HTC's smart glasses are coming to the UK – and now we know their price at last
The Vive Eagle will arrive later this month
After announcing them a good long while ago and having sold them in Taiwan since late 2025, HTC is finally bringing its Vive Eagle smart glasses to a wider range of territories this month, and it's just been confirmed that the smart specs will be on sale from 21 September in the UK.
We also now know their final pricing at last, and they come in from £429, confirming that they will indeed launch at a slight premium over Meta's Ray-Ban glasses, by far the dominant model in the field.
It's not just the UK getting the specs, though – they're also coming to the US (for $499) and the EU (for €469). For an added dose of complexity, they'll ship immediately starting today in the US, while that late September date applies to the UK and EU, where pre-orders will nonetheless open today.
That means that anyone who's been waiting for an alternative to Meta's specs can get in on the action from today, if they so desire. Of course, that question is complicated by the pricing, which sees them come in at a premium.
HTC's going hard on the privacy angle in terms of differentiating the glasses, which is hardly a surprise – we're in the middle of probably the biggest storm of controversy that the world of AR has yet seen. Whether Meta's glasses are "pervert glasses" is a hot topic, and it's no wonder HTC is trying to stay clear of that.
It says the Vive Eagle has that all-important notification light for filming or capturing of any sort, but crucially adds that a "multi-sensor" approach will disable any capture if the light is damaged or obscured. Given that most of the nefarious use of Meta's glasses depends on aftermarket adjustments, the important question will end up being how well HTC's glasses detect tampering.
The Vive Eagle's 12MP camera can capture 3K video, and there's 4GB of RAM on board to help with complex interactions including AI voice assistant usage. The whole package is IP54 rated, too, so it should be safe in most weather conditions.
HTC says the Vive Eagle will last around 4-6 hours in "constant active use", like if you played music without any pauses, while the glasses have 36 hours of standby time. This can all be extended by buying Power Boost, a little battery puck that can snap onto your frames while you keep wearing them to offer an 80% battery life recharge. It'll cost $49 / £45 / €49 as an extra.
So, this all means we're a little closer to finding out whether people are interested in smart glasses under their own steam, or whether the Ray-Ban brand has been doing all the heavy lifting for Meta. Can the Vive Eagle become a hit in a market as complex and conflicted as this right now?
