Samsung is developing a secret weapon. Smart glasses without a display might be more ingenious than you think

It’s no big secret that Samsung is preparing AR glasses, which it has already shown in public several times. Project Moohan, as the glasses are internally codenamed, is intended to be an answer to Apple Vision Pro and will feature full-fledged Android XR, which was introduced late last year. However, this is not the only eyewear gadget the South Korean giant is preparing. According to the latest reports, it is also preparing a competitor to the simpler Ray-Ban Meta glasses.

Glasses without a display are not as dumb as they sound

The model without a display, internally named “Haean”, will have a camera, microphones, and speakers. No screen, no holograms in the air. Simply glasses that can record video, answer questions via an AI assistant, and play music. It might sound like a step backward, but Meta has shown that this is exactly what people want.

Ray-Ban Meta

The advantage is clear – without an energy-intensive display, the battery lasts much longer, the glasses are lighter, and most importantly, they look like normal glasses. You won’t look like an idiot when you wear them on the street.

Samsung is clearly betting that AI will turn simple glasses into a useful helper. Imagine looking at a building and the glasses tell you what it is. Or translating signs in a foreign language. Or simply recording a vacation video for you without holding your phone. Meta Ray-Ban (or newly Meta Oakley) can already do all of this, and it works surprisingly well.

AR version is to be an answer to Vision Pro

The second project is a completely different league. Samsung is collaborating with Google on glasses with a full-fledged AR display. They use the same micro-LED panels as Apple Vision Pro. Google will provide software built on Android XR, Samsung the hardware.

This model won’t be for everyone. Expect a price in the tens of thousands, mainly – you must have a reason to need something like this. AR glasses make sense for professionals, designers, maybe gamers. For a casual user who just wants to scroll, they are unnecessarily complex and expensive.

Apple also doesn’t want to be outdone

Apple is also reportedly working on its own display-less glasses, which are expected to arrive around the same time as Samsung’s. Cupertino is said to be developing its own chips optimized for ultra-low power consumption and image processing from cameras. Given how well the Apple product ecosystem works, their glasses could be interesting.

Meanwhile, Meta is already working on the next generation, codenamed Orion, which will finally get an AR display. And we must not forget Xiaomi, which is also reportedly preparing its own smart glasses. Simply put, all the big players believe this is the future.

One and a half trillion dollars by 2032

Analysts predict that the smart glasses market will grow from $25 billion in 2025 to an incredible $1.6 trillion in 2032. This is insane growth, reminiscent of the smartphone boom fifteen years ago.

The question is whether people are ready to wear smart glasses. Meta Ray-Ban are selling surprisingly well, which suggests there is interest. But it’s still a niche product. Samsung believes that glasses will one day replace phones – after all, you always have them on your nose, you don’t have to pull them out of your pocket.

Would you buy smart glasses from Samsung?

Source: GSMArena, Wccftech