I've had Halliday smart glasses sitting on my desk for testing lately, but I'll admit they spent a lot more time on my desk than on my face because I didn't have a good enough reason to wear them over my other glasses.
We remind you that Halliday glasses made a splash at CES, where the company promised that its “proactive AI glasses” could help you with everyday tasks by relaying information through built-in speakers or a small display located above your right eye.
These characteristics certainly caused a lot of excitement in January. I remember Holliday's small booth being surrounded by a crowd of people wanting to try out the glasses, including me one day – I was hoping to show them off in Las Vegas. However, by the time I put them on, I had about two minutes left before I had to run to the meeting.
Now that I have the final product at home, I'm much less enthusiastic about it. They are simply too clunky to use.
Let's start with my biggest and only positive: they're stylish. With thin frames, they look almost identical to regular glasses, and my fiancée thinks I look my best in Halliday glasses, even compared to my regular pairs.
However, this thin design seems to have had a negative impact on the quality and quantity of components that can fit into the glasses.
For starters, there's no camera, which in the world of smart glasses seems like a crime. Not only does Snapper allow you to take first-person photos and videos (which can be very useful on vacation or at events like a concert), but it also gives your AI assistant context about what you can see.
This visual context feature is probably the AI tool I use most often with my Meta smart glasses, and it's an equally important component in the Rokid and Snap Specs glasses I've been trying recently. Without a camera, Holliday simply wouldn't be able to create the same experience.
Then there's the sound, which is the worst I've heard from any gadget in years. It completely drowns out your music and podcasts, and the sound seems to be playing through one of those cheap piezo speakers that quartz watches use to create noise.
In terms of sound, you'll be better off with cheap gas station headphones, and we all know how terrible they can be.
Then there's the display. The small size makes it difficult to conveniently read fragments of text, and in the time between Halliday's announcement and debut, the technology has already surpassed most of its competitors.
I'm not just talking about Meta Ray-Ban Display Glasses; I also mean Rockid Glasses, which use waveguide lenses to place text directly in front of you. Based on my demo from IFA, the Rokid glasses are a much more useful piece of kit and will be available in about a month.
What's more, these Rokid glasses are the same price as the Halliday, especially if you buy them during the sale or as part of the current early bird deal before their release.
Beyond the glasses' hardware, I found the software to be annoyingly slow.
Inputs from the ring controller take a few seconds to process—if they are processed at all—and this serves as another point of friction that makes using the glasses an uphill battle.
The AI also feels too short and superficial in its responses. I find that I need to ask so many follow-up questions before I get the deep answer I'm looking for on many topics.
Another major issue I encountered is that the case is not designed for charging. Maybe it's just because I'm used to shoving mine Ray-Ban's goals in the charging case and then be able to use them right away the next time I pick them up, but I never forget to recharge my Halliday glasses.
This creates the same friction for me, the feeling that Holliday's glasses can't keep up with the pace I need them at.
Is there something better instead?
At $499 (about £370 / AU$760), I'd be hard-pressed to recommend these glasses over a pair I've had a much better experience with. Even Ray-Ban Meta glasses without a display – a Gen 1 or Gen 2 pair – would be a much more useful device for most people.
If you desperately need a display, then Rokid glasses are the best choice. We'll admit, we haven't looked at them thoroughly yet, but my roughly 20-minute demo on IFA 2025 has already given me a much more favorable experience than ever with these Halliday glasses.
Or you could always invest in some new Meta Ray-Bans.
