Xiaomi’s New AI Glasses Offer Real-Time Translation, Pay-by-Gaze, and Serious Battery Life

Xiaomi has just unveiled its latest piece of wearable tech: AI-powered smart glasses. These new glasses pack impressive features like real-time translation, hands-free payment, a versatile camera, and significantly longer battery life compared to some competitors, aiming to make daily interactions smoother and more futuristic.

Key Features That Stand Out

Announced at Xiaomi’s event focused on integrating human, car, and home technology, these smart glasses are more than just a display. They leverage AI to add practical functionality to your day.

Translate Your World, Instantly

Imagine traveling or encountering text in another language and seeing the translation pop up right before your eyes. These glasses can provide real-time translation on the fly, thanks to Xiaomi’s built-in AI assistant, Super XiaoAI. This feature alone is a game-changer for communication and understanding your surroundings.

Pay With a Glance? It’s Here.

One of the most surprising features is the ability to pay just by looking. The glasses have a built-in camera that works with Alipay. You can scan a QR code displayed for payment, and the voice assistant can even help confirm the purchase, adding a layer of futuristic convenience to transactions.

The Camera: More Than Just Photos

Equipped with a 12MP ultra-wide camera, these glasses let you capture photos and shoot first-person perspective videos using simple voice commands. But they go beyond simple recording. The camera can also identify objects in real time and translate text it sees, adding powerful visual AI capabilities for exploring the world around you.

Built for Daily Life: Design and Performance

Smart glasses need to be comfortable and reliable for everyday wear. Xiaomi has focused on making these glasses lightweight and feature-rich.

Seriously Long Battery Life

Battery life is often a major concern for wearable devices. Xiaomi claims these glasses can last up to 8.6 hours on a single charge from their 263mAh battery, rechargeable via USB-C. This is a significant improvement over some other smart glasses on the market, like the Ray-Ban Meta pair, which offer around 4 hours. More battery means more time using features like translation or the camera without constantly worrying about finding a charger.

Lightweight and Listen-Ready

Weighing in at just 40 grams, these glasses are designed to be light enough for extended wear. They also include open-ear stereo sound and five built-in microphones for calls and interacting with the AI assistant. Inside, a Qualcomm AR1 chip works alongside a Hengxuan 2700 co-processor to handle the AI tasks and overall performance efficiently.

Xiaomi AI Glasses worn on a face, demonstrating their design and how they appear when wornXiaomi AI Glasses worn on a face, demonstrating their design and how they appear when worn

Thoughtful Design Details

Xiaomi designed these glasses with specific user needs in mind. The temple arms pivot outwards and tilt forward slightly, indicating a design tailored for Asian facial features. This detail suggests that the initial launch of this version might be focused on that market before potentially expanding globally.

The glasses also boast an IP54 rating, meaning they can handle sweat and splashes, making them suitable for various daily activities. For an extra touch of tech, you can opt for versions with electrochromic lenses that change tint automatically based on light conditions. A quick double-tap on the temple piece prompts them to shift shades rapidly in just 0.2 seconds.

Pricing and Options

Xiaomi is launching these smart glasses with competitive pricing. The standard version is priced at CNY 1,999, which is approximately $280 USD – putting them in a similar price range to Meta’s current smart glasses.

If you want the cool auto-tinting lenses, the monochrome electrochromic version is CNY 2,699 (around $375), while a color version tops out at CNY 2,999 ($420). Style-wise, buyers can choose from Classic Black, a vibrant Parrot Green, or a stylish Translucent Tortoiseshell Brown frame.

What This Means for the Future of Smart Glasses

Xiaomi’s entry into the AI-powered smart glasses market with such practical features like real-time translation and payment, combined with competitive specs like battery life, heats up the competition in the wearable tech space. As companies continue to innovate in this area, we can expect smart glasses to become more integrated into our daily lives, offering hands-free ways to interact with information, communicate, and navigate the world around us.