2026 Is About to Be a Blockbuster Year for Smart Glasses

If there’s one thing we can count on this year in the world of consumer tech, it’s that we won’t have a lot of RAM, and we will have a lot of smart glasses. If you needed any further proof of the latter prediction, Samsung has you covered.

During an earnings call this week, Samsung confirmed that its AR glasses (which have already been teased) are coming this year. That’s not the most detailed announcement to be sure, but in context with the smart glasses field as a whole, it’s making 2026 look like the year that smart glasses go mainstream.

We don’t know much about Samsung’s smart glasses, but they’ll arguably be the biggest name in the space when they finally drop (sorry, Meta). The biggest name for the time being, that is. Google, which is working in collaboration with Samsung on Android XR software, is also eyeing its own separate hardware, and plans to release its first pair of smart glasses since 2013’s Google Glass this year—an audio-only pair of specs similar to the Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses.

See Meta Ray-Ban (Gen 2) at Amazon

See Meta Ray-Ban Display at Best Buy

With those names in the mix, you’re looking at a pretty powerful trio of companies in the smart glasses game: Meta, Samsung, and Google. If that’s not an indication of just how much buzz the category has generated, I’m not sure what is. But if you’re looking at that list and still feel like there’s something missing, there may be news on that front, too. Reports have indicated that Apple is also pursuing its own pair of smart glasses, and while they may not be launched until 2027, they could be revealed as soon as this year. In fact, Apple is so serious about smart glasses that it reportedly shelved plans for a lighter, cheaper Apple Vision Pro to expedite its smart glasses pursuits.

Essentially all the biggest names in the world of XR hardware are planning on making a mark in 2026 or by 2027 at the latest, and that’s not even counting the droves of smaller companies like Xreal, Xgimi, or Mentra that are also slated for release in the first half of 2026. The field isn’t just star-studded in 2026; it’s getting crowded. And not everyone in that crowd is getting along.

If volume and star power weren’t enough, smart glasses are turning into a different kind of battleground—a legal one. Just this past month, Solos, a smart glasses company founded in 2019, sued Meta and Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica for patent infringement, claiming that the companies stole its technologies to make its Ray-Ban-branded smart glasses.

That’s not the only example, either. Xreal, a purveyor of increasingly popular video smart glasses, also recently filed a lawsuit against Viture, a competitor in the same space. The impetus for the lawsuit is similar to the aforementioned; Xreal is claiming that Viture is infringing on patented AR technology.

Regardless of whether either of those lawsuits has merit, it says a lot about a category that any company would actually go to court to defend its technology or preserve its position in a category. Tacitly, what those lawsuits are saying is that smart glasses are worth fighting over, and those battles are seemingly set to take place this year.

So there you have it; you’ve got A-list stars, heated competition, dramatic court battles, and a whole lot of sunglasses. In short, a smart glasses blockbuster is in the making. How all of that drama will play out is anyone’s guess, but if you’re a fan of consumer tech, you’ve inadvertently bought a ticket to the show, so I would suggest grabbing a tub full of popcorn and a Coke and buckling up for a wild year of face-worn hardware.

See Meta Ray-Ban (Gen 2) at Amazon

See Meta Ray-Ban Display at Best Buy