AR Glasses Dominate IFA 2025, But Not Without Compromise
The last time I attended IFA, the trade show was all about how the newest washing machines would save the world by filtering micro plastics. With the 2025 edition, the show is all about smart glasses.
With the rising popularity of Meta's partnership with Ray-Ban and Oakley, it seems the market is (almost) ready to catch-up as companies are revealing more options with somewhat near capabilities. During IFA 2025, I've seen working glasses from TCL, Rokid, and L'Atitude. However, I've spotted a lot more prototypes that are launching fairly soon from brands like Strong, Lomos, and AOC.
José Adorno/BGR
While seeing the rise of mainstream smart glasses got me excited, most companies are tackling the same capabilities: image recording, music playback, and live-translation powered by ChatGPT with around five hours of battery life. Even though these sound great on paper, most of my brief testing revealed underwhelming performance for "basic" AR glasses features.
These are the two smart glasses you should keep an eye on
That being said, two AR glasses companies that caught my attention were Rokid and L'Atitude. BGR highlighted the first during ShowStoppers and Global Connect, and the latter received the IFA Innovation Awards.
While Rokid is doing something completely different from the other brands, which includes adding an inner display so users can actually read information from their glasses, L'Atitude is all about how good you can look with AR glasses.
José Adorno/BGR
The company is promoting three different frames: Berlin, Milan, and Antwerp. Even though the poor 5G connection at the show and the noisy environment prevented me from actually having a more in-depth look at this product, L'Atitude wants to go a step further than the competition with an intercom strap.
With an intercom strap, even if you don't have an internet connection, you can transform your glasses into a walkie-talkie for up to eight people thanks to a combination of Bluetooth and Mesh protocol, which lets users connect with each other as long as they're up to 500m away from each other. L'Atitude already reached its Kickstarter goal, and it plans to release its Berlin glasses in the coming months.