Smart glasses are having a moment in the XR landscape. Everyone seems to be getting involved, from Meta with its Ray-Bans and upcoming Orion specs to Samsung. However, not every vendor is laser-focused on the consumer market. Some products, like the Vuzix Shield glasses, are designed specifically for the enterprise landscape.
The Vuzix Shield glasses, part of a growing range of high-performance, durable wearables from Vuzix, were officially released in April 2024, and they’ve been earning a lot of attention ever since.
While these glasses might not be as stylish as some of their competitors, they stand out for a few reasons. Designed for industrial use, medical experts, and field service teams, they are brimming with intuitive features that help to boost productivity, efficiency, and safety in the workplace.
We took a pair of Shield glasses for a spin to give you a behind-the-scenes look at how they can help optimize industrial workflows like never before.
Quick Verdict, Pros and Cons
The Vuzix Shield glasses are lightweight, durable, and safety-certified augmented reality glasses with self-contained batteries, HD cameras, and built-in AI capabilities. It’s not just the enterprise-ready design that makes these glasses unique. They also feature built-in software and technology (like INCOGNITO) designed to enhance user experiences and support modern teams.
The biggest downside is the huge price tag. These glasses cost around $2,499.99, which is much more expensive than most of the competing glasses we’ve seen from RayNeo, XReal, and Rokid.
Pros:
- Exceptional waveguide displays
- Minimalist, lightweight, but durable design
- Built-in 8-core CPU
- Integrated AI for voice control
- High-quality 13-megapixel camera
- Noise-cancelling microphones and stereo speakers
- Safety certified for industrial use cases
Cons:
- Expensive pricing
- Slightly bulky design
The Vuzix Shield Glasses: Overview and Specs
Designed for everyday use in the enterprise landscape, the Vuzix Shield glasses are high-quality, comfortable, and durable, with a phenomenal, high-resolution waveguide display. They might be more expensive than options like the RayNeo X2 AR glasses, but they also feature a lot of functionality you’d struggle to find elsewhere.
For instance, most lower-cost glasses don’t have a built-in computing system or batteries. This means you need to keep them connected to external devices at all times. The glasses from Vuzix are genuinely “wireless,” and they’re perfect for the business world.
Not only do they make it easy to access content on the move, and take advantage of remote assistance technology, but they also have a fantastic HD camera you can use to stream visual information to your colleagues instantly. Here’s a quick rundown of the technical specs.
- See-through Waveguide optics
- MicroLED monochrome green displays
- ANSI Z87.1 and EN166/170 safety certifications
- Voice control and touchpad controls
- 8-core CPU running Android 11
- Integrated stereo speakers
- Digital noise-canceling microphones
- Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and USB connectivity
- 13-megapixel camera with autofocus
- Integrated privacy LED
- Advanced optical reader with barcode scanner
- Up to 8 hour battery life
Vuzix Shield Review: Design and Comfort
As mentioned above, the Vuzix Shield glasses are a little bulkier (and heavier) than some alternative options, like the Meta Ray-Ban glasses. That’s because they feature more built-in technology, such as the 8-core CPU and batteries placed in each temple.
While these glasses won’t win any prizes for “style”, they’re still relatively comfortable, despite their chunky design. Vuzix has put a lot of effort into making the specs as lightweight as possible. The specs are made with 3D-printed titanium, offering an excellent level of durability without compromising on long-term wearability.
The weight might start to be an issue after several hours of wear, but the same could be said for most high-quality smart glasses. Plus, it’s worth remembering competing specs aren’t designed to protect your vision, whereas the Vuzix Shield glasses are certified for safety.
We also like that the Shield glasses are “prescription ready”. That means you don’t have to worry about getting them to fit over a standard pair of spectacles. Unfortunately, the prescription inserts do cost extra ($149.99 on top of the price for the specs themselves). Still, it’s nice to know you can customize your glasses to your specific needs.
The Visuals and Audio Quality
Built specifically for industrial use, the Vuzix Shield glasses include advanced binocular waveguide technology powered by tiny, efficient micro-LED projectors. These micro-LEDs are only 1 micron in size but still offer the highest-density pixel arrays around, ensuring users easily access crisp video and contextual information.
The only problem is, while the visuals are crisp, clear and bright, they’re also monochrome. In other words, you won’t see any full-color visuals with the Vuzix Shield specs. If you want glasses that are great for entertainment and workplace tasks, these might not be the wearables for you.
On the plus side, Vuzix pairs its displays with fantastic speakers and microphones. The frames have acoustic chambers fully integrated for crystal-clear audio. Plus, because the speakers are positioned right next to your ears, sound leakage is minimal, making these glasses ideal for privacy and security.
The integrated microphones even include noise-canceling technology, which means when you’re communicating with team members, they can hear your voice with absolute clarity – regardless of what might be going on around you. We had no problem using these glasses for phone calls, and the integrated speakers are even great for listening to music while you work.
Vuzix Shield Review: Performance and Functionality
Vuzix clearly understood the needs of its enterprise audience when it was creating the Shield glasses. They might not be the ultimate glasses for entertainment, but they’re perfect for the workplace.
Like most modern smart glasses, the Shield glasses can pair seamlessly with a smartphone or connected tablet but don’t rely on cables. They use Bluetooth for instant, hands-free connectivity. Once your device is paired to the specs, you can easily make phone calls or surface information from connected applications by tapping on the touch-sensitive arm or using your voice.
The integrated AI system quickly responds to voice commands and allows users to complete a wide range of tasks. You can surface instructions from a connected app on your phone onto your “heads-up display,” wirelessly stream video from the integrated 13MP camera to your colleagues, and even access an assistant that can translate content for you in real-time.
We particularly love the quality of the integrated camera, which makes it easy to share what you’re seeing with your colleagues while you’re on the move. This feature makes the glasses incredibly useful for all kinds of field workers, engineers, and even medical professionals who might need to access collaborative assistance from back-office team members.
Users can also take advantage of the Vuzix INCOGNITO technology, which improves the glasses’ performance by minimizing issues like forward eye glow and light leakage, which can lead to hazy or low-quality visuals.
Vuzix Shield Review: The Verdict
The Vuzix Shield glasses are an imposing pair of enterprise-grade smart glasses. Clearly, they weren’t designed for everyday consumers who might want to use augmented reality specs to watch videos and access entertainment on the go. However, they excel as a pair of smart specs specifically designed for the enterprise landscape.
These glasses make it easy for business users to access information about products, instructions, and real-time guidance from AI (or their colleagues) wherever they are. They’re extremely robust and comfortable enough for long-term wear, and they feature some of the best features for immersive collaboration we’ve seen in the market so far.
The Vuzix glasses don’t just let you instantly call your colleagues and communicate using noise-cancelling microphones. They also give you the power to stream see-what-I-see videos in exceptional quality. They’re great for enabling immersive walkthroughs, safety checks, and so much more.
Ultimately, the biggest downside is that these glasses’ high-quality features come with a pretty high price tag. Some companies won’t be able to afford to supply all their field workers, engineers, and other teams with glasses that cost $2,499 each (without prescription lenses).
However, if you have the right budget and you’re looking for smart glasses designed to transform productivity, safety, and collaboration in the modern workplace, the Vuzix Shield glasses could be the perfect choice.
