Shameless plug: We build an open source OS for glasses that works with them. AugmentOS.org
Even Realities G1 are the best HUD glasses on the market right now. They’re the first pair (with prescription) that I can wear all-day without pain, and without looking like a dork.
My team used to main the Vuzix Z100 glasses, starting with the Vuzix Ultralite reference design that predated them. We won’t touch them these days (and recently stopped selling them on our store).
Others… Meizu StarV Air 2 and INMO GO2: both lack public SDK, GO2 is too heavy. Brilliant Labs Frame: cool prototyping toy, awful glasses.
For “AI glasses” that have camera, no display:
You have the RayBan and a number of companies making these. The only one I can recommend is our upcoming Mentra Live (https://mentra.glass). It has the same camera sensor as the RayBan, but runs open source software & has an SDK.
For more sci-fi glasses that run Android and have display + camera, see the INMO Air 3, TCL RayNeo X3. These are too heavy to be worn as regular glasses, but are fun prototyping tools.
All these companies will exist in 2026. As for a 5 year horizon, I’d place my bets on Even Realities, and Vuzix (as a waveguide supplier, not consumer HW). Meizu and TCL will stick around as Chinese megacorps, though I’m 50/50 they will continue developing consumer smart glasses. Brilliant Labs is cooked unless they turn things around with their next pair of glasses.
Google & Android XR: I don’t expect their glasses to be competitive for at least a few HW generations at minimum. In terms of public information, we know they’re monocular and heavy (>45g), which is an immediate killer for the majority of users.
Meta, Microsoft, Apple, etc. are far more likely to snitch on you to the government you actually live under.
I'm not the gp, but for me, there are several bigger concerns:
First, the possibility that access could be leveraged for intelligence gathering or industrial espionage. The goal might be geopolitics, but I still don't want my data to be fodder nor do I want to explain to my employer that I'm responsible for their breach.
Second, the possibility of becoming collateral damage during an escalation of hostilities between my country and China. If I've grown dependent a device, I face significant disruption if they block cloud services or even outright remotely brick it. The war in Ukraine demonstrated this isn't limited to the other country's exports, but they're still at the greatest risk.
So yeah, a company snitching on me to big brother I live under is just one threat I have to consider when giving access to all my data.
Do you have any experience with their progressives? The ones I'm trying are so lousy that I'm going to try multifocal contacts next week. According to the order form, their progressive lenses seem somewhat decent.
https://www.evenrealities.com/