Even Realities’ G1 smart glasses are useful and stylish

Even Realities showed up at CES 2025 in Las Vegas to show off theirs smart glassesG1, which have been on the market for several months. 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 of playing with them, I’m already a fan of how they bring digital intelligence to the real world.

The G1 is a pair of smart glasses that come in a round Philip Johnson-style body or, if you opt for the new G1Bs, a more rectangular frame. Both are equipped with a 160 mAh battery, which the company promises will last about a day and a half on a single charge. Inside are a pair of waveguide displays with a 25-degree field of view and 640 x 200 resolution, showing basic text and graphics in old-school green. The glasses have their own charging case, which itself is equipped with a 2000mAh battery that will keep them charged at least two and a half times before you need to find a cable.

The company chose not to throw too many features at the G1, focusing on where it can make a real impact while respecting the battery. For example, activate your phone’s navigation and you’ll get turn-by-turn directions displayed in your field of vision. Likewise, you should be able to use the glasses as a prompter, with the system’s built-in microphone following you as you speak. This microphone can also be used for real-time translation into a number of foreign languages ​​as well as transcribing your dictations. You’ll also get the option to have your smartphone’s notifications fall before your eyes, saving you the indignity of looking at your phone or watch.

Best of all, there are plenty of customization options, including the ability to set it so that the waveguide displays only activate when you tilt your head up. From there, you can set the reading distance of the text on the screen, and you even have limited control over the height of the text. The included features show that they all work as advertised, and the real-time directions will even let you switch from turn-by-turn directions to a map of your route progress if you look up. Real-time translation and captions are helpful and elegant, as is a teleprompter that will scroll words as you say them—even in a loud Las Vegas ballroom. The company’s CSO Nikolaj Schnoor even said that some early customers who have hearing loss are now using captions to help them in their daily conversations. There are also two hardware buttons hidden behind the tops of the temples that let you put it in dictation mode without having to touch your phone.

As impressed as I am with the features, I’m also impressed with how comfortable they are to wear, with the design placing most of the (surprisingly) light weight on the hinges and temple tops. You could easily wear them all day long and look and act much more like real glasses than gadgets.

The company even said all the right things about repairability, saying the system is modular enough that an optician can replace your lenses if they break or your prescription changes. You should also be able to send the hardware back to the company to replace the batteries when they wear out in a few years. Given the high price, that’s to be expected, but it’s nice to see that attention has been paid.

The Even Realities G1 and G1B are available to order now, with prices starting at $599, though that figure will climb once you factor in your options, including prescription lenses. Depending on where you are in the world, you can also order them through your local optician.