Xiaomi Smart Glasses
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| Xiaomi Smart Glasses | |
|---|---|
| |
| Basic Info | |
| VR/AR | Augmented Reality |
| Type | Head-mounted display |
| Subtype | AR Glasses |
| Developer | Xiaomi |
| Announcement Date | 14 September 2021 |
| Release Date | Not released (concept device) |
| System | |
| Operating System | Android |
| CPU | Quad-core ARM processor |
| Display | |
| Display | Single Micro-LED monocular; monochrome green MicroLED, 0.13 inch, 2.4 mm x 2.02 mm chip, 4 μm pixels, peak brightness 2 million nits |
| Resolution | 640x480 (reported by MicroLED-Info; not stated by Xiaomi) |
| Refresh Rate | 50 Hz |
| Image | |
| Field of View | 29° diagonal |
| Optics | |
| Optics | Optical waveguide lens with an etched grating structure (right lens) |
| Ocularity | Monocular |
| Audio | |
| Audio | Speaker |
| Microphone | Dual beamforming microphone |
| Camera | 5 MP, with indicator light |
| Connectivity | |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth |
| Device | |
| Weight | 51 g |
| Input | Touch pad; XiaoAi voice assistant |
Xiaomi Smart Glasses is an augmented reality head-mounted display concept that Xiaomi announced on 14 September 2021. Xiaomi called it a "smart wearable device concept"; it puts a monochrome MicroLED display and an optical waveguide into a frame shaped like ordinary glasses. The glasses weigh 51 grams and were designed to show messages and notifications, make calls, give navigation directions, take photos and translate text.[1] The display is monocular: images appear in one lens only, in front of the wearer's right eye.[2][3]
Xiaomi presented the device as "an engineer's look into an advanced future" rather than as a retail product, and gave no price or release date.[1][4] Laptop Mag reported that a Xiaomi spokesperson told The Verge there was "no plan to put these on sale".[5] Xiaomi's later glasses, the Mijia Glasses Camera of 2022 and the Xiaomi Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition of 2023, used OLED microdisplays instead of MicroLED.[6][7]
Announcement
Xiaomi announced the glasses in a press release dated 14 September 2021 in Beijing, published on its global Mi Blog under the subtitle "A Smart Wearable Device Concept Integrating Intelligent Functions into Eyewear".[1] The announcement came shortly after Facebook and Ray-Ban announced the Ray-Ban Stories camera glasses, and Road to VR noted that Xiaomi's concept also had an indicator light to show others when its camera was in use.[2]
GSMArena described the glasses as "a 'smart wearable device concept', not an actual product with a shipping date and price".[4] New Atlas and Tech Xplore likewise reported that Xiaomi had announced no production plans.[8][3]
Design and hardware
Display
Xiaomi chose a MicroLED display to reduce the space and weight needed for the imaging system in the frame. The company said that MicroLED pixels, like OLED pixels, are individually lit, but that MicroLEDs "have a higher pixel density and longer lifespan while having a simpler structure", which makes the display more compact and easier to integrate.[1]
The display chip measures 2.4 mm x 2.02 mm, which Xiaomi compared to the size of a grain of rice, and its individual pixels are 4 μm in size. Xiaomi used a monochrome display so that enough light would survive the optical path to be visible "even in harsh direct sunlight"; it rated the panel at a peak brightness of 2 million nits.[1] Press reports described the image as green.[2][3]
Xiaomi did not publish a resolution. MicroLED-Info reported that the display was 0.13 inches in size and wrote that, "while not official", it was "highly likely" to be the 0.13 inch VGA MicroLED microdisplay announced by JBD in 2020. According to the same report, that JBD panel (JBD4UM480P) is a monochrome 640x480 display with a brightness of 2 million nits in green.[9] The 640x480 figure therefore comes from that attribution, not from Xiaomi.
Optics
The glasses use an optical waveguide lens. According to Xiaomi, light from the MicroLED is carried through the lens and directed into the eye by a microscopic grating structure etched onto the inner surface of the lens. Xiaomi said that "the refraction process involves bouncing light beams countless times, allowing the human eye to see a complete image", and that this happens inside a single lens rather than through multiple lenses, mirrors or half mirrors.[1] Press reports placed the waveguide in the right lens only.[2][8] In his commentary on the announcement, Skarredghost of The Ghost Howls noted that the glasses have "only one display", so they cannot show a stereoscopic 3D image.[10]
Components
Xiaomi said the glasses contain 497 components, including miniature sensors and communication modules. The hardware list in the announcement includes a quad-core ARM processor, a battery, a touch pad, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules and the Android operating system. A 5 MP camera sits on the front of the frame next to an indicator light, and calls use a dual beamforming microphone and a speaker.[1] Road to VR reported that the touch pad appeared to be built into one of the arms.[2] Tech Xplore described the operating system as a customized version of Android.[3] Xiaomi did not publish battery capacity or battery life figures.[4][10]
Software and features
Xiaomi described the glasses as "not just a 'second screen' for your smartphone" but a device that can work on its own. Besides showing notifications and incoming calls, the concept was designed to handle navigation, photography, a teleprompter function, and real-time translation of text and photos.[1] Its XiaoAi assistant was the primary interaction method.[1]
Xiaomi said it limited what the display shows so that the glasses would not disturb normal use. After internal discussions it settled on several key scenarios, including key notifications, phone calls, navigation and photo translation.[1]
- Notifications: the glasses select only important messages from the phone, such as smart home alarms, urgent messages from office apps and messages from important contacts.[1]
- Calls: the display shows the caller's number, and the microphones and speaker handle the conversation.[1]
- Navigation: roads and maps appear in front of the wearer in real time, which Xiaomi described as useful for driving and cycling.[1]
- Translation: the camera can photograph text and translate it, and the built-in microphone and a proprietary translation algorithm transcribe speech into text with translations in real time.[1]
Reception
Skarredghost wrote that the presentation "looks like a concept video" and that there were no real photos of the device. He questioned how much text the small display could show, and preferred the Ray-Ban Stories, which he said promised fewer features but were already on the market and implemented them well. He also called the design "still a bit too techie".[10]
Laptop Mag's Jason England noted that at 51 grams the glasses were slightly heavier than Ray-Ban Stories.[5]
Later Xiaomi glasses
OLED-Info wrote that for the Mijia Glasses Camera, which it called Xiaomi's first commercial device, the company "adopted a more mature OLED technology" instead of the MicroLED used in the concept, with two Sony OLED microdisplays.[6] GSMArena reported in August 2022 that the Mijia Glasses Camera used a Sony silicon-based OLED display and cost CNY 2,499 in pre-order on Xiaomi's crowdfunding platform, with a planned retail price of CNY 2,699.[11] In February 2023 Xiaomi showed the Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition, another concept with Micro OLED screens, at Mobile World Congress.[7] In June 2025 Xiaomi launched the Xiaomi AI Glasses in China; they have a camera but no display.[12]
Specifications
Xiaomi's announcement did not include refresh rate or field of view figures, and the refresh rate and field of view values in the table below are not confirmed by an official source.
| Specification | Xiaomi Smart Glasses |
|---|---|
| Display | Single Micro-LED monocular; monochrome MicroLED, 2.4 mm x 2.02 mm chip[1] |
| Pixel size | 4 μm[1] |
| Peak brightness | 2 million nits[1] |
| Resolution | 640x480 (attributed by MicroLED-Info; not stated by Xiaomi)[9] |
| Optics | Optical waveguide lens, right eye only[1][2] |
| Processor | Quad-core ARM[1] |
| Operating system | Android[1] |
| Camera | 5 MP, with indicator light[1] |
| Audio | Dual beamforming microphone and speaker[1] |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth[1] |
| Input | Touch pad, XiaoAi voice assistant[1] |
| Refresh rate | 50 Hz |
| Field of view | 29° diagonal |
| Components | 497[1] |
| Weight | 51 g[1] |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 Xiaomi Team (2021-09-14). "Xiaomi Unveils Xiaomi Smart Glasses". Mi Blog. Xiaomi. https://web.archive.org/web/20210915020007/https://blog.mi.com/en/2021/09/14/xiaomi-unveils-xiaomi-smart-glasses/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Scott Hayden (2021-09-14). "Xiaomi Teases Smart Glasses Concept with MicroLED Display & 5MP Camera". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/xiaomi-smart-glasses-release-smartphone/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Bob Yirka (2021-09-15). "Xiaomi unveils Smart Glasses - a wearable concept device". Tech Xplore. https://techxplore.com/news/2021-09-xiaomi-unveils-smart-glassesa-wearable.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Vlad (2021-09-14). "Xiaomi Smart Glasses announced as a "wearable device concept"". GSMArena. https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_announces_smart_glasses_as_a_wearable_device_concept-news-50910.php. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Jason England (2021-09-14). "Xiaomi Smart Glasses revealed: MicroLED display brings true AR into focus". Laptop Mag. https://www.laptopmag.com/news/xiaomi-smart-glasses-revealed-microled-display-brings-true-ar-into-focus. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ron Mertens (2022-08-02). "Xiaomi Mijia Glasses Camera". OLED-Info. https://www.oled-info.com/mijia-glasses-camera. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Michail (2023-02-27). "Xiaomi Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition showcased at MWC". GSMArena. https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_wireless_ar_glass_discovery_edition_showcased_at_mwc_-news-57712.php. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Paul Ridden (2021-09-17). "Smart Glasses help you find your way with MicroLED head-up display". New Atlas. https://newatlas.com/wearables/xiaomi-smart-glasses/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Ron Mertens (2021-09-14). "Xiaomi announces its first smart glasses with a 0.13-inch MicroLED microdisplay". MicroLED-Info. https://www.microled-info.com/xiaomi-announces-its-first-smart-glasses-013-inch-microled-microdisplay. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Skarredghost (2021-09-14). "Xiaomi unveils its smartglasses". The Ghost Howls. https://skarredghost.com/2021/09/14/xiaomi-smartglasses-announced/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Yordan (2022-08-01). "Xiaomi's Mijia ecosystem gets AR Glasses with Snapdragon 8 chipset and $370 price". GSMArena. https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_introduces_ar_mijia_glasses_with_snapdragon_8_chipset_and_370_price-news-55251.php. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Scott Hayden (2025-06-26). "Xiaomi Unveils China's Answer to Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses with a Few Killer Features". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/xiaomi-ai-glasses-meta-smart-glasses-features/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.