Chinese users regret buying Xiaomi AI glasses

Early adopters of Xiaomi AI glasses are returning the product because the experience fell far short of expectations, with the glasses being buggy and acting like "heavy, cumbersome shackles on the bridge of the nose."

In June, Xiaomi's AI (artificial intelligence) glasses created a fever when 50,000 units were sold in three days of launch. Priced from 1,999 yuan (7.4 million VND), these smart glasses are integrated with AI assistant, can record videos, take pictures, scan QR codes for payment or translate text directly in real time.

The Xiaomi AI glasses craze has both Huawei and Alibaba unable to sit still, quickly entering this potential market. However, contrary to the ambition to open a technological revolution, early users quickly realized that the experience of Xiaomi's smart glasses is far from what was advertised. The wave of refunds is happening strongly in China.

"The heavy useless shackle on the nose"

Technology site Sina quoted Li Cheng, a Xiaomi glasses user, saying that after only 3 hours of experience, he said goodbye. The most attractive reason for him to spend 1,999 yuan to buy the glasses was the ability to take photos and translate in real time. Immediately after receiving the glasses, he opened a reality TV video about traveling to Japan, calling up the virtual assistant Super Xiaomi AI to translate, but he quickly realized the problem. The AI ​​translation on the screen almost did not match the subtitles in the video, the delay of a few seconds seriously affected his experience. At one point, the AI ​​assistant said: "I know every word but I don't understand what they mean when put together in a sentence."

Users experience Xiaomi smart glasses

PHOTO: DANNIEVR

More disappointingly, the camera experience on the glasses was described as poor. Li Cheng said he took a few photos in the room, but the results looked like "an old photo restored by AI". Xiaomi said the smart glasses are equipped with a 12 megapixel camera, recording 2K video at 30 frames per second. However, Li Cheng said the videos he shot were often jerky, and the frame rate could not keep up with the movement of the lens.

Undaunted, Li Cheng continued to test the “intelligent recognition” feature. He scanned the image of a Labubu and received the answer: “This is a stuffed animal.” Unsatisfied, he asked about the brand, to which the AI ​​assistant replied: “I still have to learn more about this.”

Li Cheng then decided to return the product, reposting his experience on social media and receiving thousands of interactions. Most users recounted their disappointment when using Xiaomi AI glasses.

In addition to people like Li Cheng returning the product because of its "useless features", some people like Ma Ning said the device was like a heavy shackle on her nose. Ma Ning is nearsighted, so she had to wear an additional lens weighing about 15g, plus the 40g of the glasses, the Xiaomi AI Glasses were still about 10g heavier than her regular glasses.

Ma Ning also complained that the glasses were too wide, and after wearing them for more than half an hour, her ears began to swell. She tried to adjust the angle of the glasses, but because her nose bridge was too low, the glasses kept slipping off.

Meanwhile, another user named Alin, from Australia, was frustrated by the inability to connect the glasses to a mobile device. After contacting customer service, he learned that the built-in internet function of the AI ​​smart glasses only works in China. Foreign users need to register with a Chinese phone and overcome many complex "firewalls" to experience it.

Smart glasses still have many limitations

Xiaomi isn’t the only company to have these issues. Other smart glasses like Alibaba’s Thunderbird V3 and Huawei’s Smart Glasses 2 have also received mixed reviews on social media. Most of the negative comments have focused on short battery life, poor user experience, and poor image quality.

In posts about returning the AI ​​glasses, users often complain that the devices “look like construction helmets, with image quality as blurry as an old phone.” Others say that despite being advertised as hands-free, the glasses require a Bluetooth connection, forcing them to carry their phones in their pockets at all times.

The history of smart glasses began 13 years ago when Google Glass was launched in 2012. However, challenges with cost and privacy caused Google to stop producing the device after only three years of launch.

In 2015, Microsoft introduced the Hololens augmented reality glasses, but they only lasted until the second generation. In the following decade, limitations in optical technology and integrated chips meant that smart glasses barely made a splash. It wasn’t until 2023, when Meta partnered with Ray-Ban to launch the Ray-Ban Meta, that the market came alive.

Meta's success prompted Chinese manufacturers to quickly jump into the new game, but the actual results disappointed users.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nguoi-dung-trung-quoc-hoi-han-vi-mua-kinh-ai-xiaomi-185250904161039077.htm