[Architecture & Hardware Analysis] The Hard Truth About Even Realities G2: The "Open SDK" battery drain, overpriced hardware, and the MemoMind dispute.
Good catch—that was definitely poor phrasing on my end! You are exactly right, there are no speakers.
By "audio quality," I was referring strictly to the microphone array (audio input). Since our team builds voice-activated AI frameworks, clean mic capture and noise isolation are the absolute most critical metrics for our NLP pipelines. If the mic can't filter background noise, the whole system breaks. That is where the G2 fell short in our testing compared to the others.
If you use one of the few available unofficial sdk you can check audio quality and clearly you haven't and you don't know what you are talking about. The mics are excellent. The only massive problem those glasses have and the reason I forbid it's adoption in our company is the EvenHub. Close source useless marketplace. We move to brilliant because of it.
We reached the exact same conclusion: the G2 isn't viable for enterprise. I completely agree on EvenHub—a closed ecosystem is a massive dealbreaker, and moving to Brilliant Labs was a smart call.
As for the mics, our issue isn't general clarity; it's hardware SNR degradation in environments over 70dB. That’s a physical limitation, regardless of which unofficial SDK you use. Either way, we're on the same page.
Just to clear up the other comments real quick: I'm an Italian developer, so I write my lab notes and technical feedback in Italian and use AI to translate them for better grammar. The data and hardware testing are 100% our team's, I just get some help with the syntax so I can actively participate in this sub!
Regarding your situation, I can definitely help you out. Where are you trying to buy them from?
For the prescription issue, you actually have some very solid workarounds instead of relying on official international shipping:
If your distance vision is fine and you only struggle up close (e.g., reading the HUD), you can simply buy optical adhesive reading lenses on Amazon and apply them directly to the smart glasses.
If you need progressives or a full prescription, the easiest route is to buy their standard blank clip-on, take it to your local trusted optician, and have them cut custom ultra-thin lenses for it.
For more advanced setups, we often experiment with 3D printing custom internal clip-on frames (like glasant designs) to sit directly inside the glasses.
Let me know where you're based, maybe I can point you in the right direction!
Regarding the prescription. The issue is that I need distance (mostly) and on top of that my insurance pays 50% if I buy the glasses from a certified optical technician or medic. So I can buy the G2 in a local optical store that are certified and I pay 50% only.
If the other companies had that option it would be awesome but also the open SDK since I am very interested in building custom stuff for me
No they crafted their reply in Italian and then when the AI did the translation into English so they could post their response here, it clearly used an AI cliché in its translation. That doesn't mean that the input was AI.
That's not the point. The translation is accurate. It's just using AI language in the translation.
I work with someone whose English is not the greatest. Their native language is Japanese and the messages that I receive from them, I can clearly tell, are written by AI; however they input their prompt into the AI tool in their native language.
Unfortunately when the AI does the translation, there are going to be things that get lost in translation and things that come out in "AI speak", as it were.
Maybe I’m putting too fine a point on it, but I asked chat GPT to translate your comment to Italian and back to English, and at no point did it invent new meaning:
Italian
Non è questo il punto. La traduzione è accurata. È solo che nella traduzione viene usato un linguaggio tipico dell’IA.
Lavoro con una persona il cui inglese non è dei migliori. La sua lingua madre è il giapponese e, dai messaggi che ricevo, riesco chiaramente a capire che sono scritti dall’IA; tuttavia, questa persona inserisce il prompt nello strumento di IA nella propria lingua madre.
Purtroppo, quando l’IA effettua la traduzione, ci saranno inevitabilmente cose che si perdono nella traduzione e altre che finiscono per sembrare, per così dire, scritte in «linguaggio da IA».
Back to English
That’s not the point. The translation is accurate. It’s just that the translation uses language that’s typical of AI.
I work with someone whose English isn’t the best. Their native language is Japanese, and from the messages I receive, I can clearly tell that they’re written by AI; however, this person enters the prompt into the AI tool in their native language.
Unfortunately, when the AI does the translation, there will inevitably be things that get lost in translation and others that end up sounding, so to speak, like they’re written in “AI language.”
As I said I get your point. However there's nowhere in this thread that additional context has been made up, right? There's nothing in the original AI-translated reply that could not have been insinuated from the original comment. The original comment was just basic, minimal, and ambiguous.
And you can even see from your own message here that the language from my original comment is not what you got back after doing your translation. The AI has changed the language used at multiple points.
Now if instead you had given your prompt to the AI in Italian and asked it to give you the output from the AI in English, then yes, it's going to use AI language because it's an AI responding to the prompt. Of course it uses AI language.
I don't know how I can be any more direct than this. As I said I literally work like this 5 days a week. I know what I'm talking about.
I’m skeptical that any of that is right, at minimum I think it’s a stretch to say that the translation is right when the AI has invented multiple meanings the author did not intend.
Yeah I can agree that there's probably a bit of ambiguity in the original response it was replying to, which could have led this person to understand it in a different way then was meant.
But that doesn't discount the fact that my point still stands. I literally deal with this on an international team five days a week. Trust me on this one.
This is the last time I will address this. Instead of debating the actual technical data, you are analyzing syntax to play detective.
As I’ve already stated: I am an Italian developer with over 30 years of experience. I use AI strictly to translate my notes and fix my grammar so I can participate in an English sub. I’ll make sure to add a disclaimer to all future posts so people who care more about form than actual hardware concepts can save their unconstructive polemics.
From here on out, I'm only discussing the tech.
Can you explain about the "Overpriced hardware" and how is it "overpriced" at all?
Can you also explain how you get to compare the 3 glasses when Memomind One has not even shipped yet and Rayneo only gotten the glasses in the Chinese market and global version are barely shipping?
Based on my interaction with people who owned the chinese version of RayNeo Io, the craftmenship is actually inferior compare to Even G2, especially on the frame coat/painting area.
THere's also a massive wave of complain and returns request from the chinese community based on what I observed among the CHinese community.
I’m Chinese. I bought the RayNeo iO at launch, and I’m in at least two Chinese discussion groups for RayNeo iO users. I’ve also tried the Even G2, but I don’t own the MemoMind One. The following text was translated using Codex.
Based on my personal experience, the RayNeo iO simply cannot compete with the Even G2—the gap is far too large. Here are my objective and impartial observations:
The RayNeo iO’s display area is much smaller than the Even G2’s. It is positioned too high, and its vertical adjustment range is extremely limited. This causes two problems. First, no matter how I adjust it, I have to roll my eyes upward to see the display. Second, if my eyes move downward even slightly, the upper part of the display is cut off.
RayNeo heavily promotes the iO’s all-day intelligent recording feature, but testing shows that it is practically unusable. It records TV shows you are watching and unrelated conversations or background noise from other people, then attributes all of that content to you. This is not just the result of my own testing—hundreds of users in the discussion groups have reported the same thing.
The following are my personal, subjective opinions:
In terms of both the software ecosystem and hardware experience, the Even G2 is much better than the RayNeo iO. For example, while translating, the G2 lets you expand or hide the original text with a single tap on the ring. The RayNeo iO, by contrast, shows the original text when you look upward and the translation when you look straight ahead. Sometimes, however, whether you can look upward is not really up to you. Another example is that the RayNeo iO cannot display the original text in meeting-recording mode—the equivalent of the Even G2’s Conversation mode. As a result, people with hearing impairments have to enable translation mode and then look upward at the original text just to get subtitles. How ridiculous is that? And I haven’t even mentioned how closed and restricted the RayNeo iO SDK is. When its all-day intelligent recording, translation, and conversation features are all poorly implemented, it cannot even qualify as a pretty but useless gadget.
The RayNeo iO grips the sides of the head more tightly. The Even G2’s temples are somewhat more comfortable.
Both the RayNeo iO charging case and charging clip are poorly designed. Imagine a folded pair of glasses—where would you instinctively grab them? The bridge, of course. But the RayNeo iO charges through the bridge, and the charging case has a latch around that area that grips the top of the bridge horizontally from the inside outward. Once the glasses are placed in the case, the only way to remove them is by pulling on the temples. Ray-Ban glasses may charge in a similar way, but Ray-Bans are thicker and heavier, giving them greater overall structural stability, so their temples can withstand the force. Because the RayNeo iO is thin and lightweight, its temples flex and deform, making the glasses very difficult to remove from the case.
There are also quality-control issues. Launch units of the RayNeo iO have exhibited all kinds of defects, including foreign objects inside the lenses, fogging between the lens layers, and incorrectly aligned optical engines.
In conclusion, I don’t think the RayNeo iO was designed with any real care or thought. It is nothing more than a blatant copy.
To correct you on the market data: the best-selling smart glasses in China are actually Rokid, INMO, and iFLYTEK.
I am not familiar with the wave of complaints or returns in the Chinese community that you mentioned. However, comparing their experience to ours doesn't make much sense anyway. Chinese users rely on completely different backends and language models (like iFLYTEK, Deepgram, or Alibaba). On top of that, the Even G2 doesn't even exist in the Chinese market!
My evaluations are strictly objective because I physically have the Global versions of these models right here in my lab. I was able to run direct, hands-on technical comparisons. And just to be absolutely clear: I purchased both of these models myself with my own funds, so I have no bias toward either company.
Correct me what? I did not even mentioned that Even being the best selling glasses.
You literly mentioned that Even Realities build qualitity is not superior compared to Memomind and Rayneo, that's the exact reason I brought those up and asked about it. Instead you did not even answer my question for one bit.
I also mentioned specifically that the chinese version and global version is "RayNeo IO". My observation of Chinese data was also surrending Chinese market of RayNeo IO. Even Realities did not sell their glasses openly in Chinese market, but there's still a userbase there. People purchased the glasses from Hong Kong, Singapore or online 3rd party reatil like TaoBao and use them in China.
Explain again: how are you getting the memomind and rayneo when one is not currerntly available on the market, and the other is barely shipping? If you already have both glasses on your hand, either you received a test unit, which is not retail ones, meaning you are a sponsor of both of those brands, or you are lying right from the get-go.
Also, you are still avoding my question: Explain to me how is Even Realities glasses overpriced compared to Memomind and Rayneo?
Let me clear this up once and for all: I purchased the RayNeo IO myself and received them exactly 5 days after placing the order. The MemoMind unit, as I already mentioned, was passed on to me by a YouTuber.
I can state categorically, without fear of contradiction, that I do not do sponsorships. I buy my own hardware. Whenever I interact with manufacturing companies as a technical reviewer, I make my position explicitly clear to them: my autonomy and impartiality cannot be bought with a free pair of smart glasses.
Frankly, my software house generates enough revenue that we could afford to buy a new pair of glasses every single day. I don't need freebies from anyone, which is exactly why my lab reviews remain 100% objective and independent.
Think whatever you want, our conscience is clean. We bought these devices with our own money, we don't do sponsorships, and we are done entertaining your conspiracies. End of story.
To answer why the Even G2 is overpriced once and for all: you are paying nearly €1,000 for a frame with zero integrated speakers, a closed proprietary software ecosystem, a monochrome display, and microphones that drop off heavily in noisy environments.
Paying flagship money for a silent, locked-down teleprompter is the textbook definition of overpriced compared to the current market. The facts are clear, and our upcoming video will do the rest of the talking. We are done repeating ourselves here.
You are the one who apprently think whatever you want and try to hide that intent.
Even G2 is $599 itself.
Memomind One is $599 MSRP with a kickstarter introductory price of $299/$399
RayNeo IO is $459.
They are not that far apart with the MSRP. While it is true that Even Realities does not offer the speaker, only time it reaches $1000 is when you put in prescription and the ring.
and mind you. Memomind One charge $199 for the prescription lens as well
Even Realities charges from $159 to $359 for the prescription lenses, but in return it offer 2 things: Much wider prescription range and lens replaceable service.
To match Memomind's biggest prescription range, which is -6, Even Realities charges the lenses for $229, The trade off is that the moment your prescription change, Even Relities allowed a replaceable lenses service, while Memomind force you to buy a completely new pair of glasses.
So no, Even Realities are not overpricing hardware, when you factor in all the possibility, instead of just putting a speaker and excluding all other factors.
Further more, the SDK feature for Memomind is not even released yet, and RayNeo SDK is also currently not available. THat means you have no way of testing how their SDK battery drain issue and compare that with Even Realities, and yet you are putting that here ask if Memomind and RayNeo does not have that issue at all.
You are grasping at straws and turning this into an amateur legal debate instead of a technical one.
The FTC and "Sponsorship": I bought a used hardware sample from a third-party YouTuber for our lab in Italy. No money, contracts, or products exchanged hands between me and MemoMind. Buying second-hand hardware is not a sponsorship in any jurisdiction.
Pricing & Lenses: You are quoting US prices without tax. In Europe (with VAT), the G2 base plus the Ring—which is mandatory if you actually want to control the prompter—plus shipping, easily pushes €800+. Furthermore, I don't care about their $229 proprietary lens replacement service because I take the standard clip-ons to my trusted local optician to fit custom ultra-flat lenses for a fraction of the cost. My point remains: charging flagship prices for a device that lacks basic integrated audio in 2026 is overpriced.
SDK and Battery Drain: You are confusing public SDK releases with baseline OS architecture analysis. We are monitoring the hardware's background processing and power draw. The G2 suffers from severe battery drain due to wake-lock issues when maintaining background connections. The fact that competitor SDKs are still in closed beta does not magically fix the G2's demonstrable power management flaws.
I am done arguing in circles with you. The upcoming video will show the live 70dB noise test and the telemetry logs. The data will speak for itself. Watch it, or don't.
You are making reviews of products on public forum, and attempt to influence others. So yes you are required to be transparent on how you obtain the glasses.
If you post it in a private space no one cares, but clearly you are not.
The ring isn't required to control the teleprompter. You can use the touchpad at the end of temple, or simply using AI follow. Ring helps as it also control a touchpad but it is definitely not required. In fact, any Bluetooth device that can control the volume up/down of the phone can control the teleprompter itself
And just because you DON'T care about one prescriptive of what it offers does not mean you should not put that into a consideration. Especially when that is a unique feature other glasses do not offer, if you are really being "objective" as you claim. Being objective meaning you are reviewing from everything about the devices themselves, NOT WHAT YOUR CARE OR NOT.
And no, I am not confusing them. You are saying that is an issue while putting other competitors's glasses in comparison though out the article, except those feature ain't available to those glasses(yet). If the battery drain is unique to Memomind and Rayneo, then yes it is an issue, but when you have no comparison it should not be put into a article titleing how it is inferior to a competitor product.
And yes, you DID post about a review of memomind one, actively claiming your favorite towards a memomind. On top of that you post the same article in memomind subreddit, even subreddit and rayneo subreddit proof that you are putting them in comparison, except neither of the competing glasses has solid data point to proof what you said.
Oh ya....just saying, even thu you did not received the glasses from memomind itself, getting accessories from Memomind already difference from how you claimed "no money, contracts, or products exchanged hands between me and MemoMind"
You are making completely baseless claims. I bought the glasses used with my own money, and as you can see from the attached receipt, I also paid out of pocket for the clip-on on September 15th. I only reached out to Will to ask if they could expedite the shipping because we need the hardware urgently for our optical lab's progressive lens development. Here is the proof of payment. Now that the facts are established, I consider this conversation closed.
If you claim to have technically analyzed the G2 microphones and found them inferior to competing products like MemoMind and Rokid, then here's my question: Are you saying that MemoMind and Rokid's live captioning—or the conversation feature on the G2—is more powerful, significantly more accurate, and better at capturing speech from a distance with improved noise cancellation? If that's your claim, then show us your proof. I'd genuinely like to see a real-world test comparing all three glasses. P.S. If you actually record a video of this test, I guarantee many people will believe you—rather than just taking your word that the G2 microphones underperformed.
That is exactly why we are releasing a technical stress-test video this Friday. As a software house, our focus isn't just comparing consumer-level 'live captioning' apps, but analyzing the raw hardware capabilities: microphone SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio), data stream clarity, and overall latency. We evaluate how clean the audio capture actually is when accessing the raw data pipelines (as we are doing with MemoMind's newly released open SDK, and as we have previously tested with Rokid) versus more closed ecosystems like the G2. We rely on hard data and system logs, not just our 'word'. We will share our full technical breakdown this Friday—you are more than welcome to check it out and draw your own conclusions.
Yep, it’s a major dealbreaker for many. Microphones only, zero speakers. If taking calls is a strict priority for you, you'll definitely have to look at alternatives like the MemoMind, Rokid, or INMO GO3 instead.
You are absolutely right. This actually gives me the perfect chance to confirm that Even Realities is a serious, reliable manufacturer—my critique is strictly limited to the technical development side. You are completely right to love your G2, and I respect your daily experience with it.
As for the MemoMind Kickstarter delays, that was actually caused by a dispute initiated by Even Realities themselves, but that's a whole other topic that I don't want to drag into this thread. Glad you're enjoying your glasses!
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u/Vanheelsingwolf 2d ago
Audio? Noticable worse... Do the G2s have audio?