I've used the best smart glasses and can help you choose your ideal pair

When you hear the term "best smart glasses," it's entirely likely that your definition is very different from someone else's. That's because "smart glasses" is an umbrella term that contains many different types of products, each of which conveniently rests on your nose.

So, which type is the right type for you? That entirely depends on what you want from the glasses on your face. I'll break them down into two main categories so you can quickly find what you want.

AI glasses, which are the kind you might immediately think of in 2026. These are the Ray-Ban Metas of the world, intended for everyday wear and often use AI, cameras, or both to enhance daily life. Whether that's taking hands-free, first-person pictures or asking an AI assistant for directions to the nearest cafe, these glasses look like a normal pair of frames with a battery that'll need a charge up every few hours. Some even have a display in the lenses!

XR glasses, which stand for eXtended Reality, put a screen in front of your face, giving you a private display that also doubles as a neck saver on long trips. These are usually a little bigger than standard glasses and are intended to function as a wearable display, either for immersion or privacy. They're meant for sitting in a cafe, in an airplane seat, or anywhere else you might want to mount a giant monitor but otherwise can't.

Whatever you're looking for, we've got a great list of must-have smart glasses for you.

Written by

Written by

Nick Sutrich

Nick started with DOS and NES and uses those fond memories of floppy disks and cartridges to fuel his opinions on modern tech. Whether it's VR, smart home gadgets, or something else that beeps and boops, he's been writing about it since 2011. Reach him on X, Threads, Bluesky, or Instagram @Gwanatu.

Best AI glasses at a glance

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Best XR glasses at a glance

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What to expect in 2026

While the best smart glasses available today offer great experiences, there's always something new on the horizon. Full-fledged smartphone replacements like Meta Orion are still a few years out, but there are a few new pairs of smart glasses coming in 2026 that should rock the boat.

• The first Android XR-powered smart glasses are coming this year, starting with Xreal Project Aura. These glasses boast a 70-degree FoV, which is right between existing XR glasses and a full-fledged VR headset like a Meta Quest 3. Plus, since they pack Android XR inside, the experience is nearly identical to a VR headset, including all your favorite Android apps right onboard, all from the comfort of a pair of glasses instead of a headset.
• We're also going to see Samsung's first Android XR glasses make a debut this year, but they'll be carrying Gentle Monster and Warby Parker brands on them instead of the Samsung name. They'll directly compete with Ray-Ban and Oakley Meta smart glasses, so these are firmly in the "AI glasses" category rather than Xreal's XR glasses, as mentioned above.
• Apparently Tim Cook "cares about nothing but" Apple Glasses, and the latest rumors are that Apple has moved a large chunk of its Vision Pro headset team over to the smart glasses division to compete with Meta. This means we're poised to see a three-way smart glasses competition between Apple, Meta, and Google. Now that's going to be awesome!
• Meta has moved some funding from VR and is ramping up production of its popular smart glasses, making us wonder if we'll be seeing even more new pairs from the company this year.

Best overall AI

Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 picks up right where the first gen pair left off, improving the experience while still offering tons of styles to choose from. Meta says there are around 150 different combinations of lenses, colors, and frame styles to choose from, giving you plenty of customization for your everyday pair of glasses.

On top of that, these glasses pack in the same excellent battery and camera improvements from Oakley Meta HSTN smart glasses. That means you can expect a roughly 60% improvement over Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses (Gen 1), as shown in my Oakley Meta HSTN battery review.

While photo quality is surprisingly similar to Ray-Ban Meta Gen 1, it's video quality that got a huge upgrade. No, I don't mean the 3K resolution massively improves image quality — although it does net some improvement. Rather, these glasses feature a massive improvement in video stabilization. To me, it's the most impressive new addition!

Like the original pair, Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 ships with a charging case that'll keep your glasses' battery topped up for days at a time on a single charge. This works like an earbuds case and has a larger capacity than Ray-Ban Meta Gen 1's similar charging case. They also support all the great Meta AI features of RBM's, so you won't have to miss out on all the fun. Notice a trend? Yep, these are like super-charged RBM's, and that's a great thing.

Best premium AI

The next-generation of smart glasses has officially arrived, and they look just like a thicker pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarer frames. Considering thick frames are a normal style that people wear for non-smart glasses, these look like a standard pair of Ray-Bans but have many hidden superpowers other Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses don't. The only downside here is that they're heavier than Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 glasses, so they won't be as comfortable as that pair after a few hours of wear.

That all starts with the display embedded in the right lens. This private display is only visible by the person wearing the glasses and offers a full UI with smartwatch-like features that's designed to keep your eyes off your phone as much as possible. You can use this display to send and receive messages, take photos with a visual viewfinder (including zoom capabilities), perform Meta AI searches, and more.

The glasses also include a Meta Neural Band in the box, a cloth band that adorns your wrist like a fancy bracelet. This band understands how electrical impulses in wrist muscles work, allowing you to perform gestures and control the smart glasses' UI with just your fingers. That means you can "write" on a table to respond to messages, turn an invisible dial to change the volume, and more.

Right now, Meta Ray-Ban Display Glasses are a bit hard to come by. The company requires an in-person appointment at Best Buy or one of the other retailers that sell the glasses, and stock is low since they just launched. Plus, they're quite pricey at $799, making this a true premium pair of AI glasses. Check out our Meta Ray-Ban Display Glasses hands-on for full impressions and more details.

Best modular AI

Solos AirGo V is the latest pair of smart glasses from Solos, sporting the camera-forward design of Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses without all the Meta controversy. Like the company's previous pair of smart glasses, AirGo 3, the AirGo V come with native ChatGPT 4o integration, so you can ask the world's favorite intelligent AI model anything you'd like.

The cameras on the front don't deliver the camera quality of Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, as they're primarily designed to be used for ChatGPT integration. That means you can ask ChatGPT about anything you see, and the glasses' cameras will snap a photo for ChatGPT to use. That also includes realtime language translation using the built-in microphones and speakers.

Personally, I prefer the physical button camera controls from Ray-Ban Meta Smart glasses, but some may like the gesture-based taps on the arms of these glasses. Speaking of the arms, they feature a unique modular design that makes it easy to swap out frames at any time. This can come in clutch if you're going somewhere and don't want to have a camera on your face, or you just want to swap out the look.

The arms also feature a unique pair of "whisper" speakers that can audibly read your texts and calendar reminders so you can stay off your phone more. These are designed to be more private than some other smart glasses' speakers, as they're designed in a way that keeps the audio pointed toward your ears rather than generically downward.

Best overall XR

If any one pair of XR glasses wins the "best display glasses" award, it's Xreal 1S. Despite lowering the price, Xreal kept the X1 chip inside and even gave it some upgrades over the original Xreal One release. That includes the same great 3DoF spatial tracking plus a new real-time 2D to 3D conversion feature that turns all of your favorite 2D content into 3D with the help of AI, all without requiring extra hardware or software.

Xreal's built-in spatial tracking is second to none, with rock-solid spatial anchoring that makes that virtual monitor feel like a real one. You can even put the glasses down, go make a snack, and come back to find the monitor is right where you left it. No weird resetting the position because of drift, reconfiguring the settings, or any of that nonsense. It just works, and that's what makes these so brilliant.

And if you want native 6DoF tracking like a VR headset, pick up an Xreal Eye camera, plug it into your glasses, and enjoy. No extra software needed. They also support prescription frames, if you need them.

Even the lenses were upgraded over Xreal One, allowing for easily readable text for on-the-go productivity. Plus, with a new taller aspect ratio and 1200p resolution, these deliver crisp visuals no matter what you plug them into.

It's also plug-and-play with systems like the Steam Deck, making them a great way to save your neck on long trips. If you want to connect to a Nintendo Switch or Switch 2, you'll need to grab an Xreal Neo adapter, which adds extra battery to your Switch and tricks it into thinking it's docked on a TV.

Nintendo makes this more difficult than other handheld systems, but Xreal's clever dock adapter lets you enjoy the docked experience on the go through your Xreal 1S glasses. If you just want a great pair of smart glasses with the best plug-and-play features, Xreal 1S is the go-to pair.

Best value XR

If you've never owned a pair of smart display XR glasses before and aren't sure about spending $500 on your first pair, RayNeo Air 3S Pro is the place to start. They offer a pair of crisp micro-OLED screens with the best eye care solution in the industry. No other pair of smart display glasses offers 3840Hz PWM dimming, ensuring that even the most sensitive users should be able to wear these without discomfort.

Not only that, but user reviews (and our own experience) have shown that these offer a clearer picture than Xreal One even though they're half the price. RayNeo Air 3S Pro improves the display over the regular Air 3S model by offering a brighter display with better tinting, so you can see that crystal clear micro-OLED panel without the real world getting in the way.

Since there are no spatial anchoring features, the display will follow your vision at all times. That means there's no motion smoothing for when you're in a bumpy airplane or when you move your head around. This won't bother everyone, but it's a negative point that Xreal One's spatial positioning technology solves. They are plug-and-play, though, so they'll immediately work with most smartphones, laptops, and devices like the Steam Deck, but you'll need an adapter for devices like the Nintendo Switch.

Check out our RayNeo Air 3S Pro review for all the details.

Best XR ecosystem

When I think about all the amazing products Viture makes, I get really excited. As a gadget geek, there's something special about a company that makes a whole ecosystem of products that work with each other, and Viture is the king of XR glasses ecosystems.

The Viture Beast glasses themselves are quite capable, sporting one of the brightest micro-OLED displays on the market. They also sport native 3DoF tracking, which means you plug them into your device of choice, a giant virtual monitor appears through the glasses' displays, and that monitor stays put as you move around, just as if it were a real monitor or TV.

But while the glasses are good enough on their own, it's Viture's vast ecosystem of products that really makes them shine. Take the Viture Pro Neckband, for example. It's like a small computer built into a necklace that plugs into Viture Pro glasses, giving you instant access to cloud services like GeForce Now and remote PlayStation 5 gameplay support, plus movies and anything else that you store on its built-in storage.

Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 owners should pick up the Viture Mobile Dock, which packs a 10,000mAh battery inside and tricks your Switch into thinking it's docked to a TV. This gives you the full 1080p resolution of a docked Nintendo Switch, all on the giant virtual OLED inside Viture Pro, and even unlocks better performance on Switch 2 that's available when docked. This dock also doubles as a giant battery, which can be used for other portable consoles like the Steam Deck, or even just to charge your phone on the go.

Viture has a partnership with popular controller manufacturer 8BitDo and not only has a special branded Bluetooth controller, but also has a VITURE x 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Controller, as well. This controller plugs into your phone and allows you to get the instant feedback of a wired controller without all the neck pain that comes from looking down at your games for a long time, since you can plug your Viture Pro glasses right into the controller.

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How to choose

If you're stuck choosing between XR glasses and AI glasses, consider what you'll likely be using them for throughout the day. If you want a normal-looking pair of sunglasses or prescription glasses that doubles as a cool PoV camera, open-ear Bluetooth headphones, or a nifty way to ask AI questions without using your phone, AI glasses are the way to go. Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 is your best bet here.

If you find yourself traveling a lot, playing games on the go, trying to play games or watch something different from your housemates, or like to work remotely and are tired of looking down at your laptop all the time, XR glasses are what you need. Xreal 1S is the best bet here, but if those are too expensive to start out with, RayNeo Air 3S is a much more affordable way to try the concept out.