Unlike other mirrors I’ve tested, it doesn’t even sell subscription plans. Everything is included out of the box.

The only downside I can find with the G2 is that it’s largely devoid of offline features, so the glasses have to be connected to the internet to do anything. Considering the G2’s capabilities, it’s a tradeoff I’m more than happy with.

Other Captioning Glasses I Tested

There are plenty of captioning glasses on the market, but they’re surprisingly similar in both looks and features. While many are quite capable, none had the combination of power and affordability that I found with Even’s G2. Here’s a rundown of everything I tested.

Leion’s Hey 2 is the price leader in this market, and even its prescription lenses ($90 to $299) are quite affordable. However, the hardware is heavy: 50 grams without lenses, 60 grams with them. You get six to eight hours of operation on a full charge. The case adds juice for up to 12 recharges.

I like the Leon interface, which features captions, translation, “free talk” (two-way translation) and a teleprompter on its clean app. You have access to nine languages. This increases to 143 with the use of ProMinutes. Leon sells its premium plan by the minute, not the month, so you have to remember to toggle this mode off when you don’t need it. Pricing is $10 for 120 minutes, $50 for 1,200 minutes, and $200 for 6,000 minutes. There’s no offline usage support, and I often struggled to get AI summaries to show up in English instead of Chinese (regardless of recorded language).

You’re not seeing double: XRAI and Leion use the same manufacturer for their hardware, and the glass weighs the same. Battery specs are similar, eight hours on the frames and a further 96 hours when recharging with the case. XRAI claims its display is significantly brighter than competitors, but I didn’t notice much of a difference in day-to-day use.

The features and user experience are almost identical, although Leon’s teleprompter feature is not implemented in XRAI’s app, and it does not offer AI summaries of conversations. I also didn’t find XRAI’s app as user-friendly as Leon’s version, especially when trying to switch between the recognized 300 language options. Only 20 of these are included for the no-pro subscription, which is sold both by the month and by the minute: $20/month gets you up to 600 upgraded transcription minutes and 300 translation minutes. $40/month gets you 1,800 and 1,200 minutes respectively. On the plus side, XRAI has a rudimentary offline mode that works better than most. For prescription lenses, add $140 to $170.

AirCaps does not make its own prescription lenses. Instead, you have to buy a pair of $39 “lens holders” and take them to an optometrist if you want a prescription inserted. I was unable to test them with prescription lenses and eventually had to try them on my regular glasses, which worked well enough for short-term testing. Frames weigh 53 grams without add-on lenses; The company couldn’t tell me how much the extra weight prescription lenses will add to that, but it’s safe to say they’re the largest and heaviest prescription glasses on the market. Despite the weight, they only carry two to four hours of battery life, with 10 or so recharges in the comically large case. Another option is to clip AirCaps’ rechargeable 13-gram Power Capsules ($79 for two) to an arm, which can provide 12 to 18 hours of extra juice.

The AirCaps’ feature list and interface make it perhaps the easiest of all these devices, with just one button to start and stop recording. Transcripts and translations are available free of charge in nine languages. For $20/month, you can add the Pro package, which offers better accuracy, access to over 60 languages, and the option to generate AI summaries on demand (though only if the recording is long enough). As a bonus: five hours of Pro features are free every month. The offline mode also works very well. The only bad news is that these heavy frames aren’t comfortable enough for long-term wear.

The most expensive option on the market (up to $1,399 with prescription lenses!) weighs a relatively light 40 grams (52 grams with lenses) and offers about four hours of battery life. There is no charging case; The glasses must be charged directly using the included USB dongle.

Glasses is extremely convenient, offering transcription and translation features—with support for nearly 80 languages, which is impressive. I unfortunately find the prescription lenses sent by Captify to be the most blurry, making reading the headlines relatively difficult. And while the device supports offline transcription, performance suffers when disconnected from the Internet. I couldn’t get the translations to work at all when offline. For $15/month, you get better accuracy and speaker differentiation, and access to AI summaries of conversations. Prescription lenses cost between $99 and $600.