I used the Even Realities G2, the anti-Ray-Ban Meta, and love the camera-free life (mostly)

The Even Realities G2 smartglasses are not like the Ray-Ban Meta. There’s no camera, no way to record video, and the app isn’t a sneaky portal to lots of Meta-backed AI slop.

Instead, they’re more serious, more open, and less socially problematic than Meta’s popular smartglasses.

I’ve been wearing them for a couple of weeks ahead of our full review, but there’s a lot to say about them already.

Life so far with the Even Realities G2 has been up and down, with its strengths often marred by a downside. Are they dealbreakers? Here’s what I’ve learned so far.

The Even Realities G2 can be worn all day

Other headwear optional

I wear glasses to see, so I’m entirely used to having something on my face.

The Even Realities G2 has been expertly designed by people who clearly also wear glasses a lot. Not only are the materials top-notch, but so are the fit and comfort.

The magnesium alloy frame and titanium arms have texture, warmth, and style that’s missing from plastic models. They feel expensive, and look like a quality product on your face.

Glasses shouldn’t need constant attention, and after I’d spent some time getting the nose bridge section to fit correctly, I haven’t felt the need to adjust or fiddle with them.

They weigh 44 grams with my prescription lenses, and are well-balanced.

I’m also really impressed with the prescription lenses. Even Realities made a real effort to ensure my prescription was correct, especially as it’s progressive, and integrated an “add” with additional magnification for close-up work.

The lenses are crystal clear and don’t suffer from reflections.

One thing to note is that the controls are at the end of each arm, which is behind your ear when wearing the G2. They are a bit awkward to use and not particularly responsive.

What’s more, I wear caps quite often, and they can interfere with how they sit on my head. Probably a pretty niche issue, but worth noting.

The screen is fantastic

Sci-fi look never gets old

The top Even Realities G2 feature is the binocular waveguide screens inside the lenses, and they’re fantastic.

Even a few weeks in, the magic of seeing the screens light up in front of my eyes, with information overlaid on the real world, hasn’t become old at all.

The 1200-nit brightness makes the green text visible in practically all environments, but you have to move your head to find a sweet spot when outside in bright sunlight, as a darker background makes the text easier to read.

It’s not always on, but a head movement or notification wakes it up. Plus, you can calibrate the wake-up angle in the app, along with how long it stays active.

I also like how if you don’t directly look at the screen when it lights up, it practically disappears.

I haven’t found it distracting, and no one else has noticed when it’s active. It makes the Even G2 a very incognito way to see updates from your phone.

Notifications are useful

Dashboard needs work

If the screen is a standout feature, what do you actually see on it? I have found notifications very handy, and like the navigation feature, but I’m not a fan of the dashboard.

This is the view you see when the screens wake up. It shows the time and date, outside temperature, notifications, and a box with the latest news stories. You can enter other screens using the control panel.

Unfortunately, I can’t find a way to edit the dashboard. I really don’t like the news story view, even after trimming down the sources and selecting certain categories in the app.

It’s distracting, and it breaks concentration because you automatically read the headlines.

I tend to avoid getting sucked into the 24-hour news cycle, but the Even Realities G2 makes it impossible to do so.

The lack of customization affects the entire dashboard. There are five pages to scroll through, starting with news, then a stocks view, which is equally unhelpful to me, a calendar, notes, and a basic activity tracker.

It feels like a waste of the dashboard view to have news dominate it, and then not allow customization of the other pages.

I’d rather replace news with my own notifications, which are otherwise hidden away, for example.

The Even AI can be helpful

Except when it’s not

Smartglasses are a way to put an AI assistant on your face, rather than on your phone or in your earbuds, and the Even Realities G2 is no different.

I’ve used Even AI a few times by asking it ordinary questions about tasks I’m doing, and for the most part, the answers are what you expect from AI: generally informative, if a little wordy.

However, Even AI often mishears the wake-up word and will suddenly start listening, then provide odd answers to half-heard conversations. It’s very distracting to see the text appear in front of your eyes.

I haven’t had a reason to use the Conversate feature yet. This is where the G2 will listen to your conversation and provide factual details and possible questions during it.

Most of my conversations are casual, and having my AI listen in on them seems like a bit of an invasion of privacy, and for the most part, entirely pointless.

I miss speakers, but not the camera

AI and podcasts, not portrait photos

Not including a camera makes sense when you see the amount of negative attention the feature is bringing to the Ray-Ban Meta. I haven’t missed it either.

While I appreciate the fun, social-media-friendly hardware feature, I have never used it every day. However, the lack of speakers in the Even G2 is unfortunate.

It means everything the AI and glasses tell you is presented on the screens as text.

Here’s an example of why this isn’t always ideal. I was defrosting a refrigerator (such is my exciting life) and asked Even AI for tips on how to speed up the process.

On the Ray-Ban Meta, I would have listened to the advice, but with the G2, I had to read the text.

This really meant I had to stop what I was doing, as otherwise the screen and text jiggle about too much to focus and concentrate on. Speakers would remove this issue.

Additionally, the Ray-Ban Meta’s speakers make listening to podcasts when doing mundane tasks like defrosting fridges easy and enjoyable.

The Even G2 is less “fun” because of it, but the lack of a camera won’t bother everyone.

The G1 smart ring is a good idea

But it rarely works

Instead of using the controls on the tips of the Even G2’s arms, you can order the Even R1 smart ring to control the smartglasses with your finger. In theory, it’s a brilliant idea. It’s inconspicuous, natural, and convenient.

In reality, it’s a pain. I’ve had problems charging the R1, despite a software update promising to improve it, and when it is fully charged, issues with both connectivity and battery life.

When I have gotten it to work, the touch panel is responsive, and it makes navigating the G2’s menus much faster than using the controls on the glasses.

Unfortunately, the smart ring is quite thick, and I notice it a lot more on my finger than my Oura Ring 4.

It’s a higher-quality and better-engineered smart ring than the one that comes with the Halliday smartglasses, but the charging and connectivity problems make it almost unusable.

There’s a packed app store

That I can’t access

Even Realities has opened up the Even G2 smartglasses to developers, who have created a host of apps for them.

It’s great to see not only support like this, but also a company that doesn’t feel the need to hold down control over every aspect of its product.

Everything from a game of chess and a Beeper-controlled message hub to a Reddit client and OpenClaw client can be found, and I would have liked to try some out.

Unfortunately, I haven’t solved the continual “failed install” error message, which has stopped me from installing any apps. No amount of resets, re-pairing, or restarts seems to cure it.

Is the Even Realities G2 the perfect Ray-Ban Meta alternative?

No firm dealbreakers just yet

My journey with the Even Realities G2 smartglasses so far hasn’t been entirely smooth, but the fundamentals are right, and that goes a long way towards me having patience while the creases elsewhere are ironed out.

Even Realities Even G2

$599 at Even Realities
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I can wear and enjoy the Even G2s all day. The screens look fantastic, and I find the notifications and some of the AI useful. Plus, the clip-on sunglasses attachment means I don’t have to swap over to actual sunglasses when I need them.

The Even Realities G2 is very different from the Ray-Ban Meta, and very different people will find value in them.

Yes, there are some issues, but nothing has made me want to stop wearing and using them yet. Android Police’s full review of the Even G2 will be published soon.