Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses too expensive? Cheaper rivals could arrive soon
- According to a new report, Xiaomi may be entering the smart glasses market.
- The rumored glasses will appear to undermine the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses.
- These should offer a similar feature set with built-in cameras.
The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are some of the best smart glasses (and the best wearable AI in general) available. They have a sleek, stylish shape and solid Meta AI integration (with useful tools like Look and Ask, which rely on the glasses’ camera). But they don’t come cheap, and that’s where these Xiaomi smart glasses could reportedly come in handy.
According to a report from Chinese media 36KrIndustry insiders have said that Xiaomi will launch AI glasses that will “fully benchmark against Meta Ray-Ban”, suggesting they will all include the same tools and features. This would involve a version of the Xiaomi AI – which is very similar to Apple Intelligence if you ask us – but also the cameras and built-in speakers.
There’s no precise word on how much they’ll cost when they launch, but Xiaomi is known for producing more affordable tech than its better-known rivals, so we expect the smart specs to start at less than Meta Ray-Ban’s $299/£ 299 / AU$449 starting price.
No surprise, no guarantee
However, we don’t have to wait too long to find out exactly how much the Xiaomi glasses will cost, with industry insiders claiming they will arrive in the second quarter of 2025. The Mi Fan Festival is usually held in April, which, as 36Kr notes, would tie in with this schedule, so perhaps the 2025 Fan Festival is where we see these AI glasses in action.
Obviously, as with all rumors, we should take this leak with a grain of salt. In fact, even if these glasses turn out to be real and arrive next year, there’s a non-zero chance they’ll be exclusive to China and/or Asia.
Considering that the Ray-Ban Meta glasses continue to prove hugely popular, we’d be surprised if the Xiaomi specs were the only AI glasses to hit the market in 2025. As Xiaomi, Apple, Google, Amazon and others continue to drive AI advances, it makes sense that they would bring AI accessories to the market to rival the Ray-Ban Meta glasses – and hopefully this competition means better prices for us.