Best smart glasses 2024

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. Are you looking to capture moments with family and friends in a hands-free way? Maybe you need your own personal display for your PS5 or Xbox instead of hogging the TV?

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

Written by
Nick Sutrich
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 Twitter or Instagram @Gwanatu.

These are the best smart glasses

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Collage of several smart glasses

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

Since the term "smart glasses" covers such a wide gamut, it's difficult to pick one product that does everything well. But, after using every product on this page, I can confidently recommend Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses as the best overall pair of smart glasses you can buy right now for several reasons.

Since their debut in Fall 2023, people have loved the convenience of being able to quickly snap a picture or record video hands-free thanks to the quality cameras built into the frames. Sure, you've got a phone in your pocket that can do something similar, but the hands-free method is something you can't go back from once you've gotten used to it.

Second, Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses keep getting huge AI upgrades with things like support for Meta's multimodal AI assistant, which can visually identify what it sees through the camera and give you all sorts of useful information. You can even take video calls or live stream to Instagram right from the glasses!

Plus, Ray-Ban is known for its style and these glasses don't skimp in that regard. There are tons of styles available, and you can even customize the lenses to fit your prescription, including snazzy colored lenses and transitions optics.

But if you're looking for a pair of smart glasses that give you a big display you can work from or watch movies on, Viture has you covered in a number of areas.

Using Samsung DeX on Xreal Air smartglasses to take a photo of myself

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

I've used Viture One glasses many times on work trips to write while on a plane. If you've ever tried to work on a plane using a laptop, you'll know the experience sucks. Craning your neck for hours is bad enough, but then you also have to worry about your laptop display getting smashed if the person in front of you reclines their seat.

Viture glasses let me comfortably use my laptop on a plane by projecting the display right in front of me at eye level. That lets me mostly close the laptop to leave just enough room for typing and not have to worry about the display getting crushed.

Not only that, but no one else can see the display since it's projected inside the lenses of the glasses I'm wearing. That's great for a multitude of reasons. The cream of the crop is Viture Pro XR glasses which feature the brightest, clearest display of any smart display glasses on the market.

Viture pioneered a new type of display and lens tech that clears up the fringing other smart glasses have on the edges of the virtual display, plus it includes a built-in diopter adjustment so folks who are near-sighted can use them without needing special lenses.

Not only that, but they use DC-like dimming which is a lot more eye-friendly in my tests, ensuring that even PWM-sensitive folks like myself can use them without getting headaches.

The top reasons why we love the VITURE One smart glasses! #mixedreality #gaming #tech - YouTube The top reasons why we love the VITURE One smart glasses! #mixedreality #gaming #tech - YouTube
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If you're a gamer who is tired of craning your neck down at your Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck, the Viture One Lite Dock Pack is the best choice. This pack comes with the glasses and a handy dock that lets you keep your system powered for hours and use the larger virtual display inside the glasses to give you a better view than the handheld display.

That saves your neck since you can look in any direction and have the display right in front of your eyes, so you can even lounge on the bed while the giant 200-inch display sits on your ceiling.

Steam Deck owners can save some cash and just grab a pair of Viture One Lite glasses and directly plug them into the system's USB-C port up top. Switch owners will need the dock but it doubles as both a power bank and a way to get higher-resolution Switch games since the system thinks it's hooked up to a TV.

Xreal Beam Pro showing Play Store apps

(Image credit: Xreal)

Xreal gave its Air 2 glasses a huge upgrade in Summer 2024 with the release of Xreal Beam Pro, a $200 device that effectively makes the company's smart glasses feel more like an Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest headset. Beam Pro looks a lot like a smartphone and is even powered by Android with the Google Play Store.

Full Google Play Store access means that all your favorite apps are already available in AR space, so there's no need to wait for developers to port apps to a new system. Xreal made an entirely new augmented reality UI for Beam Pro, so navigating with the touch screen feels like a natural extension of your hand.

Gaming on Beam Pro is also surprisingly good given the device's rather mid-range specs. Some of the more graphically-intense games like Genshin Impact or Zenless Zone Zero won't run particularly well, but support for cloud-based apps like Xbox Game Pass and local streaming apps like Steam Link mean you won't necessarily be reliant on the device's own processing speed.

Plus, there's even a 3D camera on the back so you can capture spatial photos and video, then watch them back on Xreal glasses or another VR headset like the Meta Quest 3. It's an impressively powerful kit that gives you a full spatial computer right in your pocket.

Razer Anzu smart glasses

(Image credit: Derrek Lee / Android Central)

And there are so many other categories to consider here, too. Maybe you want to ditch that pair of earbuds and have your glasses play sound instead? A pair of Razer Anzu glasses will do just that, emitting sweet, sweet tunes from the temples and offering both polarized and blue light-blocking lenses for regular use.

Or maybe you're a Snapchat fiend and want to capture every moment of your day? Spectacles 3 gives you a 3D view of the world around you, letting you make the very best Snaps. Your friends will wonder how your Snaps got such an upgrade, and you'll be wondering how to keep making them better.

And while today's smart glasses are still somewhat limited in scope, upcoming smart glasses from companies like Meta promise to fulfill the true vision of AR glasses as seen in movies and science fiction.


Nicholas Sutrich
Senior Content Producer — Smartphones & VR
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 Twitter or Instagram @Gwanatu