Every AI & AR Glasses Launch of 2026, Tracked

2026 is the year the glasses boom stopped being a Meta monologue. Below is every significant device shipping now or launching this year, with prices, dates, and sources you can check. This page is updated as the market moves (last check: September 3, 2026).

Shipping now

Meta Glasses (from $299). Meta's unbranded budget line launched in June 2026 with 26 frame styles. The significance is the price point: the platform owner is now chasing everyone, not early adopters. Source

Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 (from $379). The mainstream default: 3K video capture, doubled battery life, and the distribution muscle of EssilorLuxottica behind it. Roughly 7 million pairs of the Ray-Ban line sold in 2025 alone, per Counterpoint Research. Source

Oakley Meta HSTN ($449) and Vanguard ($499). The sport wing of Meta's lineup: sweat-ready frames aimed at athletes and outdoor creators. Source

Ray-Ban Display ($800). The first mainstream display glasses: a private 600 by 600 pixel monocular screen plus the Neural Band wrist controller reading muscle signals. This is the tier whose shipments IDC forecasts growing 154% in 2026. Source

ROG XREAL R1 ($849, pre-order). Unveiled at CES as the first 240Hz micro-OLED gaming AR glasses: a 171-inch virtual screen in a 91-gram frame, pre-orders via Best Buy. A signal that gaming is becoming its own glasses vertical. Source

Launching this fall

XREAL Aura (under $1,500, Fall 2026). The first flagship of Google's Android XR platform in glasses form: a 70-degree optical see-through display, Gemini built in, split-compute puck running Snapdragon. Reservations are open ($99 standard, $299 founder tier sold out) for the US, UK, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. Source

Snap Specs ($2,195, Fall 2026). Snap's first consumer AR glasses after a decade of developer hardware: dual-eye displays, 51-degree field of view, electrochromic dimming, fully self-contained with two Snapdragon chips. Pre-orders opened in June with a $200 refundable deposit; shipping to the US, UK, and France. Source

Google intelligent eyewear with Samsung, Warby Parker, and Gentle Monster (Fall 2026). Announced at Google I/O: audio-first AI glasses running Android XR with Gemini, roughly nine hours of active battery, frames by two established eyewear brands. Display versions follow later. Pricing unannounced. Source

RayNeo (various models). The TCL-backed brand keeps shipping affordable display glasses and teasing successors; worth watching as the budget end of the display tier. Source

September 3 update

Meta Connect is scheduled for September 23-24, 2026 (Menlo Park). Reporting points to a next generation of Ray-Ban Meta glasses, with codenames Aperol and Bellini circulating and expected upgrades to camera and assistant battery life. Treat specifics as rumour until announced. The announcement that would actually matter is app publishing going generally available; we broke down what to watch in a separate post.

Market share estimates keep climbing. Counterpoint had Meta plus EssilorLuxottica at 69.2% in Q1 2026; later third-party estimates put the combined share nearer 75%. Either way, one player owns the shelf, and the gaps are everywhere else.

The entry tier is where the action is. Meta's self-branded line (Adventurer, Fury, and a Kylie Jenner collaboration) starting at $299 in June is the clearest signal that the platform owner is chasing the mass market, not early adopters.

How to read this list

Three patterns matter more than any single launch.

1. The price ladder now runs $299 to $2,195. Twelve months ago it was one brand at one price. A full ladder is what a real device category looks like.
2. Android XR arrives this fall on multiple devices at once. Aura, Samsung's eyewear, and more: the "open alternative" ecosystem is forming, which historically is where independent developers get their friendliest early terms.
3. Every device on this list ships with an AI assistant. The boom is not about screens on your face; it is about giving the assistant eyes and ears. That is why this wave is different from the VR false start.

If you want the full argument (the shipment data, where money already flows in this ecosystem, and four concrete ways to position yourself), that is what the book is for.