Meta has had the smart-glasses market almost to itself for the past few years. That’s about to change. Samsung’s first AI glasses are due to launch in November, and with Google’s Gemini built in and frames from Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, they’re the most serious challenge Meta’s Ray-Bans have faced yet.
Here’s everything we know ahead of the launch, separating what Samsung has confirmed from what’s only leaked.
What Samsung has confirmed
Samsung introduced its glasses, which it calls its “intelligent eyewear,” at Galaxy Unpacked on July 22, after an earlier preview with Google at Google I/O in May. At the start of October, a Samsung official told The Korea Herald that they’ll launch in November. Samsung hasn’t given an exact date, a price, or the countries that will get them first.
The basics are clear, though. These are camera glasses without a display: you won’t see anything in the lenses. Instead there’s a camera, microphones and speakers built into the frame, and they work closely with your Galaxy phone. Samsung highlights real-time guidance, live translation, capturing what you’re looking at, and context-aware help from the AI. Photos and video previews appear on your phone, and processing is split between the glasses and the phone to save battery.
They also tie into Samsung’s other wearables. You’ll be able to control them from a Galaxy Watch, with gestures supported on the Galaxy Watch9, and switch audio to Galaxy Buds.
Samsung says you get up to nine hours of active use per charge, with the charging case good for more than seven full recharges.
Built with privacy in mind
Given the backlash smart glasses have faced this year, Samsung has clearly thought about privacy. There’s an LED facing outwards so people around you can see when you’re recording, and another inside so you know too. Recording stops automatically when you take the glasses off. And if someone covers the outward-facing light, the glasses detect it and stop recording, a feature Samsung calls thwart detection.
That last one is a direct answer to one of the biggest criticisms of camera glasses: that people tape over the recording light. It won’t settle the wider debate, but it’s a sensible step.
What the leaks say
Leaks from earlier this month fill in some of the gaps, though none of this is confirmed. According to Android Authority, the glasses use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chip, with 2GB of memory, 64GB of storage and a 12MP camera that can record 3K video at 30 frames per second. Frame styles reportedly include wayfarer, rounded and cat-eye shapes from Warby Parker, and blockier, oval designs from Gentle Monster, in a wide range of colours and lens tints.
Reports also suggest they’ll be lighter than Meta’s camera glasses. One leak puts them at 41 grams, against 51.5 grams for Meta’s. On price, SamMobile’s sources point to somewhere between $349 and $499. That would put them right alongside Meta’s range: $349 for the camera-free Ray-Ban Meta Audio and $449 for its latest camera glasses.
What about a display?
If you’re waiting for Samsung glasses that show information in the lenses, like Meta’s Ray-Ban Display, you’ll be waiting a while longer. According to 9to5Google, a version with a built-in screen may not arrive until late 2027. November’s launch is Samsung’s answer to the Ray-Ban Meta, not to true AR glasses.
Our take
What strikes us most is the strategy. Samsung isn’t trying to sell you something to replace your phone. In the words of James Choi, who heads Samsung’s XR R&D team, the goal is “AI glasses that help people use their phones less.” That’s a modest, realistic pitch, and it fits how people actually use these glasses today.
The bigger story is competition. Meta currently dominates the screen-free smart-glasses market. Samsung brings a huge base of Galaxy phone owners, Google’s AI, and two respected eyewear brands. If the price lands where the leaks suggest, November could be the moment smart glasses stop being a one-company market. We’ll have full coverage when they launch.