These smart glasses are already outperforming Meta Ray-Bans

Xiaomi's smart glasses excel over Meta's Ray-Bans with longer battery life and video recording capabilities.

: Xiaomi has released AI Glasses priced at $280, incorporating features like mobile payments via Alibaba's system and 45 minutes of video recording, compared to Meta’s Ray-Bans which record up to three minutes. They possess electrochromic lenses allowing manual adjustment, a 12-megapixel camera, voice assistant, and a five-mic array, providing advanced functionality. Xiaomi’s glasses promise 8.6 hours of battery life, doubling Meta’s four hours, further enabling first-person video calls and livestreaming. While uncertain about some claims, if true, Xiaomi significantly outmatches Meta, urging Meta to elevate its product development.

Xiaomi has introduced its AI Glasses, a formidable competitor in the smart glasses arena, priced similarly to Meta's Ray-Bans at $280. These glasses feature mobile payment capabilities through Alipay, Alibaba’s payment platform. They include a system where the glasses' camera scans QR codes followed by a voice-activated confirmation. This helps prevent unauthorized transactions, though full details on security protocols are still forthcoming, aligning with convenience and user-focused design.

The glasses are equipped with electrochromic lenses, allowing users to switch between shaded and transparent states. This provides flexibility in various lighting conditions, which is a leap over Ray-Ban’s transition lenses. Additionally, Xiaomi claims their glasses can record video for 45 continuous minutes, a substantial improvement over Meta’s glasses that record a maximum of three minutes. If validated, this would position Xiaomi's offering far ahead in terms of performance for both daily and creative use.

Other notable features include a 12-megapixel camera and advanced voice functionalities, leveraging five microphones for interacting with a built-in voice assistant or for making calls. Not only does the hardware match Ray-Ban's specifications, but Xiaomi ups the ante with these capabilities. The battery life, reportedly sustaining for 8.6 hours on a single charge, starkly contrasts with the four-hour lifespan of Meta's. Even though these specifications raise doubts, their impact reshapes expectations in the smart glasses sector.

Xiaomi’s promise of first-person video calls and livestreaming capabilities rounds up a comprehensive suite of features that redefine smart glasses' possibilities. If these glasses perform as advertised, they will set a new standard in wearable tech. There remains skepticism regarding the full functionality and whether these claims hold true in practical usage. However, the innovation, price, and features denote Xiaomi's seriousness about capturing market attention and presenting substantial competition to industry stalwarts like Meta.

Sources: Gizmodo, TechRadar, Axios