Affordable smart glasses with few shortcomings: Rokid AI Glasses Style review

The Rokid AI Glasses Style prove that budget-friendly smart glasses can get the basics right. They are lightweight, offering good wearing comfort, and the camera performance is good enough for decent shots in well-lit conditions. The AI features can be useful, and the wide range of lens options is a big highlight.

However, the off-center camera placement can make framing difficult, and the camera quality degrades in less-than-ideal lighting. The battery life is respectable, and the optional Power Capsule helps address endurance concerns, but the companion app and the AI features need more work.

Even so, the Rokid AI Glasses Style are easy to recommend to those looking for an affordable Meta Ray-Ban AI Glasses Gen 2 alternative, especially when they are on sale and drop under their $299 launch price tag.

At launch, the Rokid AI Glasses Style were available at $299. However, after the promotional phase ended, they retail for $349 when not on sale, which is still lower than the $379 starting price of the Meta Ray-Ban Glasses Gen 2.

Rokid is currently holding a sale on the official site, which will run from June 17 to June 30, 2026. During this period, customers can get the glasses for just $249 from the official store by using the PD2026 coupon code at checkout.

The smart glasses market has now reached a point where there are quite a number of good options beyond Meta Ray-Ban glasses. But in some cases, the competitors make some big compromises that make them less of an ideal alternative to Meta’s offerings. The case for the Rokid AI Glasses Style is different.

These are Rokid’s answer to the Meta Ray-Ban Glasses Gen 2, and while the Rokid Glasses Style were much cheaper than competitors at launch, they are still a solid, affordable option for those looking for a non-display wearable. Of course, they are not perfect, as there are a number of aspects where they fall a little behind.

The Rokid AI Glasses Style look very much like a regular pair of glasses at first glance, and one might not tell them apart if they don't notice the camera and indicator lenses on the front. One thing to highlight here is that they also weigh similarly to regular sunglasses.

Rokid markets the AI Glasses Style as weighing 38.5 grams, which is true, but the company doesn't properly highlight that this weight is without the lenses. With the polarized sunglass lenses, they can weigh around 45.5 grams, and that's still considered lightweight.

This relatively lightweight build makes the smart glasses comfortable to wear, even for prolonged sessions. There are soft nose pads, but there aren't any adjustable mechanisms on the frame.

As for the lenses, Rokid offers the option to purchase glasses with professional prescription lenses, and there is a wide range of color options. The pair that the company sent for this review features polarized sunglass lenses. While these lenses were great during the sunny days, they offered low visibility at other times, but the good part is that it's easy to switch them out.

It was also nice to see Rokid include a pouch that can act like a cleaning cloth. The package includes a regular foldable carrying case as well.

The Rokid AI Glasses Style feature Sony IMX681, which is the same 12MP camera found on smart glasses like the RayNeo X3 Pro. Unlike on the mentioned RayNeo glasses, the camera on the AI Glasses Style is positioned on the left edge, meaning the sensor doesn't capture centered POV shots. This could be an issue, as there isn't any display on the lenses to provide a live feed.

Moreover, the camera position makes it hard to get unobstructed POV shots when wearing caps or hats with brims. The good part is that the Sony sensor can take nice shots during the day when the lighting conditions are good. It can get a bit grainy in indoor environments even during the day, and while there's no OIS, the Hi Rokid app applies post-processing to smooth the captures and reduce shakiness to some degree.

It's worth noting that the glasses don't take photos instantaneously. Instead, there's a slight delay, which can result in blurry images. Attached below are some sample shots taken by the glasses.

A couple of AI features can be used through the Hi Rokid companion app. One of the useful ones is the translation feature, but it can be hit or miss depending on the language selected. The AI assistant can also be triggered with both voice command and touch input from the right temple, and when connected to the phone, it can answer questions, perform searches, and carry out regular conversations.

There's an option to select Gemini or ChatGPT for both base and vision, but Rokid doesn't offer specifics of the models. Other than that, the navigation feature is also quite helpful, and the turn-by-turn audio directions make it easier to use it on these non-display glasses.

The companion app is also responsible for post-processing the captured videos, and while it does a good job of reducing the shakiness, the process can take a while. It's also a bit inconvenient that the app can't do the post-processing in the background.

The Rokid AI Glasses Style come with a 210mAh battery, and with a full charge, it's possible to get around 40 to 45 minutes of video recording. If used only for music playback, the runtime can reach 6 hours, and in translation mode, the glasses can last around 2 hours.

These runtimes can be extended with the Power Capsule, which adds six extra charges, and the capsule batteries can be attached to the glasses while they are being worn. It's worth noting that the Power Capsule is an additional purchase and it retails for $129.

Of course, when the magnetic capsule battery is connected, the right temple can feel a bit heavy, and it can be uncomfortable to wear this setup for a prolonged time. Rokid is also offering a charging carrying case, which retails for $129 and can offer up to 11 extra charges, but it would have been great to see this charging case being included in the box.

As for the built-in speakers, they are basically like open-ear earbuds. They can get loud enough to hear the notification alerts and the audio feedback of the AI assistant.