AI smart glasses: which startup is ahead?

AI smart glasses: which startup is ahead? Last updated: 31 July 2026 In our XR market deck , you will find everything you need to understand the market SUMMARY Rokid is currently ahead in AI smart glasses, with Even Realities the only startup close enough to challenge that lead soon. Rokid does not have the most elegant single product. It leads because it has already shipped several kinds of glasses, reached ordinary retail channels, and built enough optical and manufacturing experience to keep improving them. The market is splitting into two distinct products. Camera-and-audio glasses compete on capture and hands-free assistance, while display glasses compete on navigation, translation, prompts, and discreet information. Rokid is the only startup in this group with a serious position in both. Even Realities has the clearest route to first place. Its camera-free G2 is lighter, more discreet, and easier to imagine wearing all day, while a new $150 million round gives the company the money to scale production and fix software weaknesses. Public demand figures look cleaner than they are. Retail sales, shipment estimates, Kickstarter backers, and limited production runs measure different things, so Rokid's lead is convincing mainly because several independent indicators point in the same direction. Wearability and privacy are becoming competitive advantages, not side features. Even Realities benefits from having no camera, while Halliday follows a similar route for meetings. Camera-equipped products offer more utility, but they also create more social friction. The AI race is less about access to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or DeepSeek than about what the glasses remember, what runs on the device, and what developers can build. Brilliant Labs and Mentra are more differentiated here than their small sales numbers suggest. Manufacturing is the least glamorous part of the comparison and probably the biggest moat. Rokid has already handled several product families, accessories, prescription options, international distribution, and returns. Most rivals are still proving one generation at a time. Mentra may matter more as a software platform than as a hardware brand. Its open operating system, SDK, Miniapps, and business deployment options give it a plausible role across glasses made by several companies. The largest consumer volumes will probably remain with platform giants, so the startups need sharp positions rather than broad imitation. Rokid currently wins on breadth and execution, Even Realities on discreet display design, Solos on modularity, Brilliant Labs on original personal AI, Mentra on openness, and Halliday on meeting-focused eyewear. This market map, featured in our XR market deck , highlights top companies and startups in the XR market AI smart glasses: which startup is ahead? Which AI smart-glasses startups are we actually comparing? We are comparing six startups that currently sell or are actively shipping lightweight AI glasses: Rokid, Even Realities, Solos, Brilliant Labs, Mentra, and Halliday. We keep the field narrow. These companies are trying to build glasses that people can wear for hours and use for AI assistance, information, photography, audio, translation, or work. Rokid qualifies because its recent consumer products compete directly with ordinary-looking AI glasses, even though the company also sells larger AR devices. We leave out Meta, Google, Samsung, Xiaomi, and TCL-RayNeo because they are established technology groups. XREAL and Viture mainly sell portable displays, while INMO remains closer to full AR eyewear. Those companies affect the market, but mixing them into the startup ranking would blur the question. Funding figures are unusually messy here. Rokid has disclosed large rounds across several corporate entities, and recent reporting places its cumulative financing near$200 million. Even Realities has just raised $150 million in one round. Brilliant Labs has raised about$6 million, while Mentra has disclosed an $8 million seed round. Solos and Halliday have no comparable venture total in the public record. Halliday did raise$3.31 million from customers through Kickstarter, which we count as pre-order demand and keep separate from venture funding. Startup What it currently sells or builds Publicly reported funding Current commercial position Rokid Camera-and-audio glasses plus binocular display glasses Nearly $200 million reported; exact total varies by source Several products shipping internationally Even Realities Camera-free display glasses for navigation, translation, prompts, and conversations At least$150 million from its latest round Second-generation G2 on sale Solos Modular camera and audio glasses connected to several AI models No external venture round clearly disclosed AirGo range on sale globally Brilliant Labs Open-source display glasses with a personal AI memory system About $6 million Halo store says shipping has started Mentra Open-source camera glasses, an operating system, SDK, and app store$8 million Mentra Live shipping in the United States Halliday Camera-free display glasses built around meeting assistance Venture total undisclosed; $3.31 million raised on Kickstarter First generation delivered; G2 taking pre-orders Is Rokid already ahead of every other AI smart-glasses startup? Rokid is currently ahead overall in AI smart glasses, with Even Realities as the only challenger close enough to change the answer soon. The clearest outside evidence comes from Omdia. Its latest global study estimated 8.7 million AI-glasses shipments in 2025, up 322$4 million on that platform. The two figures cover different products, which shows that demand is spread across both sides of Rokid's range. Even Realities has reported more than 10,000 sales for its earlier generation. Halliday drew 8,023 backers for its first pair, although later reviews were much weaker than the campaign demand suggested. Mentra limited its first manufacturing run to 1,000 pairs. Solos and Brilliant Labs have released several products without publishing a recent unit total that we can compare cleanly. Crowdfunding figures need a discount. A backer has paid real money, but a campaign still comes before ordinary retail, repeat purchases, returns, and long-term support. Rokid's separate retail sales figure and its placement in Omdia's shipment ranking make its lead more convincing than campaign totals alone. Startup or product Best public demand figure How much weight we give it Rokid AI Glasses Style More than 15,000 reported sales Strong, because the product reached normal retail channels Rokid Glasses More than 5,800 Kickstarter backers Useful proof of demand for the display model Even Realities More than 10,000 reported first-generation sales Strong early demand, with limited independent verification Halliday first generation 8,023 Kickstarter backers Real demand, weakened by poor product reviews after delivery Mentra Live 1,000 units in the first production run Early developer and business demand Solos and Brilliant Labs No recent comparable total disclosed Commercial availability is clear; scale remains uncertain Which AI smart-glasses startup has the most mature product today? Rokid has the most mature AI-glasses lineup today, while Even Realities has the most polished display glasses. Rokid already sells two genuinely different consumer products. The Style model handles photos, video, audio, translation, and visual AI without a display. Rokid Glasses add binocular green text for captions, navigation, teleprompting, and live translation. Building both types gives Rokid more room to learn what people actually use, and the company has already moved beyond campaign-only distribution. Even Realities goes deeper on one design. The G2 weighs about 35 grams and puts notifications, directions, translations, speaking notes, and conversation prompts into a discreet binocular display. WIRED praised the frame and the display, then gave the product 6 out of 10 because software stability, bright-light readability, and connectivity still caused trouble. The hardware is impressive. The software can still make the G2 feel unfinished during an ordinary afternoon. Solos is also fully commercial. The AirGo V2 is available with a 16-megapixel camera, video, open-ear audio, swappable temples, and access to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and DeepSeek. Mentra Live now ships within days for $349 and includes a camera, three microphones, speakers, a charging case, and an open SDK. Both products are easier to buy than they were a few months ago. Brilliant Labs has finally moved Halo from a long pre-order period into shipping, according to its current store. Halo is the most ambitious small-company design here, with a color micro-OLED display, bone-conduction audio, an AI processor, and a memory-focused assistant. We still have too little independent owner feedback to place it above mature retail products. Halliday's G2 looks far better than its first generation in recent hands-on tests, although customers are waiting for the planned September deliveries. This chart, featured in our XR market deck , illustrates yearly venture capital funding for XR startups Which AI smart-glasses startup makes glasses people would actually wear all day? Even Realities currently makes the AI glasses most likely to pass as ordinary eyewear. The Even G2 weighs roughly 35 grams, supports prescription lenses, and avoids the camera bumps and speaker hardware that make many smart glasses look heavier. Reviewers repeatedly describe the frame as close to normal glasses. The information also appears briefly, so the product feels more like a quiet display in front of your eyes than a tiny phone demanding constant attention. Rokid's AI Glasses Style are only a few grams heavier and provide many more functions, but the design divides reviewers. Tom's Guide found them comfortable and surprisingly capable. TechRadar liked the AI tools and camera, then criticized the plastic look, weak bass, separate accessories, and real battery life of around five to six hours during active use. Rokid wins the feature comparison; Even wins the question people ask in front of a mirror. Halliday may become a stronger rival here. A recent Tom's Guide hands-on found the G2 comfortable at under 50 grams, and its new dual waveguide display was much easier to view than the awkward single-eye system in the first generation. A few minutes at a demonstration tells us little about comfort after a full workday, so Halliday stays below the products people can already wear for weeks. Which AI smart-glasses startup has the smartest AI? Brilliant Labs has the most original AI design in smart glasses, while Rokid currently delivers the broader working feature set. Rokid can answer questions about what the camera sees, translate signs and conversations, create meeting notes, and connect users to several cloud models. Solos offers an even wider model menu through ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and DeepSeek. Model access is easy for competitors to match, so the number of logos in an app tells us little about lasting quality. Brilliant Labs is trying something harder. Its Noa assistant is designed to remember people, places, and past conversations through a feature called Narrative. Halo also lets users create small applications by speaking instructions through Vibe Mode. The company has added a low-power neural processor for more work on the device, which could improve speed and privacy if the finished glasses perform as promised. Independent evidence remains thin across the whole group. We found no serious head-to-head test measuring answer accuracy, latency, translation quality, hallucinations, and battery drain on the same tasks. Company demonstrations therefore deserve less confidence than shipping and review data. If you want more recent data on this point, please see our latest XR market report . This chart, featured in our XR market deck , looks at XREAL’s strategy in XR Which AI smart-glasses startup wins on cameras, audio, and everyday usefulness? Rokid currently has the best tested mix of camera, audio, and AI utility among the startups. The AI Glasses Style combine a 12-megapixel camera, hands-free photos and video, open-ear speakers, microphones, translation, calls, and visual questions in a 38.5-gram frame. Recent long-term reviews found the camera better than expected and the AI tools genuinely useful for travel. The weaker points were ordinary audio, the companion app, the charging system, and a design that looks cheaper than Meta's Ray-Bans. Solos has stronger specifications on paper. The AirGo V2 uses a 16-megapixel camera, electronic stabilization, full-HD streaming, replaceable battery temples, and a modular frame system. The product now starts in the same price range as Rokid's Style. We would need a few strong long-term reviews before moving Solos above Rokid, because the previous AirGo Vision drew complaints about audio, controls, and media quality. Mentra Live is now the more interesting choice for work. The 43-gram glasses can take photos and video, livestream, make calls, and run custom apps for technicians, inspections, deliveries, and remote support. Mentra sells the product with a charging case and says mixed use can exceed ten hours. A field team may prefer that openness over a prettier consumer camera, even though Mentra has far less evidence from large deployments. Which AI smart-glasses startup handles privacy best? Even Realities has the strongest privacy story among AI smart-glasses startups because the G2 has no camera. Removing the camera solves the hardest social problem immediately. People around the wearer no longer have to wonder whether a lens is filming them. Even says Conversate processes speech, retains the transcript, and discards the original audio. Users still need consent before transcribing a private conversation, while faces, rooms, and screens remain outside the product's reach. Halliday also removed the camera from its G2. Its meeting assistant records audio, follows decisions, and prepares summaries, yet WIRED found no external light showing that recording is active. Halliday asks users to tell the room themselves. That leaves a clear privacy weakness in a product sold for workplaces and client meetings. Brilliant Labs has the strongest technical privacy ambition among camera-equipped startups. Halo uses on-device processing for some voice and vision tasks and gives users access to open software. Solos recently added a physical camera shield, and its modular design lets owners swap out camera sections. Those controls help, although a camera-free frame remains easier for everyone nearby to understand. This chart, featured in our XR market deck , illustrates yearly funding for XR startups Which AI smart-glasses startup offers the best value? Rokid offers the strongest value among AI smart-glasses startups today for a buyer who wants the most functions near$300. The AI Glasses Style start at $299 and include a camera, speakers, microphones, translation, calls, media capture, and visual AI. Buyers should budget beyond the headline price if they need photochromic lenses, prescription support, or the charging case. TechRadar calculated that popular additions can push the package well above$500. Solos is the closest value rival. The AirGo V2 also starts at $299 and adds a higher-resolution camera, interchangeable temples, several AI providers, and a more modular privacy setup. Rokid keeps the edge because its current camera and everyday use have been tested more thoroughly. Solos could take this section once the V2 builds a stronger independent review record. Even Realities charges$599 for fewer hardware functions. The price makes sense for buyers who value a discreet display, prescription fit, and the absence of cameras more than photography or music. Mentra Live and Halo both cost $349. Mentra is the better deal for someone building a custom workflow today, while early Halo buyers are taking more product risk. If you want more recent data on this point, please see our latest XR market report . Which AI smart-glasses startup can actually manufacture at scale? Rokid is the only AI-glasses startup that has already shown both manufacturing depth and broad international distribution. The company has spent more than a decade building AR hardware and now sells through its own store, Amazon in several markets, and regional partners. It can produce display-free consumer glasses, binocular display glasses, larger entertainment viewers, enterprise products, prescription options, and accessories. That range requires more than a clever prototype. It needs suppliers, optical assembly, quality control, software support, and returns handling across several device families. Even Realities now has the money to challenge that advantage. TechCrunch reported a$150 million round led by Meituan and Tencent at a $1 billion valuation. The cash is intended for new products, manufacturing, and global expansion. We still need to see whether Even can move from five-figure early sales to hundreds of thousands of reliable prescription-compatible units. The smaller companies have done a lot with much less money. Brilliant Labs reached a shipping color-display product after raising about$6 million. Mentra built glasses, an operating system, an SDK, and an app store after an $8 million seed round. Their factory output remains modest. Halliday delivered its Kickstarter product, then had to redesign the optical system after poor reviews. Solos sells several generations but gives little public information about factory output or total volume. This chart, featured in our XR market deck , compares the main business model options for XR headset companies Which AI smart-glasses startup has the strongest developer ecosystem? Mentra currently has the strongest developer platform in AI smart glasses. MentraOS is open source, the glasses expose their camera, microphones, speakers, buttons, and touch controls through an SDK, and developers can distribute Miniapps through a store. Mentra also supports private and on-premise deployments, which matters for companies handling sensitive work. In its first-year review, the company said its Discord community had reached 5,000 developers, five hardware makers were running MentraOS, and 50 busi