u/PresenceStock7548

Almost every time I walk into a room wearing smart glasses, someone comments on my "Meta glasses," even when I'm wearing something completely different.

It seems like people who are not deep in the smart glasses space tend to paint in broad strokes and lump everything in with Meta, for better or for worse.

Given I've bought and used over 20 smart glasses over the past 6 months, I thought it might be fun (and maybe useful for some) to put together my perspective on which ones I think are genuine alternatives to Meta Display. Or, if you take Meta out of the picture, which glasses make the most sense for different use cases.

I originally thought I would settle on just a couple of winners, but I ended up with five: MemoMind One, RayNeo iO, Even Realities G2, Mira Glasses and Rokid Glasses. Contrary to what I expected when I started this exercise, I actually think there is a rational and clear reason (IMO) to buy any of these five.

I shared my full thought process and the pros and cons for each in this video if that's useful:

https://youtu.be/l__tI1sz8Fs?si=htr2v08aIm5JBmmf

Fully my own opinions. No sponsorship, no affiliate links, etc.

The TL;DR version:

• MemoMind One: the most complete camera-free display package with good speakers.
• Even G2: probably the closest thing here to normal everyday glasses, combined with what I think is the most mature ecosystem for adding functionality.
• RayNeo iO: the lightest and most comfortable pair I've tested, while still doing most of what I want from display glasses and giving you free long-term memory.
• Mira Glasses: the most effective real-world AI assistant I've found, with the best memory recall/retrieval directly in the glasses, along with excellent translation and contextual AI.
• Rokid Glasses: the best all-around display option I've tested that isn't Meta Display, particularly if you don't want to give up the camera.

One important tradeoff: four of the five give up the camera entirely, and all five use monochrome green displays rather than Meta Display's full-color display.

Note that I also considered and mention INMO Go3, INMO Air3 and RayNeo X3 Pro but they did not make the 5 I landed on for different reasons.

Curious if this broadly resonates with folks? Also happy to answer questions on any of these.

I’ve been curious about Halliday since the previous gen but never felt compelled to buy one until the G2. I finally ordered a pair to see how they stacked up against the other non-camera display glasses I have, and whether they might actually become my primary pair.

The results were mixed. The hardware and display make a strong first impression, but the deeper I got into the software, the more I kept thinking “there’s got to be more.” The AI and controls feel limited, you can’t access previous AI chats, several features I’ve gotten used to elsewhere are missing, and Meeting Flow, while promising, still leaves quite a bit on the table.

Meeting Flow is the feature Halliday is most actively marketing and it felt potentially promising but still immature. I ran a scripted meeting with planted decisions, a proposal that wasn’t approved and a decision I later reversed. The app tracked along reasonably well on most things but the real-time assistance on the HUD was not where I had hoped it would be.

There are also a few features that are somewhat standard in these types of glasses that are either missing or feel incomplete including navigation and a voice recorder.

Full ~10.5-minute review here in case you’re interested:

https://youtu.be/WhY2K64Rrj8?is=Xf2ju7_T3z0ipOz1

Happy to answer any questions.

I spent the last week testing Meta's new Muse Spark AI head-to-head against ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity on actual glasses in real world situations. The thing that surprised me: the same model behaved completely differently depending on which glasses it was running on.

Two examples highlighting the point:

• ChatGPT failed a restaurant lookup on Rokid but did much better on Solos.
• Gemini got a distance wrong on Rokid but got it right on RayNeo.

So the same models but different hardware led to different answers which made me think that the integration matters more than the model name which gets the headline.

Setup:

• Meta Ray-Ban Display running Muse Spark
• Meta Glasses (Fury) running Muse Spark
• Rokid set to ChatGPT on one pair
• Rokid set to Gemini on another
• RayNeo (Gemini) and Solos (ChatGPT) as control checks
• Even Realities G2 running Perplexity

I tried to use real tasks that from my daily life including asking about sports, restaurant recommendations, finding something in grocery store aisle, foreign language allergen info etc.

TL;DR. on how it played out - Meta won the live/local info tests. Gemini running on Rokid won more of the careful visual-reading tests (though it messed up a distance question). Perplexity did well on written responses (no camera) but badly hallucinated a distance test. Nobody was reliable at everything.

One caveat: clean ChatGPT-on-camera comparisons are hard to find since most "ChatGPT glasses" don't seem to route vision cleanly through ChatGPT, so treat the ChatGPT vision read as directional rather than definitive.

If you are interested in checking out the full ~14 minute video you can find it here: https://youtu.be/HJuiWlccmKU?si=wYZH5H0f5_5KoQNK

Curious if anyone here has seen the same model-vs-integration gap across different glasses.

I spent time testing the new MIRA Glasses, and they are one of the more interesting no-camera smart glasses I've tried recently.

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The core idea is different from camera-first glasses like Meta Ray-Bans. Mira is more about memory, translation, and having an AI assistant in a small display. In that sense, it sits closer to something like the Even Realities G2 — no camera, everyday frames, small HUD — but it tries to go further with session-based recall and built-in speakers.

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My short take: the concept is genuinely compelling, and there are a few things Mira does that the G2 simply isn't built for, such as memory recall. But the product also still feels early in places, so I wouldn't call it a polished mainstream recommendation yet.

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I'm curious where people here land on this category. Is memory/recall actually the use case that could make display smart glasses useful, or is it too niche/privacy-sensitive to matter?

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If anyone's interested in the detailed, unsponsored ~11.5 minute breakdown, you can find it here:

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https://youtu.be/uA7oOtvktI8

I’ve been using both the Rokid Glasses and Meta Ray-Ban Display for several months now, and my conclusion ended up being more nuanced than I expected.

My honest take: if I could only keep one, I’d probably keep the Meta Display because the overall package is stronger — color display, camera, Neural Band, improved ecosystem, and better casual “smart glasses” polish.

But if I had to pick the one I actually wear more often, it would be the Rokid Glasses. They’re more comfortable for longer use, the binocular display feels better for text/captions/translation, and with the Power Capsule the battery situation is much easier for daily use.

Of course, if I didn’t want smart glasses with a camera, I’d probably pick the Even Realities G2.

I’m curious how others think about this: would you rather buy the glasses with the better feature set, or the ones you’d actually wear more?

I made a detailed 6-month comparison here in case this is useful to anyone deciding between the two:

https://youtu.be/9Hh7-5pzTEA?si=L2woF7X4ki__f54v

I own both the XREAL 1S and VITURE Beast, and I did a full head-to-head with both devices updated with the latest firmware.

I focused on the things people actually seem to care about: Anchor Mode drift, outdoor visibility, text clarity, Side Mode, 3D, comfort, and whether the Beast justifies the extra $100.

TL;DR: the Beast definitely improved, especially Anchor Mode. But the comparison became less about raw specs and more about which device is easier to live with day to day. The Beast still has real strengths, especially for indoor movie watching and immersion, but it is not a simple “better specs = better product” situation. The XReal comes out on top in a number of categories including 3D, anchor mode, and more and is the one that might be the better choice for most.

Curious what others experience has been with these. Happy to answer any questions

If you would be interested in the ~8 min video, here is the link: https://youtu.be/SuC938ZVNmM?si=yzt0Aw0m0cVpHtT5

I tested Even Realities G2, Meta Ray-Ban Display, INMO Air3, RayNeo X3 Pro, Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2, Rokid Style, and Rokid Glasses Display for real world navigation.

The test was simple: verbally ask each pair to navigate to a real destination. Voice command if possible, HUD/display if not, app as a last resort. I tested in both Europe and the U.S. because Google Maps works in most places, and if smart glasses want to replace it, they need to be reliable across regions too.

A few findings:

• Meta Ray-Ban Display gave me the most polished experience but only where turn-by-turn is actually supported.
• INMO Air3 runs Google Maps natively, so I expected it to be the easy one. It wasn't and did not do very well.
• Even Realities G2 surprised me in a way I wasn't expecting based on my previous experience with it.
• RayNeo X3 Pro was genuinely confusing to use, but if I'm being charitable, I could get by with it in the U.S.
• The Rokid results were also interesting: Rokid Style technically worked as voice-only navigation, while the display version had more friction than expected.

The ranking ended up very different from what I expected going in.

If you are interested, here is the ~13.5 minute video with real world footage: https://youtu.be/vKZla0q3cvg?si=Uv62wk-38s98m-3M

Curious how others define a "pass" for smart glasses navigation. Is voice-only enough, or do you need a visual map to actually trust it?

Happy to answer any questions.

I tested 9 AI smart glasses across 4 real-world tests - See and Understand (aisle and allergen tests), Think and Decide (AI reasoning), Do Things Hands-Free (voice control), and Know Things Fast (speed round).

Tested: Meta Ray-Ban Display, Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2, Rokid Glasses (Display), Rokid Style, Even Realities G2, INMO Go3, INMO Air3, RayNeo X3 Pro, and Mentra Live.

If you just want the bottom line:

• Meta Display — fastest, best daily driver, prone to some hallucination
• Rokid Display — slower, more accurate, smartest camera AI overall
• Even G2 — best no-camera option, won voice control
• RayNeo X3 Pro — swept the knowledge round, refused visual tasks
• INMO / Mentra — lots of friction

Happy to answer questions on any of the glasses or tests.

Full ~11 minute video with tests and results in case you are interested: https://youtu.be/dIiQ12vYb2I?si=wBDr_uRFhgFyRSrr