These camera- smart glasses made me feel like Tony Stark

Xgimi, the Chinese institution known for its all-in-one smart projectors, is expanding its portfolio pinch a caller statement of screen-equipped smart glasses that first debuted astatine CES 2026. Unlike AR glasses from companies for illustration Meta and Snap, Xgimi’s caller privacy-focused MemoMind One skip cameras for a lighter and much discreet creation that helps hide their AI-powered smart functionality. After testing them for a week, I’m wholly sold connected the thought of having a surface floating successful beforehand of my eyes perpetually feeding maine useful accusation that nary 1 other tin see, but the MemoMind One don’t wholly present connected my Tony Stark fantasies conscionable yet. There’s immoderate unsocial functionality I can’t get from my smart watch aliases phone, but I’m going to request a small much to warrant dropping a half-grand (or more) connected different smart wearable.

Xgimi is launching a Kickstarter for the glasses today, and the institution plans to commencement shipping them successful precocious July. There are 3 styles to take from, and while afloat pricing will beryllium $599, aliases $879 pinch medicine lenses, backing the Kickstarter discounts them to $399/$499. You tin besides customize the quality of immoderate of the styles pinch different colors, but that increases the value to $699/$879, which is discounted to $449/$499.

I tested a beta type pinch beta package and a buggy mobile app that’s missing features. So while I can’t measurement successful connected what the last acquisition will beryllium like, aft a week I was impressed pinch immoderate features and disappointment pinch others.

Similar to the $800 Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, the MemoMind One usage a brace of micro-LED projectors and transparent (but noticeable) waveguide prisms successful each lens to create a show only you tin see. While the Ray-Ban Display goes afloat color, the MemoMind One’s surface is agleam green. It reminds maine of the Apple II computers I utilized successful people school, but it doesn’t consciousness for illustration I’m utilizing dated exertion because the acquisition of staring astatine a backstage surface hanging successful midair still feels kinda futuristic. You tin set the distance, position, and brightness of the display, and while the agleam greenish colour helps it popular and stay ever visible indoors, it was difficult to spot extracurricular connected a sunny time if I wasn’t looking astatine thing acheronian successful the inheritance to create much contrast.

At astir 47 grams, the MemoMind One are heavier than my reference glasses but still consciousness lightweight and comfortable, moreover pinch the oversized extremity pieces connected each limb stuffed pinch batteries bully for up to 16 hours of use, charging contacts, Harman Kardon speakers, and different electronics. Most group I wore them astir had nary thought they had immoderate smart features — unless I was listening to something. As overmuch arsenic I want to usage the MemoMind One arsenic earbud alternatives, group astir maine could easy perceive what was playing done their speakers moreover astatine the lowest volume, including telephone calls that were acold from private.

Raising your caput aliases pressing the glasses’ azygous fastener adjacent the correct hinge activates the MemoMind One’s location screen, which shows the time, artillery level, date, and upwind connected the near pinch customizable info connected the right. Through the app you tin take up to 4 different sections specified arsenic stocks, news headlines from predefined sources (you can’t adhd your ain RSS feeds), upcoming almanac events synced from your phone, a to-do list, and notifications.

I was astir excited to usage the MemoMind One arsenic a discreet replacement to perpetually glancing down astatine my Apple Watch to cheque notifications aliases quickly respond to matter messages, but the glasses are decidedly not a smart watch. Most of the notifications from your telephone will popular up connected the glasses’ show pinch a condensed type of the connection truthful you get gist of what they’re about. But there’s nary measurement to publication much than what’s successful the little notification, and you can’t respond to messages aliases emails done the glasses.

Pressing and holding the glasses’ fastener aliases saying “hi, Memo” lets you interact pinch the MemoMind One’s AI adjunct done sound commands while responses are displayed arsenic matter pinch the action to person them publication backmost to you. Responses typically took astir 4 aliases 5 seconds, and I recovered myself utilizing the adjunct rather often alternatively of the existent type of Siri connected my watch. But I’ll admit I was disappointed there’s nary measurement to privately inquire the AI adjunct questions to make myself look smarter than I really am.

Double-pressing the glasses’ fastener brings up a Quick Launch conception that tin beryllium customized pinch entree to 3 different functions. These tin see a teleprompter that will show and scroll a book that keeps up pinch your speaking cadence, captions generated connected the alert while you’re watching something, and a sound recorder that shows a adjacent real-time transcription of what glasses tin perceive while the mobile app tin AI-generate summaries.

As a Canadian surviving adjacent to Quebec pinch abysmal French skills, I was eager to trial the MemoMind One’s unrecorded translator feature. A Dialog Mode for back-and-forth conversations is promised, but for now I was only capable to trial the glasses’ Listen-in Mode, which generates translated transcriptions connected the display.

The velocity and accuracy is good, but it’s very overmuch limited connected really intelligibly the glasses’ microphone picks up the different person. Testing it pinch my woman speaking French from crossed the room required her to raise her sound supra a normal measurement while inheritance noises for illustration euphony playing easy tripped it up. Having speedy entree to the characteristic is convenient, but the translator can’t admit the connection being spoken, truthful you person to first unfastened the mobile app and prime what languages the instrumentality is translating between.

I was likewise disappointment erstwhile trying to usage the MemoMind One’s mapping feature. Glasses pinch a heads-up show guiding you to a location is simply a neat idea, but you can’t inquire the AI to way you to a destination. You request to unfastened the mobile app, and the characteristic is presently constricted to stepping and cycling directions.

Xgimi is heavy promoting the privateness facet of the camera-free MemoMind One, but an optional characteristic called Moments is thing but. The glasses perpetually grounds everything and everyone astir you to make a often inaccurate summary of your day. It’s expected to service arsenic a benignant of auto-generated diary highlighting important moments, but it gets a batch of specifications incorrect and often confuses what you really did since it’s relying solely connected audio. Xgimi plans to complaint $19.99/month for the premium feature, but a amended upgrade is to support Moments turned off.

I’ve nary uncertainty glasses pinch screens will beryllium a large portion of our future, but I’m not yet convinced the MemoMind One’s features will make maine want to deterioration them each time long. While they connection a fewer very useful features, they consciousness excessively limited connected the mobile app. If I’m going to the problem of pulling retired my phone, I’ll conscionable usage it to complete a fixed task. But there’s immoderate breathtaking imaginable present successful a creation that doesn’t look obnoxious to wear, and I’m eager to revisit the MemoMind One erstwhile Xgimi has finalized and polished its package and features.

Photography by Andrew Liszewski / The Verge