I tried Even Realities' G2 display smart glasses, and now I can't stop thinking about their minimalist approach

It's no great secret that when it comes to wearable technologies, less is more. People don't want to wear bulky pendants, wrist bands, or glasses. They want light, minimalistic, and especially stylish smart wear that could easily be mistaken for their analog counterparts. It's a lesson, I think, that's driven home by Even Realities' Even G2 display smart glasses, which I tried at CES 2026 in Las Vegas.

I sat with company CEO Will Wang, who handed me a stylish and surprisingly light pair of Even G2 glasses ($599, prescription extra) that reminded me of the spectacles I once donned to look more like Stanley Tucci on Halloween.

As I turned them over in my hands, there was little indication that these weren't your typical glasses. The frames and even stems were thin. The only indication that these glasses were something more was the pair of pill-shaped protrusions at the end of each stem (they sit right behind your ears when you wear the glasses) and, when viewed at the right angle, a hint of an embedded waveform display smack in the middle of one lens.

Wang, who used to work for Apple and worked on the Apple Watch team, told me the Even G2 do not have much on-board computing power and instead rely on your smartphone for connectivity, heavy computing, and AI processing (or delivering some AI requests to the cloud).

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There are no cameras on the frames; instead, the focus is on the waveform screen delivering utility to the wearer. Control is accomplished by using those touch-sensitive bulbs on the back end of the stems (mostly taps, swipes, and long-presses).

I was anxious, though, for a test drive, so as Wang continued to list off the features, I put on the frames. Initially, since they weren't set up for my prescription, the bright display was blurry, so I decided to put them on top of my own glasses – I'm not sure if this arrangement would have worked as well if the Even G2 frames weren't so light.

I was immediately shocked at the sharpness of the monochrome screen. Text and interface elements are a brilliant green, which gives the heads-up display the look of the highest-resolution CRT display ever.

The waveguide technology can make it look like you're viewing an up-to 40-inch screen floating in front of you.

Live translation, navigation, and more

While the Even G2 have no cameras to support gestures, you can pair them with the optional Smart Ring R1 ($249), which duplicates the gesture control interface found on the back end of the smart glasses (yes, it also does health tracking).

Wang started talking to me in Chinese, and I could read the real-time translation clearly without losing sight of Wang. While the translation is handled on the phone, the Even G2 do have some onboard processing to handle the audio processing, noise reduction, display management, and communication with your smartphone.

Next we tried turn-by-turn navigation. Even though the monochrome display does not produce a colorized and highly detailed map, I could see the arrow representing me and my orientation alongside my directions. When I turned my head, the frames picked up the direction and shifted my arrow accordingly.

The glasses support notifications and interface with your favorite LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.

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I found navigating the interface by using the touch-sensitive bulbs behind my ears simple, and the clarity of the interface removed any possible confusion.

Perhaps because the Even G2 keep the adornments to a minimum, battery life is claimed to be strong, with Even Realities promising up to two days from a full charge.

Obviously, Even Realities is not the only smart glasses company working toward lighter, better-looking, and longer-lasting smart display glasses, but most of those glasses, especially the more exciting ones with full-color displays and embedded cameras, still have that extra bulk, especially in the stems, and usually shorter battery life. These are much more like secret smarts, and without the potential privacy issues revolving around always-on-your face cameras.

The Even G2 are not cheap, and the Ring adds hundreds more to the price (as does the cost of a prescription); but I came away thinking that Even Realities is on the right track, and that wearables competitors could learn a thing or two from the company.