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Are smart glasses cool yet? In certain circles, the answer is likely to be yes, but there are still plenty of people who will need a little more convincing (and yes, I am one of them).
This week we got a hint at a potential new entrant to the smart glasses market – one that has the potential to put a stylish new spin on the tech specs. British tech company Nothing isn’t best known for making smartphones and headphones, but according to… Bloombergshe’s thinking about branching out Smart glasses.
Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, said the company hopes to launch the glasses in the first half of 2027. The glasses will reportedly have cameras, microphones and speakers, and will have artificial intelligence capabilities that will largely be handled outside the device. He did not refuse to comment on the rumors.
Smart glasses are thriving as a product category, with Defining Counterpoint Research 139% year-on-year growth for this sector in the second half of 2025. Meta dominates the market, making it ripe for a disruptive competitor – ideally a relative rebel – to come along with a fresh approach.
I’ve tried smart glasses and I’m still not convinced.
I’m a bit of a smart glasses skeptic, but I would enjoy seeing an on-trend tech brand like Nothing branch out into glasses. With the company’s focus on design, it seems like a good fit for it to tackle wearable tech and hopefully put a unique spin on it that might convince people like me that smart specs are indeed the way forward.
Here are three things I believe nothing can do to make a big splash and differentiate itself.
A continuation of the company’s transparent aesthetic
No company has built its brand around a transparent design language that reveals the underlying circuits and wiring within its products. It’s nostalgic, bold and imaginative – and crucially, it translates easily and effectively to eyewear.
Clear frames are already a big thing in the eyewear world, and even Mita has tried them out. But I feel confident that none can apply his distinctive aesthetic sensibilities in such a distinctive and original way. He can play with colors – the blue and pink that appear on the screen None Phone 4A and 4A ProFor example.
Transparent design is in none other’s DNA.
When I think back to my conversation I had last month at Mobile World Congress with… Nothing, Chief Brand Officer, Charlie Smithit strikes me that branching into wearables not only seems like a natural next step for Nothing, but something the brand is much better positioned to address than its less stylish competitors.
Smith, who just stepped off the boat from luxury fashion brand Loewe, spoke of his admiration for Nothing’s “rebellious creativity” and the much-needed sense of fun she was injecting into an industry long dominated by minimalism. “There’s something about this kind of retro-futurism, this nostalgia that we tap into — people love it,” Smith said.
“Personal technology is really about self-expression,” he continued. “Our devices are actually an extension of us.”
Bonus points from me if nothing finds a way to integrate glowing avatar widgets into glasses.
Collaboration with an independent British brand
In a market filled with devices made by huge companies based in the US, South Korea and China, nothing feels like the closest thing to an independent phone industry. What better way to strengthen this position than by collaborating with another independent British brand?
Meta collaboration with Ray Ban and Oakley It has been a successful formula in its own attempt to establish smart glasses as a major product category. But there’s also something predictable about a big company collaborating with another big company. Wayfarers may be timeless and easily wearable by anyone with a face, but they don’t quite express original thinking or a strong sense of personal style.
It would be even more exciting for Nothing to work with up-and-coming British designers (it did, after all, host a launch event last month at the famous London design school Central Saint Martins). Likewise, she could choose to align herself with more established designers, such as JW Anderson. Sure, the resulting glasses may not be a lowest-common-denominator product worn by every Silicon Valley executive, but that’s not really a thing.
Fortunately, there is a precedent for Nothing choosing independent British brands to work with rather than bashing the more established names in the industry. Its audio collaboration with KEF has produced some of the most premium headphones on the market. I’m sure he can do the same with glasses.
There is no KEF cooperation in the body.
The main focus is on sound and music
Let’s not forget that before Nothing was a smartphone company, it was a headphones company.
The experience it has gained in audio over the past few years may give it a competitive advantage over most companies currently making smart glasses. Many people have been surprised by how good the sound is on current Smart specs, including the Meta, but there’s nothing that has a chance of taking it to the next level.
The Nothing earbuds were their first product.
Encouragingly, Nothing’s Voice Credentials was something else Smith brought up in our conversation.
“The audio aspect of the work is really important to us because of its connection to music culture,” he said. “We love the idea of (our community) being tech, music, fashion… like this next generation of creatives coming together around the brand.”
Embracing music culture could be a key differentiator for Nothing and help make smart glasses a more compelling product for people who aren’t yet sold on video capture and AI features.
In the past, I’ve argued that Headphones are the ultimate in AI wearablesbut I’m willing to revise my opinion if these headphones are housed inside a pair of glasses that I actually like to wear.