2025-01-07 11:00:41| Engadget
Even Realities has turned up at CES 2025 in Las Vegas to show off its smart glasses, the G1, which have been out for a few months now. The company also wanted to use its trip to the desert to show off the G1B, which puts the same technology in a different body. And after just ten minutes playing around with them, I'm already a fan of the way they bring digital smarts into the real world.
The G1 is a pair of smart glasses that either come in a Philip Johnson-esque round body or, if you opt for the new G1B, in a more rectangular frame. Both are equipped with a 160mAh battery the company promises will last for around one and a half days on a single charge. Inside are a pair of waveguide displays with a 25-degree field of view and a resolution of 640 x 200 displaying basic text and graphics in old-school green. The glasses have their own charging case, itself equipped with a 2,000mAh battery thatll keep them re-juiced at least two and a half times before you need to find a cable.
Photo by Daniel Cooper
The company opted not to throw too many features at the G1, focusing instead on where it could make a real impact while respecting the battery. For instance, activate your phones navigation and youll get turn by turn directions showing up in your field of vision. Similarly, you should be able to use the glasses as a prompter, with the systems built-in microphone following along as you speak. That microphone can also be used for real time translation in a number of foreign languages, as well as transcribing your dictations. Plus, youll get the option to have your smartphone notifications dropping in front of your eyes, sparing you the indignity of looking at your phone or watch.
Most pleasingly, there are plenty of customization options, including the ability to set it so the waveguide displays only activate when you tilt your head up. From there, you can set the reading distance of the on-screen text, and you even have some limited control of the height of the text. The features on show all work as advertised, and the real-time directions will even let you switch from turn by turn guidance to a progress map of your route if you look up. The real-time translation and captioning is useful and elegant, as is the teleprompter that'll scroll the words as you say them even in a noisy Las Vegas ballroom. The company's CSO Nikolaj Schnoor even said some early customers who have hearing loss are now using captioning to aid them in day to day conversations. There are two hardware buttons hidden behind the temple tips, too, letting you set it into dictation mode without having to touch your phone.
As smitten as I am with the features, I'm also impressed at how comfortable they are to wear, with the design putting the bulk of the (surprisingly) light weight on the hinges and temple tips. You could easily wear these for a whole day, and look and act a lot more like real glasses than gadget-y ones.
The company has even said all the right things about repairability, saying the system is modular enough that an optician can replace your lenses should they get damaged or your prescription changes. In addition, you should be able to send the hardware back to the company to replace the batteries when they wear out a few years down the road. Given the high price, that should be expected but it's pleasing to see it's been addressed.
The Even Realities G1 and G1B are available to order now, with prices starting at $599, although that figure will climb once you've included your options, including prescription lenses. Depending on where you are in the world, you can also order them through your local optician.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/even-realities-g1-smart-glasses-are-useful-and-elegant-100041452.html?src=rss
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