Unlike the other glasses I tested, Even doesn\u2019t sell a subscription plan; everything\u2019s included out of the box.<\/p>\n
The only downside I could find with the G2 is that it is largely devoid of offline features, so the glasses have to be connected to the internet to do much of anything. Considering the G2\u2019s capabilities, it\u2019s a trade-off I am more than happy to make.<\/p>\n There are plenty of capable captioning eyeglasses on the market, but they are surprisingly similar in both looks and features. While many are quite capable, none had the combination of power and affordability that I got with Even\u2019s G2. Here\u2019s a rundown of everything else I tested.<\/p>\n Photograph: Christopher Null<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Photograph: Christopher Null<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Photograph: Christopher Null<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Leion\u2019s Hey 2 is the price leader in this market, and even its prescription lenses ($90 to $299) are pretty affordable. The hardware, however, is heavy: 50 grams without lenses, 60 grams with them. A full charge gets you six to eight hours of operation; the case adds juice for up to 12 recharges.<\/p>\n I like the Leion interface, which lays out caption, translation, \u201cfree talk\u201d (two-way translation), and a teleprompter feature on its clean app. You get access to nine languages; using Pro minutes expands that to 143. Leion sells its premium plan by the minute, not the month, so you need to remember to toggle this mode off when you don\u2019t need it. Pricing is $10 for 120 minutes, $50 for 1,200 minutes, and $200 for 6,000 minutes. There\u2019s no offline use supported, and I often struggled to get AI summaries to show up in English instead of Chinese (regardless of the recorded language).<\/p>\n Photograph: Christopher Null<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Photograph: Christopher Null<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n You\u2019re not seeing double: XRAI and Leion use the same manufacturer for their hardware, and the glasses weigh the same. The battery spec is also similar, with up to eight hours on the frames and another 96 hours when recharging with the case. XRAI claims its display is significantly brighter than competitors\u2019, but I didn\u2019t see much of a difference in day-to-day use.<\/p>\n The features and user experience are roughly the same, though Leion\u2019s teleprompter feature isn\u2019t implemented in XRAI\u2019s app, and it doesn\u2019t offer AI summaries of conversations. I also didn\u2019t find XRAI\u2019s app as user-friendly as Leion\u2019s version, particularly when trying to switch among the admittedly exhaustive 300 language options. Only 20 of these are included without ponying up for a Pro subscription, which is sold both by the month and minute: $20\/month gets you a max of 600 upgraded transcription minutes and 300 translation minutes; $40\/month gets you 1,800 and 1,200 minutes, respectively. On the plus side, XRAI does have a rudimentary offline mode that works better than most. For prescription lenses, add $140 to $170.<\/p>\n Photograph: Christopher Null<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Photograph: Christopher Null<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n AirCaps<\/p>\n AirCaps does not make its own prescription lenses. Instead, you must purchase a pair of $39 \u201clens holders\u201d and take them to an optician if you want prescription inserts. I was unable to test these with prescription lenses and ultimately had to try them out over my regular glasses, which worked well enough for short-term testing. Frames weigh a hefty 53 grams without add-on lenses; the company couldn\u2019t tell me how much extra weight prescription lenses would add to that, but it\u2019s safe to say these are the bulkiest and heaviest captioning glasses on the market. Despite the weight, they only carry two to four hours of battery life, with 10 or so recharges packed into the comically large case. Another option is to clip one of AirCaps\u2019 rechargeable 13-gram Power Capsules ($79 for two) to one of the arms, which can provide 12 to 18 extra hours of juice.<\/p>\n The AirCaps feature list and interface make it perhaps the simplest of all these devices, with just a single button to start and stop recording. Transcriptions and translations are available for free in nine languages. For $20\/month, you can add the Pro package, which offers better accuracy, access to more than 60 languages, and the option to generate AI summaries on demand (though only if recordings are long enough). As a bonus: Five hours of Pro features are free each month. Offline mode works pretty well, too. The only bad news is that these bulky frames just aren\u2019t comfortable enough for long-term wear.<\/p>\n Photograph: Christopher Null<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Photograph: Christopher Null<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The most expensive option on the market (up to $1,399 with prescription lenses!) weighs a relatively svelte 40 grams (52 grams with lenses) and offers about four hours of battery life. There\u2019s no charging case; the glasses must be charged directly using the included USB-connected dongle.<\/p>\n The glasses are extremely simple, offering transcription and translation features\u2014with support for about 80 languages, which is impressive. I unfortunately found the prescription lenses Captify sent to be the blurriest of the bunch, making the captions comparatively hard to read. And while the device supports offline transcription, performance suffered badly when disconnected from the internet. I couldn\u2019t get translations to work at all when offline. For $15\/month, you get better accuracy and speaker differentiation, and access to AI summaries of conversations. Prescription lenses cost between $99 and $600.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nOther Captioning Glasses I Tested<\/h2>\n
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<\/picture><\/span><\/div>\nAirCaps Smart Glasses<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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