Vuzix M400C
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| Vuzix M400C | |
|---|---|
| |
| Basic Info | |
| VR/AR | Augmented Reality |
| Type | Head-mounted display |
| Subtype | AR Glasses |
| Developer | Vuzix |
| Manufacturer | Vuzix |
| Announcement Date | 4 January 2022[1] |
| Release Date | 2022 (general availability announced 3 November 2022)[2] |
| Price | US$1,299.99 (list price at general availability, November 2022)[2] |
| Requires | Host device with a USB-C port supporting DisplayPort Alternate Mode |
| Display | |
| Display | Single OLED monocular |
| Resolution | 640 x 360 (nHD)[3] |
| Image | |
| Field of View | 16.8° diagonal[4] |
| Optics | |
| Ocularity | Monocular |
| Tracking | |
| Tracking | 3DoF head tracking[4] |
| Audio | |
| Audio | Mono loudspeaker |
| Microphone | Three noise-cancelling microphones |
| Camera | Autofocus camera; stills up to 4160 x 3120, video up to 3840 x 2160 at 30 fps or 1920 x 1080 at 60 fps[3] |
| Connectivity | |
| Connectivity | USB Type-C (USB 3.1 Gen 2 listed on data sheet), DisplayPort Alternate Mode[4] |
| Power | Powered by the host over USB-C (15 W, 5 V 3 A); no internal battery[3] |
| Device | |
| Weight | 68 g[2] |
| Sensors | 3-axis gyroscope, 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis magnetometer |
| Input | Four buttons, two-axis touchpad with multi-finger support, voice control |
Vuzix M400C is an augmented reality head-mounted display released in 2022. It is a monocular pair of smart glasses made by Vuzix for enterprise use. It has the same form factor as the company's Vuzix M400, but it is not a standalone computer and has no battery of its own: it works as a USB-C peripheral that plugs into a smartphone or a computer, which supplies the video signal, receives the camera and sensor data, and powers the glasses.[1][2]
Vuzix introduced the device as the M400-C in January 2022, showed it at CES 2022, and later sold it as the M400C.[1][2] It connects to the host through USB-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode and appears to the host as a standard monitor, webcam, sound card and USB input devices.[3] Vuzix announced general availability in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union and Japan on 3 November 2022 at a list price of US$1,299.99.[2] As of September 2026, Vuzix describes the M400C as a discontinued product, and its developer support site files it under "Legacy Devices".[5][6]
Announcement and release
Vuzix introduced the M400-C on 4 January 2022 as the newest member of its M-Series smart glasses family. The company said it had already shipped limited initial production units to a Windows mobile computer manufacturer, that further shipments to select partners were expected in the first quarter of 2022, and that full production and general availability would begin in the second quarter of 2022. The announced price was US$1,199. The glasses were shown at the Pepcom event in Las Vegas that evening and at the Vuzix booth at CES 2022.[1] Display Daily reported the announcement the following day.[7]
In the announcement, Vuzix president and CEO Paul Travers said: "The M400-C is an ideal solution for enterprise customers that are looking for either an addition to an existing smart phone or a Windows-based computer to run on. It targets similar general use cases as our M400, but just plugs into another device to serve as a very capable tethered USB-C peripheral."[1]
General availability was announced on 3 November 2022, by which time the product name was written without the hyphen. Vuzix said customers in the US, Canada, the UK, the EU and Japan could order the glasses by contacting its sales department, at a list price of US$1,299.99.[2] Engineering.com covered the launch in November 2022 and gave the same markets and price.[8] Notebookcheck reported a German price of 1,642.20 euros including taxes.[9]
Vuzix's support page groups the M400C with the M300, Blade and Blade Upgraded as "discontinued Vuzix products".[5] Its developer documentation lists the M400C under "Legacy Devices" together with the M300 and Blade smart glasses.[6] No discontinuation date has been published. The smart glasses comparison page on the Vuzix website lists the M400 but not the M400C.[10]
Design and hardware
Tethered design
Unlike the M400, the M400C is not a standalone computing device. It uses the M400's form factor and relies on a host device for computing.[1] Vuzix's developer manual describes it as "a USB-C multi-function device packaged in a smart glasses form factor". The display is driven over USB-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode, and the audio, sensors, touchpad and buttons work over ordinary USB. These USB functions keep working on a host without DisplayPort Alternate Mode, although the display then stays off. On a USB 2.0 host, the camera is also limited to 1080p at 30 frames per second. The host must supply 15 W (5 V, 3 A) over its USB-C port.[3]
The glasses have no separate battery and weigh 68 grams, which Vuzix described as a small fraction of the weight of comparable wearable devices. The company also said that in high-security environments the M400C causes no IT overhead, because it ties directly into a customer's already approved mobile ecosystem.[2] Engineering.com described the glasses as a heads-up display for users in manufacturing, construction and other industries, for example to show a checklist to a quality assurance inspector, and noted that they can stream audio and video for remote collaboration.[8]
The M400C fits all M-Series mounting accessories.[2] The January 2022 data sheet lists mounting options that include eyeglass frames with or without lenses, safety glasses, a hard hat mount, a headband mount and a Peltor headphone mount. The display can be worn over either eye.[4]
Display
The display is a full-color OLED panel with a resolution of 640 x 360 (nHD).[11] The host sees the glasses as a 1280 x 720 monitor at 60 Hz, and the internal video pipeline scales that input down to the panel resolution with a bilinear scaler.[3] The onboard orientation sensor can tell whether the glasses are worn on the left or right side of the head and rotate the image to match. The manual notes that this automatic rotation may give wrong results if the wearer's head is not roughly level.[3]
Camera
The camera works as a standard USB Video Class (UVC) webcam, so a Windows host can use its built-in Camera app. A red privacy LED lights while the camera is active, and an LED flash doubles as a torch.[3] Vuzix's data sheet lists stills of up to 13 megapixels, phase-detection autofocus, streaming at 1080p and 60 frames per second, and barcode scanning.[4] The developer manual lists the following modes:[3]
| Mode | Resolution | Aspect ratio | Frame rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video | 3840 x 2160 | 16:9 | 30 fps |
| Video | 1920 x 1080 | 16:9 | 60 fps |
| Video | 1920 x 1080 | 16:9 | 30 fps |
| Video | 2052 x 1536 | 4:3 | 30 fps |
| Photo | 3840 x 2160 | 16:9 | n/a |
| Photo | 1920 x 1080 | 16:9 | n/a |
| Photo | 4160 x 3120 | 4:3 | n/a |
| Photo | 2052 x 1536 | 4:3 | n/a |
The manual's errata note that some hosts cannot record 2160p at 30 fps from the camera without artifacts in the video; the fix it gives is to lower the resolution or frame rate.[3]
Audio
The glasses show up on the host as a USB Audio Class sound card that handles two-channel, 16-bit, 48 kHz audio. Playback is mixed down to one channel for the single loudspeaker. Of the three microphones (front, middle and rear), the default recording mode uses only the front one. A "Personal Record" mode uses the onboard DSP to beamform toward the wearer's voice.[3] The data sheet gives a speaker output of up to 97 dB.[4]
Sensors and controls
An orientation sensor combines a gyroscope, an accelerometer and a magnetometer, and it also reports orientation as a quaternion over the USB Sensor HID class.[3] Vuzix calls this a head tracker with three degrees of freedom.[4]
There are four physical buttons, three along the top edge and one on the side. The host sees them as a USB keyboard, and their key codes can be reprogrammed and stored in the glasses' non-volatile memory. By default, a short press on the front, middle and back buttons sends right arrow, left arrow and Enter. The capacitive touchpad appears to the host as a USB mouse. It supports one- and two-finger swipes and taps as well as pinch to zoom, and the manual says it works through some gloves, depending on their thickness.[3] The Vuzix documentation also lists voice control.[11]
A status LED shows green in normal operation, yellow while the glasses wait for video data and red in an error state.[3]
Specifications
| Specification | Vuzix M400C |
|---|---|
| Display | Single OLED monocular, full color, 24-bit color[4] |
| Resolution | 640 x 360 (nHD), 16:9[3][4] |
| Field of view | 16.8° diagonal; Vuzix compares it to a 5-inch mobile device screen seen at 17 inches[4] |
| Brightness and contrast | Over 2,000 nits; contrast over 10,000:1[4] |
| Camera | Up to 13 MP stills (data sheet); 4K video at 30 fps, 1080p at 60 fps; autofocus; LED flash[4][3] |
| Audio | Integrated speaker (up to 97 dB); three noise-cancelling microphones[4] |
| Sensors | 3-axis gyroscope, 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis magnetometer[4] |
| Controls | Four buttons, two-axis touchpad with multi-finger support, voice control[4] |
| Connection | USB Type-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode; USB 3.1 Gen 2 on the data sheet[4] |
| Power | From the host over USB-C, 15 W (5 V 3 A); no internal battery[3][2] |
| Weight | 68 g[2] |
| Durability | IP67 against water and dust, drop safe to 2 meters (listed by Vuzix as targeted certifications)[4] |
| Operating temperature | -20 °C to 45 °C[4] |
| Price | US$1,199 announced (January 2022); US$1,299.99 list at general availability (November 2022)[1][2] |
Software and features
Host devices
Vuzix said the M400C works with dedicated hardware as well as "many Android phones with USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode".[2] The developer manual says the glasses were designed to work with the Dynabook dynaEdge DE-200 and other PCs that support USB-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode, and with some phones such as the LG V50.[3] It lists the following hosts as tested:[3]
| Brand | Model |
|---|---|
| Dynabook | dynaEdge DE-100 |
| Dynabook | dynaEdge DE200 |
| LG | V60 |
| LG | V50 ThinQ |
| Motorola | Edge Plus |
| Samsung | Galaxy S9 |
| Samsung | Galaxy S20 |
| Samsung | Galaxy S21 |
| Sharp | Aquos R5 |
On Windows hosts, the glasses' display can be mirrored or used as an extended desktop through the normal display settings.[3]
Developer tools
Vuzix publishes a USB API for the glasses. It controls display brightness, the forced left-eye mode, automatic rotation, button mapping, the touchpad and camera settings such as autofocus mode, noise reduction, a scanner mode, and the flash and torch.[3]
For Android phones, Vuzix offers the USB-C Viewer SDK. Vuzix sorts its smart glasses into standalone models such as the M400, which the SDK does not support, and USB-C viewers such as the M400C, which it does. The SDK gives phone apps access to the flashlight and to the accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer data. According to Vuzix, similar functions are possible on Windows, Mac and Linux without the SDK.[12][13] An app can be set to launch automatically when the glasses are connected to the phone.[14] The SDK is published on GitHub under the BSD 3-Clause license.[15]
Vuzix's developer guidance warns that apps built around touchscreen taps at specific screen coordinates do not necessarily translate well to the glasses, since input comes from the buttons and touchpad instead.[16]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Vuzix Introduces its New M400-C Smart Glasses". PR Newswire. Vuzix Corporation. 2022-01-04. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vuzix-introduces-its-new-m400-c-smart-glasses-301453697.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 "Vuzix Announces General Availability of M400C Smart Glasses". PR Newswire. Vuzix Corporation. 2022-11-03. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vuzix-announces-general-availability-of-m400c-smart-glasses-301668124.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 Devrin Talen (2022-08-29). "M400C Developer Manual, Revision 8". Vuzix Developer Resources. Vuzix Corporation. https://vuzix-website.s3.amazonaws.com/files/Content/developer-resources/M400C/M400C+Developer+Guide+v8.pdf. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 "Vuzix M400C Smart Glasses (data sheet)". Westbase.io. Vuzix Corporation. 2022-01-04. https://www.westbase.io/shop/files/product/wbteam/Vuzix%20M400C%20Smart%20Glasses.pdf. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Support". Vuzix. Vuzix Corporation. https://www.vuzix.com/pages/support. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Legacy Devices". Vuzix Support. Vuzix Corporation. https://support.vuzix.com/docs/legacy-devices. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Artem Alekseenko (2022-01-05). "Vuzix Introduces its New M400-C Smart Glasses". Display Daily. https://displaydaily.com/vuzix-introduces-its-new-m400-c-smart-glasses/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Michael Alba (2022-11-25). "Tech Check: Smart Glasses are Looking Hot". Engineering.com. https://www.engineering.com/tech-check-smart-glasses-are-looking-hot/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Silvio Werner (2022-11-07). "Vuzix M400C: Smart Glass mit OLED und zahlreichen Sensoren ist ab sofort auch in Deutschland erhältlich". Notebookcheck. https://www.notebookcheck.com/Vuzix-M400C-Smart-Glass-mit-OLED-und-zahlreichen-Sensoren-ist-ab-sofort-auch-in-Deutschland-erhaeltlich.667030.0.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ "Compare Smart Glasses". Vuzix. Vuzix Corporation. https://www.vuzix.com/pages/compare-smart-glasses. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Overview (M400C)". Vuzix Support. Vuzix Corporation. 2023-12-19. https://support.vuzix.com/docs/overview-24. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ "Overview (Working with the Vuzix USB-C Viewer SDK)". Vuzix Support. Vuzix Corporation. 2023-12-19. https://support.vuzix.com/docs/overview-25. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ "Usage (Vuzix USB-C Viewer SDK)". Vuzix Support. Vuzix Corporation. 2023-12-19. https://support.vuzix.com/docs/usage. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ "Installation (Vuzix USB-C Viewer SDK)". Vuzix Support. Vuzix Corporation. 2023-12-19. https://support.vuzix.com/docs/installation-10. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ "Vuzix/sdk-usbcviewer". GitHub. Vuzix Corporation. https://github.com/Vuzix/sdk-usbcviewer. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ "Interaction Methods (M400C)". Vuzix Support. Vuzix Corporation. 2023-12-19. https://support.vuzix.com/docs/interaction-methods-2. Retrieved 2026-09-27.