Xreal launches cheaper “smart” glasses
Xreal has announced a new sub-brand, called X by Xreal, with the goal of providing more budget-friendly “smart glasses”. The first product, initially launched in China, are the a01 display glasses. Priced at $299, they are not what we would consider “smart glasses” but rather act as a giant, in your face, display. They, like most Xreal products, are designed to be worn as a replacement for a monitor or TV, replicating what you would see on a screen. As such, they are ideal for movies, or working away from home when you do not have large monitors in front of you.
The Circana Take:
- The sub brand is a smart move for Xreal, which can now more effectively differentiate between “display glasses” and smart glasses by selling the display versions (such as this a01) under a slightly different brand name.
- These so-called display glasses are a tricky niche: they don’t provide the same solution as VR headsets and are not suitable for daily life while moving around. To be clear, these are not a competitive alternative to smart glasses except, perhaps, competing for wallet.
Oura slims down
Oura has announced the Ring 5, its latest ring iteration, and the big news with this version is its size which is 40% slimmer than the previous version. The slimmed-down version does not come with any sacrifices to monitoring; rather it’s a testament to a totally re-engineered approach. The Ring 5 is available for pre-order now with pricing beginning at $399 (plus you need to pay the $6 a month subscription to see the detailed tracking results.
The Circana Take:
- Smaller is clearly better as the previous rings were too bulky to pretend to be anything other than a chunky piece of tech. Having said that, the new version is still unlikely to be mistaken for a fine piece of jewelry.
- The ring market is clearly becoming more competitive, and Oura is making all the right moves to keep its dominant position in this space. But to be clear, it’s a small market: just 9% of the US adult population own a smart ring. More significantly, 90% of ring owners also wear a smartwatch, suggesting a significant cap of the potential size of the market (see “Ever Decreasing Circles of Influence”).
- Oura continues to charge a monthly fee to gain the detailed insight. The company may need to re-evaluate this (or look to give the hardware away for free) as other ring manufacturers are not charging for the data.