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ZDNET's key takeaways
The Rokid Glasses are launching through Kickstarter, with a retail price of $599.
They feature built-in displays that project textual information, such as a teleprompter, AI responses, and more.
The 12MP camera sensor leaves something to be desired, and a stable internet connection is required for most functions to work.
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's quote about being at a cognitive disadvantage if you're not wearing AI glasses in the future. At first, I dismissed it as just another message to the investors. But after retesting the Meta Ray-Bans this summer and then trying the new Rokid Glasses, my skepticism is quickly recalibrating.
The Rokid Glasses are the latest to enter what has been a bustling market of AI wearables in 2025, and they're full of promise. Besides having the now-expected benefits of smart glasses, such as hands-free photo and video capturing, you can also tap into (or call on) Rokid's ChatGPT-powered voice assistant to answer queries, navigate the UI for you, or process visual information for you through its 12MP sensor.
Also: 5 Meta Ray-Ban upgrades that have me seriously excited for September 17
Sure, the Meta Ray-Bans can run multimodal operations too, but not as well as the Rokid Glasses, based on my 24 hours of testing them so far. And the latter pair has a special trick up its sleeve: Micro LED waveguide displays, an advancement that suggests that real innovation in smart glasses might not be what you hear but what you see.
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