HTC Enters AI Smart Glasses Market With Vive Eagle to Challenge Meta’s Ray-Ban

HTC has entered the smart glasses race with the Vive Eagle, a new pair of AI-powered eyewear designed to compete with Meta’s Ray-Ban and Oakley HSTN models. While VR headsets like HTC’s Vive series have struggled against Meta’s Quest line in the consumer market, the company is now pivoting to smart glasses—a growing segment where fashion, functionality, and AI integration are key. The Vive Eagle features a sleek, translucent plastic frame and weighs just 49 grams, matching the lightness of Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses. It includes a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera on each arm, twin speakers, and a 4-mic array with directional noise suppression, enabling clear voice capture even in noisy environments. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chipset and equipped with 32GB of onboard storage, the Vive Eagle supports AI-driven features such as real-time image and text recognition. Users can ask the AI assistant to translate text in the real world into 13 languages, set calendar events, take notes, and get restaurant recommendations—similar to Meta’s AI assistant. The glasses also include a “memory” feature that recalls people you’ve met or where you parked your car, enhancing personal utility. These AI functions are accessed through the Vive Connect app, though details on app compatibility remain limited. Battery life is a strong point: the Vive Eagle offers up to 4.5 hours of continuous music playback and over 36 hours of standby time on its 235mAh battery. Fast charging allows it to reach 50% in under 10 minutes using the included charging case. This compares favorably to Meta’s Ray-Ban (up to 4 hours) and the larger Oakley Meta glasses (up to 5 hours). The Vive Eagle also comes with Zeiss sun lenses and is available in red, brown, gray, or black frames. Currently, the Vive Eagle is only available in Taiwan, priced at 15,600 New Taiwan dollars—approximately $535. It remains uncertain when or if HTC will launch the product in North America or Europe, where competition is fierce. The market is already crowded with players like Meta, Google, Samsung, and Apple, all developing AI-powered glasses. Xiaomi has already launched models with up to 8 hours of battery life, while Meta is rumored to be working on a high-end $1,000 AR glasses model called “Hypernova” with a heads-up display. Google and Xreal are also exploring partnerships in the space. HTC’s past VR hardware, like the Vive Focus Vision, struggled with outdated tech and high prices, failing to compete with Meta’s more affordable and advanced headsets. To succeed in the smart glasses market, HTC must offer more than just specs—it needs innovation, affordability, and broader availability. The Vive Eagle shows promise in design and AI features but lacks a clear differentiator beyond being a direct competitor to the Ray-Ban Meta glasses. For HTC to gain traction, it will need to deliver a truly unique experience at a competitive price point, especially if it ever expands beyond Taiwan. As AI-powered wearables become a central part of tech, HTC’s entry into the smart glasses space signals a strategic shift—and a test of whether the company can reinvent itself in a rapidly evolving market.