Smart glasses without a camera? Even Realities bets productivity beats recording everyone

In the past few years, multiple tech executives have told us that glasses could be the next big interface for consumer hardware. And yet, today’s smart glasses rely a lot on phones, even if they have good hardware. Even Realities’ G2 smart glasses are in the same boat. They’re a premium-looking pair of glasses with a neon-style heads-up display you can see in any lighting — but their functionality relies heavily on their connectivity with the phone, which can be** unreliable and frustrating. Even Realities takes a different approach to smart glasses than players like Meta. Their devices have a monochrome heads-up display that shows text and information in green, giving it the look of a neon board. There are no cameras or speakers, and that is by design. The company wants to focus on productivity rather than recording, so the people around you don’t have to worry about being filmed. The G2 is the second pair of smart glasses from Even Realities and an improvement over the G1 released a few years ago. The G2 has a brighter 1,200-nit display (vs. 1,000 nits on the G1), four mics (vs. two), and a 75% larger display area than its predecessor. The new display also has a better 60Hz refresh rate, compared with 20Hz on the G1. In the few months I’ve used the G2, the connectivity with the phone has improved tremendously. Early on, the glasses would disconnect from the app so frequently that I nearly gave up on them. But after a few app updates, that issue got better. The glasses are targeted at people who might be constantly in meetings, giving presentations, and traveling to countries where different languages are spoken. Design The glasses, which come in two frame designs, are very light at 35 grams. The frame is made out of magnesium alloy, and the temples (the arms that go over your ears) are made out of titanium alloy. In terms of weight and fit, the glasses were comfortable to wear. Since I work from home most of the time, though, I didn’t feel much need to wear them all day. That said, the lenses have UV protection built in, so they’re still worth wearing outside just for eye protection — smart features or not. The company claims that, based on typical usage, G2’s battery can last up to two days on a single charge. The glasses come with a protective case that can recharge them up to seven times before needing to be plugged in itself. I personally didn’t test the two-day claim, but the battery lasted me long enough to put them back into the case without running out of juice. That case is big — you can’t shove it in a pocket — but it’s solid, and the glasses fit in snugly. Features and operation The glasses act as your companion for schedules, reminders, and access to notes. You can wake them up by tapping on the stem-based controls. If you double-tap on the control pad on the stem, you will see a dashboard with information like your upcoming meetings, stocks, and top news. The G2 can also show real-time phone notifications, but the pop-ups weren’t a…