Not content with smartphones, Google is officially getting back into smart glasses – and this time it’s bringing Samsung, Gemini AI, and iPhone support along for the ride.
At Google I/O 2026, the tech giant confirmed that the first Android XR intelligent eyewear products will launch later this year. Unlike the ill-fated Google Glass from more than a decade ago, these are far closer in concept to Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses – meaning cameras, microphones, speakers, and AI features built into frames you might actually want to wear in public.
The first models are audio-focused smart glasses without built-in displays, though Google has already teased future versions with lens-based visuals. Gemini AI is accessed through voice commands or touch controls on the frame itself.
Google says you’ll be able to ask Gemini questions about the world around you, get turn-by-turn walking directions, send texts, take photos, translate speech in real time, and even interact with apps like Uber, DoorDash, and Mondly without touching your phone. Crucially, the glasses will work with both Android phones and iPhones.
Style clearly matters this time around, too. Google is partnering with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker for the launch collections, while Android XR itself is being developed alongside Samsung and Qualcomm.
The feature list sounds extremely familiar if you’ve been following Meta’s smart glasses push. Google’s version can snap photos and videos, play music through open-ear speakers, summarise messages, and offer live language translation. There’s also a heavy focus on Gemini AI handling multi-step tasks in the background, like preparing a coffee order while your phone stays in your pocket.
One particularly Google-y feature involves AI photo editing directly from the glasses. During I/O, the company demonstrated its Nano Banana image editing tools to automatically alter photos with commands like adding funny hats to people in a picture. How often you’d use such a feature, though, remains to be seen.
Unfortunately, Google hasn’t revealed pricing, battery life, camera quality, or exact launch dates beyond “this fall”. And while the company is teasing future display glasses with information projected into the lens itself, those aren’t arriving yet.
Elsewhere, rumours of Apple’s own smart glasses continue to flutter around, so watch this space…
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