When you think of smart glasses, you probably think of something like the Meta Ray-Bans or other similar products. What you likely don’t think about are something like the Xiaomi Mijia Smart Audio Glasses , which were designed mostly as a way to let you stream audio from your mobile device, like a pair of earbuds. I’ve been testing these for the past few weeks, and it’s been an interesting experience, to say the least.
Mostly because I’m used to listening to music through earbuds or headphones. It all depends on whether or not I’m streaming from my phone or my PC. So, when I put these glasses on for the first time and music started playing right next to my ears, it was just strange and surprising to hear music like I was actually wearing some earbuds or headphones, and yet, I wasn’t. The sound was like it was in my ears, but it was just outside of them. Which I think speaks to the quality and how well these worked for their intended purpose. These do more than just stream music, too. With all of that said, are these worth your hard-earned money? Let’s take a closer look and find out in this review. It’s also worth noting that you can’t currently buy these from Xiaomi Global officially through its website, though they are available through sites like Aliexpress, and they retail for around $200, but the price appears to fluctuate, and it’s not official US pricing. Xiaomi has also not confirmed if these will officially launch in the US.
Pros
- Comfortable to wear all day
- Surprisingly good sound quality
- Pretty decent battery life
- Easy-to-use touch controls
- Compatibility with prescription lenses
- Three different styles
Cons
- No official US availability
- Mic clarity could be better
- Xiaomi Glasses App not available in the US
Xiaomi Mijia Smart Audio Glasses Review: What’s In The Box?
The contents of the box for these glasses are pretty simple, as there aren’t a lot of items that come with them. You get the glasses themselves, as well as a charging cable. You do not get a power adapter, however, so you will need to plug the charging cable into a power adapter, which also needs to have a USB-C cable, as the charging cable for the glasses isn’t a cable itself and is more of an adapter with a USB-C port. It essentially looks just like a USB-A to USB-C adapter would, except instead of USB-A, you have the magnetic pogo pins.
Also in the box is a carrying case for the glasses. I quite like the case because it has a nice stiff closure that’s secure enough to ensure the glasses won’t fall out, but it also doesn’t use a drawstring as most carrying pouches would. Xiaomi also packs a cleaning cloth in wth the glasses so you can wipe down the frame and lenses when needed. Then you have the manual, and that’s about it. It’s basically everything you need, though I’d have liked to see a USB-C cable included in the box, or at least have the other end of the charging cable be a USB-C connection instead of a USB-C port.
Xiaomi Mijia Smart Audio Glasses Review: Design and Build Quality
While these glasses aren’t my personal style, I do think they’re designed well. Xiaomi has done a good job at creating a few different options for the style, so they cater to different consumer preferences. I think this was an important choice to offer a few different style options, as it broadens the possible number of consumers who might be willing to buy these and give them a try. We’ve been testing the Mijia Smart Audio Glasses with the Bowline frames. Xiaomi also offers lightweight Titanium frames and ‘Pilot-Style’ frames. The Pilot-style frames come with sunglass lenses that will block up to 99.99% of UV rays with UV400 protection. However, these glasses are also compatible with prescription lenses.
So, if you wanted to, you could have the other frames, which don’t come with sunglass lenses, fitted for some with your prescription. If you don’t wear glasses, you can still use any of these, as the lenses are really just pieces of glass, and they won’t impact your vision. They do have blue light filters, though. As for the rest of the design, there are some fairly sizeable nose pads. These add a fair amount of comfort and prevent the glasses from irritating your nose.
These glasses also have 5mm temples, which are pretty slim. The speakers are integrated into the temples, as are the batteries, and Xiaomi says it moved these closer to the frame to give the Mijia glasses a more balanced weight than the previous model and reduce the strain on the ears. I really didn’t experience any discomfort when wearing these, so that seems about right. On the ends of the temples, you have the magnetic pogo pin connectors for charging. Overall, the build quality of these feels pretty solid. They’re still a pair of glasses, so you will have to treat them with lots of care. But they won’t break just by putting them on or pulling them off, as long as you aren’t yanking them off with force. They have IP54 dust and splash resistance as well.
Xiaomi Mijia Smart Audio Glasses Review: Battery Life and Charging
I wasn’t sure what to expect with battery life when I first got these, because I’ve never used a pair of smart glasses before. Xiaomi says they will last up to 13 hours on a single charge, but I obviously had no frame of reference for that. It’s also worth noting that this figure is based on having the glasses at 100% at the start of use, with the volume level set at 50%. I was running the volume below 50% as I don’t like my audio extremely loud, and I can say that Xiaomi’s figure seems pretty spot on. Most days while wearing these, I would put them on by about 7:00 am PST, and I would only take them off for things like a shower, to adjust them, or scratch behind my. For the most part, however, they stayed on all day, and I was able to use them well into the evening if I wanted to. Since I was using these below the volume level Xiaomi did for the battery life rating, I was getting a little over 13 hours with them. Closer to about 13.5 hours, specifically.
I think that’s a pretty long time for anyone who doesn’t wear glasses normally, and would only be putting these on to listen to music for a while throughout the day. If you’re using these with a set of prescription lenses, then 13-14 hours should be long enough for you as well. Chances are, people who wear glasses every day have more than one pair. So, it would be easy to take these off and toss them on the charger at the end of the day after getting home, and swap to a pair of normal glasses.
Speaking of charging, these are quicker at charging up than Xiaomi’s last pair. The previous model took about 2 hours to get to a full charge, and these take about 1 hour. The older model also lasted longer, though. The Mijia glasses do support quick charge, and you get up to 4 hours of playback after only 10 minutes. I’m pretty happy with the battery life since I normally wouldn’t wear these for more than a few hours at a time. I think that most people would be fairly happy with it as well.
Xiaomi Mijia Smart Glasses Review: Performance
These work better than I had anticipated for sound quality, and I think overall, these would be appealing to anyone who wants an easy solution for streaming music without having to wear in-ear earbuds or on-ear headphones. In fact, I think they’re a better option than open-ear earbuds as well, as you don’t have to wear anything around your ears. The temples for these rest on top of them, but they don’t surround them, and I think this is more comfortable.
Sound levels get decently loud and offer pretty good clarity for music. They won’t beat earbuds like the Pixel Buds Pro 2 or any others that are similar in quality, but if you’re not an audiophile or someone who really cares a whole lot about the absolute best sound, then these will sound pretty good. Most of my time with these has been great because the sound quality is actually nice. I never had any issues with understanding anything coming out of the speakers, but this also might be because I never turned the volume up to the higher levels, which can sometimes distort the sound on lower-quality speakers.
You can also use these for a variety of other features, like voice calls, interacting with Gemini, or other voice assistants. You can make voice recordings, you can live record, and there’s even a feature for reading your notifications aloud. However, most of these features are available only with the Xiaomi Glasses app. This is not available in the US, so I didn’t have access to it, nor was I able to test any of the associated features.
The app also has the ability to set different touch controls. So, admittedly, there were more than a few things I wasn’t able to test. However, you can use the touch controls for adjusting the volume and pausing/playing tracks. These things worked very well.
Should you buy the Xiaomi Mijia Smart Audio Glasses?
For me, I personally prefer using in-ear earbuds or headphones, because I prefer having a completely closed-off personal audio. With noise cancellation, if it’s available. For anyone else, though, really, this depends on a few things. First and foremost, you have to be ok with getting these from markets like Aliexpress or through third-party sellers on eBay, as I don’t believe these will be launched in the US officially. The app isn’t available in the US, so that suggests to me that Xiaomi is only launching these in China and some other regions outside of North America.
So, with that said, if you simply want a pair of smart glasses for streaming music with open-ear audio, and you don’t mind losing out on those extra features, I think these are a solid purchase. It’s even better that you can use prescription lenses with them, because that means these will be a viable option for people who wear glasses daily.
You should buy the Xiaomi Mijia Smart Audio Glasses if:
- You want personal audio without having to wear earbuds or headphones
- You’re ok with not having an official US model
- You don’t care about the extra smart features
You shouldn’t buy the Xiaomi Mijia Smart Audio Glasses if:
- You’re looking for smart glasses that do more than just play music
- You prefer earbuds or headphones
- You want something that is officially launching in the US
