlays digital content onto the real world without requiring any extra battery pack, wristband, or tethered device.
A compact bag holds a complete workstation that needs only a power outlet and a table. The Mac Mini M4 sits inside alongside its cable, a slim keyboard, a trackpad, and one pair of VITURE Beast XR glasses. No separate monitor travels with it. The glasses supply the display once the user arrives and plugs in.
Smartglasses seldom stay in style for this long, but the first Ray-Ban Meta model, priced at $247 (was $329), continues to draw those looking for the full experience without breaking the bank. Let’s start with how they look, because that’s the first thing that may turn some people off, but these frames fit just like old Ray-Bans, so if you put them on, no one will notice.
Alibaba’s Qwen Glasses took center stage at MWC 2026, and with good reason: these AI-powered spectacles felt like something you’d wear every day. Alibaba provides two versions: the Qwen S1, which has a super-subtle display integrated right into the lenses, and the Qwen G1, which lacks the fancy screen but has almost all of the same features.
.Lumen, a Romanian startup, has developed a novel technology that is changing the way blind and visually impaired people navigate their surroundings. The AI-enhanced Lumen Glasses resemble and feel like a headset, with a strap over the forehead and a power pack in the back. They weigh roughly one kilogram and utilize a combination of sensors and artificial intelligence to detect their surroundings and gently nudge the user with vibrations and sounds.
A pair of sunglasses lies on the edge of a desk, their matte black frame catching the last rays of afternoon light that shine through a window. Those frames are the first-generation Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses, and some will argue that the second generation is more visually appealing, but when you put these on and step out the door, the appeal is more than just superficial, especially when priced at only $263 (down from $329).