- “VR Glasses” is the right name. These don’t have a VR headset’s huge, immersive field of view at just 70° horizontal by 66° vertical, but it’s similar to looking through glasses, without a headset’s significant weight.
- I didn’t terribly mind the reduced immersion outside of games. Movies and desktop windows opened at the proper size without edges cut off.
- I carried on a conversation with several real human beings in a room and didn’t feel like I had tunnel vision.
- You can’t see your hands unless they’re in your direct field of view, but the headset can track hands far outside that FoV. I could hit Beat Saber targets while looking an entirely different direction.
- I got 32WPM touch typing on a keyboard that doesn’t physically exist. That’s less than a third my normal speed, but not bad for a first try.
Wearable
The Verge is covering the rapidly evolving world of wearables. We test everything from smartwatches like the Apple Watch, to smart glasses like the Meta Ray-Bans, to fitness trackers like the Oura Ring to find out which ones deliver on their promises. Follow along to find out whether covering our bodies in screens and sensors can actually make us smarter and healthier.

The Chinese brand has 73 percent of the worldwide 360 camera market. What’s next?
The blood pressure trends, insulin resistance trends, and sleep breathing quality metrics mentioned at the 2026 Made By Google event weren’t available when the Pixel Watch 5 launched last month, but now Google says they’ll start rolling out to Watch 3 models and later this week. You can set them up in the Google Health app, and trend reports will arrive in “early October.”

A new wave of AI-enhanced consumer creep-tech disregards the privacy of everyone but the wearer. The people have had enough.
The Verge cofounder got an extended sit-down with the Meta CEO at Connect yesterday. They covered “pervert glasses” and privacy, AI assistants and agents, and what exactly is going on with the Metaverse. He defends the company’s track record on privacy, and its future privacy plans: “More of the things that Meta is going to do going forward are going to look like WhatsApp.”





Audio-only Ray-Bans have arrived alongside more camera-equipped glasses. What’s missing? Privacy controls to address the ‘perv glasses’ backlash.


Des Yap did some initial testing of the new $649.99 T-Rex Dual Solar from Amazfit — the first endurance watch with a bright and colorful OLED to be fitted with teeny-weeny solar panels. The ring around the display can extend life a bit, but the larger rear panel around the heart-rate sensor can add a few percentage points of charge when you arrive at camp, or when the watch is slung off a running vest, so maybe you can leave your ultralight power bank home on your next multi-day adventure.
If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
If you’re worried about the green LEDs being a bigger distraction in a dark theater now that the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 measure your heart rate every five seconds, Theater Mode now reduces readings to five minute intervals while still silencing alerts and keeping the screen off. But you can override that new feature in the Apple Watch’s settings to restore the continuous monitoring.

Plus two other refreshed treadmills and a host of AI running features.
They’ve opened “at least one criminal probe” following complaints about the glasses being used to film women on the street in public without their consent, Reuters reports. France’s data protection authority also says businesses are “increasingly” asking if they can ban smart glasses at work, similar to a ban under consideration in Australia.
Late last night, we published my video about trying Snap’s Specs AR glasses at the company’s headquarters. The hardware, which costs $2,195, is interesting, but the experience of actually using them was rather finicky. Despite yesterday’s splashy launch event, the Specs also don’t yet have a firm release date beyond sometime this fall.
Check out my full article for more.

8
Verge Score
A surprisingly consequential update for the world’s most popular smartwatch.
Spiegel just wrapped us up. I got to try the Specs, check out my story!
Spiegel is trying it out now. He’s been flipping through a virtual book to try out different experiences, and got a letter from a virtual owl that was “sitting” on his arm. He’s also doing a Wingardium Leviosa spell.

Snap has spent half a decade working toward its first consumer pair of AR glasses. They’re finally here — and they’re bold as can be.
The case, available as part of a bundle for $2,395 (a $200 increase over the Specs on their own), gives you an option to more easily get internet while wearing the Specs. In the US, Snap is working with Verizon to offer data plans and financing options.
After a brief interlude about how Specs can work in enterprise environments, Spiegel is pitching how Specs can help you learn things. Spiegel is down a live demo showing himself practicing drawing. He’s using a real pen to trace a digital alien mascot that’s layered over a real piece of paper.
I usually can’t see his eyes — they’re hidden behind the digital content he’s looking at.
Right now, doing a live demo where he’s trying to watch a YouTube video in a browser on the Specs, and it’s not working. He’s starting all the way over. (It eventually worked.)
He’s giving an overview of the Specs AR glasses, which were initially announced in June. He says we’ll get live demos.
Made a friend walking in the door. I should have asked what he’s looking at.
The show starts at 7PM ET, and I’m planning to post anything interesting out of it. You can catch a livestream on Snap’s website.

The Pixel Watch 2 and later are getting Gemini Personalization, allowing the AI assistant to learn from past conversations and connected Google apps. The 3 and on also get new double-pinch gesture controls, while the 4 gets a performance bump to raise-to-talk. A similar September update is rolling out to Pixel phones too.
[Google Pixel Watch Community]


9to5Google spotted this FCC entry for the Goertek-made SZGG8BL6, which lines up with other Google devices. Like the Fitbit Charge, it has Bluetooth and GNSS, but lacks Wi-Fi, while its e-label suggests it has a screen and could run wearOS similar to a mysterious wearable spotted in Google ads.


The developer of the iPhone app told Business Insider that he examined the Bluetooth signals emitted by popular smart glasses to establish corresponding fingerprints. The app can then alert users when a pair of potential “pervert glasses” are nearby.
























