Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 7 hours ago
Can smart glasses actually be useful without a camera or speakers? After wearing the Even Realities G2 for three months, @PaulAntill thinks he found the perfect pair for people who actually want to get work done. In this review, he’s breaking down why the Even Realities G2 has become his go-to "daily driver." While everyone is talking about the Ray-Ban Metas, these take a completely different approach: focusing on a dual-eye monochrome heads-up display (HUD) instead of cameras and media playback. From using the teleprompter to record videos to navigating city streets hands-free, here’s everything you need to know about these AI smart glasses

Category

🤖
Tech
Transcript
00:00Hey, I've been wearing the Even Realities G2 smart glasses for about three months now,
00:04and I gotta say, they have really surprised me.
00:06Would I go as far as to call them the best smart glasses that you can buy right now?
00:10Well, I don't want to give away the video, but I'll tell you this in an episode of Buyer's Skip,
00:15worth watching if you're looking for a Ray-Ban meta alternative without cameras.
00:20From its discreet styling, built-in productivity features, including a super handy teleprompter
00:25that I use all the time, and its focus on privacy, there is a lot to like with these glasses.
00:30But, also a few reasons why they might not be the right fit for you.
00:34So, in this Even Realities G2 smart glasses review, I'll share what these glasses do well,
00:39who I think they're for, and some of the quirks that you should keep in mind before picking up a
00:43pair.
00:45Now, the first thing that caught my attention about these smart glasses is that they really
00:49don't look like smart glasses at all, right? Especially compared to some of the other options
00:54out there. The rim and end pieces look pretty unsuspecting, and the only slight giveaway is
00:59the back of the temples, which houses the batteries, and works as the touch sensors to control everything
01:04on screen. From the front, it's also really hard to tell that the heads-up displays are in each eye.
01:10Now, at certain angles, especially if you're looking up at them, you can sometimes get a glimpse of the
01:15green tint. But, in day-to-day use, not many people have actually noticed that my glasses were smart.
01:21They're also pretty light at just 36 grams. They're even IP65 dust and water resistant,
01:27and can be submerged in water for up to 30 minutes. I haven't needed to try this out myself,
01:32but I am glad that I can still wear these by the pool or beach.
01:36Okay, but obviously what actually makes these glasses so special is the tech-packed inside.
01:41The dual-eye green monochrome heads-up display gives me major Fallout Pip-Boy vibes.
01:46Super cool, but also very comfortable and easy to read, whether I'm outdoors,
01:51indoors, and it never really feels fatiguing. Your main dashboard gives you quick access to
01:56your notifications, stocks, news, and your health data, and this is where you can also find its other
02:01really cool features. One of my favorites is called Conversate, which uses contextual AI to follow my
02:07conversations. It gives me a live transcription of the conversation and even provides helpful insights,
02:13whether that's defining complex words or summarizing the topics of the discussion.
02:18Really cool. Basically, it allows me to still be engaged in the moment, but also able to easily
02:24get insights or recall information when needed. I also found myself using the G2 for navigation.
02:30The navigation feature gives you turn-by-turn directions overlaid on a street view.
02:34Currently, it doesn't offer public transportation, even realities. If you are watching this video,
02:40I would love to see that feature added, but for walking around or even biking, this has been great.
02:45Of course, these glasses have their own built-in AI assistant, which you activate saying,
02:50hey, even, and I can even ask questions and follow-up prompts or open apps, all the typical
02:55voice assistant stuff. But like a lot of you, it's the teleprompter feature that got me interested
03:02in trying out these glasses. Having a teleprompter built into my glasses seemed like a great idea,
03:08and I'm happy to say it's been working really well for the videos that I make.
03:12Cool and wacky tech I'm reviewing, and until the next one, I'll catch you later.
03:15To be fair, the teleprompter does take a bit of practice, and I wouldn't say it's as good as a
03:20real teleprompter that you typically attach on your camera, like we use in the studio here,
03:23but the biggest advantage is that I can read my video scripts from anywhere now. In its app,
03:29you can adjust the width and height of the teleprompter, and personally,
03:33I find it to look most natural when the text is more narrow, which helps me maintain a more
03:38natural eye contact with the camera. On top of that, one of the coolest things is its auto AI
03:44scrolling, which will pace the script as I speak. For the most part, it's smart enough to pause
03:49recording when I go off script and pick back up when I resume. This has been great for improvising
03:54or sharing a quick thought without completely messing up my flow. Like I already shared, there are certain
04:00angles where the green screen is more noticeable, and sometimes the auto scrolling has been a bit
04:05buggy, but if there's only one feature that I could keep with these glasses, it's got to be the
04:10teleprompter. That's just how useful it's been for me. Okay, so here's where I was worried I'd be
04:15missing my Ray-Ban Metas more. The Even Realities G2 are smart glasses without cameras. Obviously,
04:22taking videos and photos is a big part of my job, and the Ray-Ban Metas have been great for
04:27taking those
04:28quick FPV shots and free up my hands completely, but the truth is, I do wish the G2 had cameras,
04:34but I know that they would come with a lot of compromises, which would pretty much defeat the
04:38purpose of these glasses. First, there's no way that the G2s would be this thin and discreet if they
04:44had cameras inside. The frames would be noticeably chunkier, heavier, not to mention uglier. You've
04:51also probably seen it in the news quite a bit, but there are significant privacy concerns around
04:55glasses like the Ray-Ban Metas because of their discrete recording capabilities, enabling
05:00potentially non-consensual filming of others. Even though the Metas have that little recording
05:05light, it's pretty dim outdoors, and people have found ways to hide or completely disable it. And
05:10let's say you were to use it responsibly, and I hope you would, most people still don't like the
05:14idea of a camera always being pointed at them, whether it's on or not, and that honestly just isn't an
05:19issue with the EVEN G2. Another big upside without having a camera is that you get much longer battery
05:25life. The Ray-Ban Metas get up to eight hours on a single charge compared to around two days
05:30with the G2. But what do you guys think about camera glasses? Are you willing to take a hit to
05:36battery life and design? And do you think there is a better way to keep privacy in check?
05:42I have talked a lot about why I like the G2 so far, but there are some trade-offs to
05:47keep in mind.
05:48You know, going back to the differences with Meta glasses for one, the design options here are
05:53pretty limited in comparison. For me, rounder frames tend to look better on my face. The Crown
05:57Plateau model that I have here with its rounded lenses at the bottom and flat top look pretty good,
06:02but I still would have preferred a more traditional oval shape like my dumb pair over here. As of now,
06:07the only other shape that you can choose from is rectangular, and the three color choices are gray,
06:12brown, and green, which, yes, are cool, but compared to Meta glasses, there are like 100 combinations
06:17and frames and lenses that you can choose from before you even add in the Oakley styles. These
06:22are things that I wear every day, so ideally, yes, having more frames that match my style is very
06:27important. So on that note, as someone who actually wears glasses daily to see, I mean, go figure,
06:33I want to quickly talk about lens support. The G2 is available as prescription smart glasses,
06:38supporting negative 12 to plus 12 for single vision. Progressive lenses are not available online,
06:44but you can order them from an authorized retail partner. Where I am a little bit upset though is
06:50the additional cost. It's $159 for their 1.6 index lenses, and that goes up to a whopping $349 for
06:58their thinner 1.74 index, which you will need for stronger prescriptions. Besides that, another big
07:04bummer is that there currently are no options for transition lenses, something that my optometrist has
07:10strongly recommended I go with. Instead, they offer a clip-on solution for $99, which, if you ask me,
07:17is way too much for something that I think should cost maybe $30 at most. Suddenly, these $600 glasses
07:23are almost $1,000, and that will definitely make a lot of people rethink if these are worth the investment.
07:31A final thing to keep in mind, and I did not realize just how much I wanted this until I
07:35got
07:36my first hands-on demo with the MemoMind 1s the other week, but the Even Reality G2 does not have
07:42any speakers. On one hand, ditching speakers allows these glasses to have that really thin metal temple
07:47and keeps the weight down, which helps really sell the idea that these are normal. But I think these
07:51glasses would have been way more useful with speakers, even just to interact with the AI and how
07:56to be able to respond back. I'd also really love to listen to music, watch shows, and take calls
08:02without needing to reach for my AirPods each time, and that'd just be one less thing that I need to
08:06carry along with me. And honestly, it was probably one of my favorite features with the MemoMind 1,
08:12and I know a lot of people also love the speaker and microphone combo quality with the Meta Glasses.
08:17So yeah, the G2s aren't the way to go if you want media playback.
08:23Three months in, I can safely say that the Even Reality G2 have been one of my most used pair
08:28of
08:29smart glasses and offer some genuinely useful features that have made me a believer in AI
08:33glasses. But the price is steep and honestly borderline unreasonable if you have a prescription,
08:40and this pair does lack some of the quintessential smart glasses features found on the competition.
08:45That said, if you're after smart glasses that still look and feel like normal glasses that focus on
08:51productivity features instead of cameras and media playback, then the Even Reality G2 are probably
08:56one of the best pair of smart glasses they can get right now. Let me know what you guys think,
09:00or if there are any other smart glasses I should try and compare these to next. Be sure to stay
09:05subscribed for more Buy or Skip episodes and follow me to see other cool tech I'm reviewing. And until
09:09the next one, I'll catch you later.
09:14Oh no.
09:15Now I'm super incognito. You can't even tell, right? I'm seeing you to the future.
Comments

Recommended