HTC VIVE Eagle review: Low-fall AI smart glasses

Note: This review was originally published on July 1, 2026.

Smart glasses are no longer the gadgets of the sci-fi movies we saw growing up, although I think we’re a bit further away from all the cameras, speakers and AI assistants sitting on our faces happily walking around. What has changed in recent years, especially in the last two years, is that the genre has started to feel more normal, and a lot of it has been driven Meta’s partnership Aeschylus luxotica. The Meta Gen 2 Ray-Tires The glasses worked better than I expected because they didn’t try too hard to look like a tech toy. They looked like Ray-Bans first and smart glasses second, which made the whole concept much easier to accept. As the smart glass market heats up quickly, Counterpoint figures show that the non-display smart glass market is on the rise. 210 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026 Alone, Meta has 84 percent of the market.

That’s the world HTC is stepping into with the VIVE Eagle. Unlike HTC’s more familiar VIVE VR and XR headsets, this isn’t a headset, nor is it trying to put a display in front of your eyes. It’s closer to the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses: a pair of everyday-looking smart glasses with a camera, open-ear speakers, microphones, voice controls, and an AI assistant that accompanies your phone. In Singapore, VIVE Eagle launches $730 ZEISS UV400 sun lenses (reviewed here), at the same time The AdaptiveSun version is priced at S$880Above the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 range, it starts at S$629 locally and goes up to S$699 for the Scriber Optics and Blayzer Optics models.

Hardware and design

Smart glasses should look good, more of a fashion statement than an in-your-face gadget, and I thought the VIVE Eagle would mostly clear that barrier. As expected, the frame and arms are thicker than a normal pair of sunglasses to accommodate all the necessary circuitry, but it’s remarkably clear unless someone looks closely at the camera module in the frame. It comes in black, berry, coffee, and gray in the medium size, while the large size is only available in black and gray.

HTC lists the mid-range model 48.8 grams Lenses, when the bigger version comes 51.5 gramsAnd it’s in the same range as the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 Scriber Optics I reviewed earlier. From the time I spent with it, I found the VIVE Eagle to be comfortable enough for short stretches, but like the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, you get to know it after a while, especially around the bridge of the nose. The adjustable nose pads help, and I think it makes sense for HTC to focus on an Asian fit, but anyone expecting these to feel like a normal pair of sunglasses should manage their expectations.

The benefits of Ray-Ban Meta glasses are still in the overall glasses experience. No surprise really, because Ray-Ban has decades of design familiarity working in its favor, and Meta’s smart move is to hide its technology within a lifestyle brand that most people already recognize. The VIVE Eagle looks decent, but it feels like a tech company’s version of fashionable glasses — to me, anyway. The build feels solid enough, the hands don’t feel flimsy, and the physical controls are sensible, with voice command, touchpad, capture button and power/AI button all available. But when placed next to the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 Scriber Optics, the VIVE Eagle lacks the same effortless style or polish. It’s a respectable debut from HTC, but Ray-Ban’s Meta glasses feel more natural for everyday wear.

Performance and everyday use

VIVE is built around Eagle Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1with 4GB RAM And 32 GB storageIt’s broadly in line with what you’d expect from the current generation of display-less smartwatches. Setup is simple via the VIVE Connect app, and the glasses act as a hands-free extension of your phone for music, calls, voice commands, translation and quick camera capture. HTC’s big software pitch is the VIVE AI, which is accessible Google Gemini And ChatGPTAnd that naturally gives the Eagle a slightly different flavor from the Ray-Ban Meta glasses paired with the Meta AI.

In everyday use, the most useful accessories are the simple ones. Taking a call without reaching for your phone works well enough, and the open-ear speakers are great for listening to voice prompts, podcasts, and casual music. Like the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2, it’s no substitute for proper earbuds, especially if you’re concerned with bass or isolation, which doesn’t really matter. The appeal is that you can listen while being aware of your surroundings, which is useful when walking around the office or on the go. HTC says the Eagle uses a beamforming microphone array with stereo bass-enhanced open-ear speakers, one unidirectional and three omni-directional microphones, and the hardware is clearly tuned around voice-first interactions rather than serious music listening.

Where the VIVE Eagle starts to feel funky and a bit compromised is the camera. HTC uses a 12MP ultra-wide camera It captures photos 3,024 x 4,032 pixelsSame photo resolution as I saw on the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2. But the meta is moving forward in video. VIVE Eagle Records 1,512 x 2,016 at 30fpsThe Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 can shoot 3K (2,384 x 3,168) video. In good light, the VIVE Eagle is usable for quick first-person photos and short social clips. If you’re someone who already enjoys the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 for casual bike rides, walks, or quick hands-free clips, the VIVE Eagle’s low video ceiling is worth noting.

Battery life is decent, but again, context matters. HTC VIVE Eagle is rated at over 36 hours of standby time, up to 4.5 hours of continuous music playback and over three hours of continuous voice calls. 235mAh battery. It supports magnetic fast charging, with HTC charging from one to 50 percent in 10 minutes and from one to 80 percent in 23 minutes. The quick top-up is helpful, but I still prefer the Meta’s charging case approach, as it feels more natural for a product like this. With the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2, the case doubles as a portable charger, so putting the glasses away means you’re charging them. With the VIVE Eagle, the magnetic cable works, but it feels more like charging a gadget than storing a pair of glasses, and I found the small difference to be more important than that.

The AI ​​features were useful in certain situations, but they didn’t completely change how I used the glasses. Translation, quick search queries, reminders, and AI notes are features that sound great in the demo, and I can see the appeal for travel, meetings, or quick hands-free note-taking. VIVE AI notes are protected by AES-256 encryption and can transcribe conversations with data stored internally, identify different speakers and create summaries, HTC says, while VIVE AI Plus is included with the glasses as a 24-month trial. However, smart glasses continue to feel a bit ahead of everyday behavior. Sometimes it’s comfortable to talk to your glasses, and there are times when it’s socially awkward. That was true on the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2, and it remains true here.

Final thoughts

After using the VIVE Eagle, I felt HTC had created a pretty capable pair of AI smart glasses, but not necessarily the pair I’d recommend in the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2. The hardware is light enough, the camera is useful for casual hands-free capture, works well for audio calls and spoken content, and it’s not HTC’s interesting approach. I appreciate the strong emphasis on privacy, especially HTC’s claim that local encrypted storage, logging protections, and personal data will not be used for AI training. That positioning is sensible, as people are still testing how comfortable they are with cameras in their faces. Essentially with that in mind, would I trust the HTC more than the Meta here? Maybe naive.

The problem is that the meta still has the edge in this category. The Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 looks great, has a more mature ecosystem, offers robust video capture, comes with a sleek charging case, and starts at a low price in Singapore. The VIVE Eagle isn’t bad at all, and for users who want HTC’s proprietary pitch, access to Gemini and OpenAI, or the idea of ​​wearable AI hints and translations, has its own clear identity. But at S$730 to S$880, it’s asking a lot of hope from buyers, especially when the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 already makes the smart glasses concept feel more accessible.

So, would I recommend the VIVE Eagle? I would love to, but with a very specific caveat. If you want smart glasses that focus more on AI assistance, note-taking, and privacy, the VIVE Eagle is worth considering, especially if it fits your face. But if you want a more well-rounded everyday product – one that looks great, records great video, feels easy to live with and costs less to boot – the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 is a solid buy right now. HTC has shown it can compete in this space, but for the VIVE Eagle to really take off, the next version needs to feel like a good first attempt and something people will choose even without the AI ​​pitch.

HTC VIVE Eagle is available exclusively on Singtel. Click here to buy.