Xiaomi Launches China’s Rival to Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses with Standout Features

Okay, so here’s the story. Picture a scene from today at Xiaomi’s big event—you know, the ‘Human x Car x Home’ one. They’ve tossed their hat in the ring with new smart glasses, the Xiaomi AI Glasses. Kind of like a nod to what Meta and EssilorLuxottica are doing, but different. Or maybe not so different? Anyway.

So, remember last year when rumors were flying about Xiaomi hooking up with ODM Goertek in China to whip up some AI-powered specs? They were supposed to measure up to Ray-Ban’s Meta sets, even though those aren’t really a ‘thing’ in China yet. Well, here we are.

And now, Xiaomi’s first AI Glasses are here. The specs boast a whole bunch of stuff, like a Hyper XiaoAi voice assistant, a 12MP camera with some fancy electronic stabilization that, honestly, I can’t say I totally understand. Oh, and there are five mics, two speakers. How many ears do we have again? Driven by some techy chips, by the way—BES2700 something and Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 or something? No clue why I know this, but there it is. Pretty much squares up with Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley’s shiny new glassware. Sorta.

And they don’t have displays. Nada. You’ve gotta talk to it or do the ‘touchy-feely’ thing with Hyper XiaoAI. Translation? Yeah, that’s in there too, plus snapping pics and vids. You’ll start feeling like a secret agent… or a tourist.

Battery talk: Xiaomi rates their gizmo with a 263mAh job that they claim runs for about 8.6 hours. What you get is like, 15 one-minute vid takes, 50 pics, and some Bluetooth calls. I spaced out after the “calls” part, but apparently, it can hang around for hours on standby or music listening.

Here’s a wild feature though (wild to me anyhow): these glasses let you just glance—yes, glance—at an Alipay QR code and pay, just like that, with a little voice prompt. But you gotta wait till September 2025 for that patch. Patience, people.

They’re launching right now in China, but whether the rest of us can get our hands on them is up in the air. Xiaomi made them supposedly perfect for Asian faces—could be a hiccup for a worldwide release.

Got one frame shape, three colors—black, a tortoiseshell thing, and this parrot green. Only in three lens types, they’re fighting to out-cool Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta. Starts at ¥1,999 RMB, or about $280 in US bucks, rising to ¥2,999 RMB if you fancy electrochromic lenses. Fancy word for color-changing, I guess. Anyway—those can be adjusted by just touching the frame. Swanky.

Seems it’s their first run of these glasses with cameras? Cool. Some older models didn’t even have cameras, or only had them sometimes, like some kind of secret gadget.

Specs… err, here’s a jumble of numbers and tech words that may or may not make sense to you: 12MP cam, massive 105° angle lens, EIS-enabled shooting, weights just 40g. I got lost somewhere between USB Type-C and the foldable design—folds, right?

And hey, apparently, people are into it; Chinese retail sites like JD.com have had a good number of reservations already. So, who knows? Maybe it’s a hit.

Well, that’s the scoop. Wonder if it’ll keep being a thing or fizzle out. Oh well, only time will tell, right?