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While most of the focus of Samsung’s latest Galaxy Unpacked event was, rightly so, focused on the foldable phones and the fun new format of the Galaxy Z Fold 8, it rounded out the show by unveiling some new details on the forthcoming Galaxy Glasses.
Before we get into that, though, let’s talk about what we didn’t get: a price. Samsung is sticking with its release plan for Autumn this year, but is still playing coy when it comes to the cost. Odds are the Galaxy Glasses will be somewhat competitive with the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses – Gen 2 of which start at £379 – but the ongoing components shortage could mean that Samsung is eyeing a more premium price tag.
The Galaxy Unpacked demonstration started out reiterating the morsels of information that were already out there about the Galaxy Glasses. There are two styles, one designed by Gentle Monster and one by Warby Parker, and Google’s Gemini AI is built in, offering features like real-time translation, message summarisation, adding events to your calendar or suggesting stops and points of interest along your route when navigating.
Beyond that, we don’t have much in the way of new information – I was hoping to at least get confirmation of how much each pair would weigh – but there are a couple of features mentioned that are worth highlighting.
First of all, it was confirmed that the Galaxy Glasses are powered by the same Snapdragon AR Gen 1 chipset as the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses. This isn’t exactly surprising – the video streaming and Gemini integration strongly indicated this – but it’s good to have confirmation.
Using the built-in camera, the glasses can capture what you’re looking at – the example given was a whiteboard during a meeting – and organise the key information into your phone’s Notes app, for easier recollection and sharing later. In addition to recording your point of view, you can also share via Live Streaming, showing the person you’re on a call with what you’re looking at.
The other big reveal was battery life, and that’s sounding very competitive. The glasses themselves are said to last for up to nine hours on a single charge and the charging case apparently offers up to seven additional full charges. By my count, that’s a potential of three full days of use before you need to juice up the case again.
Compare that to the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 glasses, and we see just how impressive Samsung’s figures are – the Meta glasses last roughly eight hours by themselves and the charging case packs up to 48 hours more of power, for a total potential of 56 hours. Again, we’ll have to see how the Galaxy Glasses perform in testing, but if these figures are anywhere close to accurate, the stamina here will be very impressive.
Finally, I was under the impression that the designs we saw when Samsung first unveiled the Galaxy Glasses at Google I/O back in May were the only looks that would be available, but it appears that the range is more in-depth than I assumed. We see different styles of both brands in this showcase, with the Gentle Monster pair in particular being a stark departure from what was shown before, and Samsung confirmed that there will be a range of frame styles, colours and lens options to choose from.
I imagine we’ll get more information on how many different options there will be, as well as that all-important price, as we get closer to the Autumn release window. We’ll be bringing all the latest information to you as we get it, so stick with us to find out when you can buy the Samsung Galaxy Glasses and how much they will set you back.
