Last year, I reviewed Even Realities' G1 and came away deeply impressed. In fact, I'd say they're the smart glasses to beat. So I was surprised to see my colleague Sam Rutherford have issues with the second-generation unit when he tested an early beta version. It's not often a hardware platform goes backwards, especially once it's established a solid series of fundamentals. But it seems that, in trying to broaden the usability of its glasses, Even Realities has regressed.
The G2s are lightweight smart glasses without a forward-facing camera, acting as an alternative to a smartwatch. Waveguide prisms in the lenses project notifications, news headlines and turn-by-turn directions into your field of vision, and can also handle real-time translation, teleprompting and AI queries. The base model costs $599, and prescription lenses add at least $159. Compared with the first generation, the G2s are a little lighter, offer higher resolution (640 x 350), a wider field of view (27.5 degrees), a much faster 60Hz refresh rate and 1,200 nits of peak brightness. They are also now IP65-rated for dust and water ingress, a welcome upgrade.
The new on-device touchpads on the temple tips are a mixed bag. Placing them behind your ears helps balance the weight, but controlling your specs from there feels awkward, and may be harder for users with weaker proprioception. The company has also introduced the R1 smart ring, a separate $249 purchase that works only with the G2. Made of zirconia ceramic, it features a touch surface for your thumb, is IP68-certified, lasts four days on a charge and tracks activity, heart rate, sleep and other wellness signals, which appear on the glasses.
The core problem is control. Smart glasses are meant to keep your focus on the real world and free up your hands, but the more features packed onto the frame, the more complicated the control scheme becomes. A ring makes sense in theory, since it could let you scroll and tap through menus efficiently. In practice, however, the combined controls feel erratic and difficult to use, and the UI needs more customization options. The G2 is a capable piece of hardware held back by its interface, earning a score of 6.9 / 10.
Source: Engadget · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing