Smart glasses with a voice assistant — and whose assistant it is.

Which assistant lives in which glasses

“Smart glasses with a voice assistant” used to mean a Bluetooth headset with a button that summoned Siri. Today the assistant is usually the maker’s own, or one it has licensed, and it decides more about the product than the frame does. Five examples cover the main patterns.

Meta AI on Ray-Ban Meta and Meta glasses

Meta’s help page on using Meta AI on AI glasses gives two ways in: say “Hey Meta”, or tap and hold the touchpad on the frame. It lists calls, messages, capture, playback, general questions and, because the glasses have a camera, questions about the world around you: describing a scene, translating text, scanning a QR code. The features are tied to the Meta AI mobile app, and live translation is started by voice with “Hey Meta, start live translation”. It comes as part of Meta’s platform.

Alexa+ on Amazon Echo Frames

Amazon lists the current Echo Frames as “Smart glasses, Designed for Alexa+”, and the product URL calls them smart audio glasses with Alexa. If your home already runs on Alexa, that is the point: the same assistant on your face as on the kitchen counter. The listing we read did not show a price or a battery figure, so we do not quote one here.

ChatGPT on Lucyd, through the phone’s own assistant

Lucyd takes a different route. Its app page offers free premium ChatGPT access on Lucyd eyewear: you activate Siri and use the wake word to start talking to ChatGPT, or on a Samsung phone activate Bixby and say “Ask Lucy”. Lucyd also says the app works on any audio device that can trigger a voice assistant, which tells you where the assistant really lives: in the app, not the frame.

ChatGPT on Aventa, with its own wake word

Aventa states its G100 ($149) is integrated with ChatGPT and woken with “Hello, Lumi”, and lists object recognition and real-time visual translation alongside a 20MP camera. Aventa does not publish how that request travels from frame to model, so we do not describe it.

Hey Cyan on the OXIVUE M02C

The M02Ccarries a visual assistant woken with “Hey Cyan”. It is built around a Sony 219 sensor with dual stabilisation, so the question you ask can be about what is in front of you. It runs through the free HeyCyan app on your phone. More on the OXIVUE side below.

Side by side

Competitor columns come only from each maker’s own page as loaded on September 25, 2026. Where a page did not say, the cell says so rather than guessing. Prices change; check the maker’s store.

What visual AI adds to a voice assistant

A voice-only assistant hears you and answers from what it already knows or can look up. A visual assistant adds one more input: a frame from the camera at the moment you ask. That changes the kind of question that works.

• Voice only:“What is the weather tomorrow?” “Call Maria.” “Translate this sentence into Italian.”
• Voice plus camera:“What does this sign say?” “What is this dish on the menu?” “What is she pointing at?”

The second list is impossible on audio-only glasses, however capable the assistant behind them, because there is nothing to look with. That is the real fork in this category: not which assistant is smartest this month, but whether the glasses have a sensor for it to use. The cost of that sensor is real too. A camera on your face changes how a room treats you, and the recording-laws guide is worth reading before you wear one somewhere sensitive. If you have decided against a camera, the Echo Frames comparison sets out that trade honestly.

Where the assistant actually runs

Meta ties Meta AI to the Meta AI mobile app, Lucyd runs ChatGPT through its app, and OXIVUE runs its assistant through the HeyCyan app; Aventa and Amazon do not say on the pages we read. On OXIVUE frames a request follows this path:

1. The microphones in the frame hear the wake word and your question.
2. The audio, and on a visual assistant an image, goes over Bluetooth to an app on your phone.
3. The app sends it to a cloud model over data or Wi-Fi.
4. The answer comes back to the app as text or speech.
5. It plays through the open-ear speakers in the temples.

Three consequences follow for app-based assistants like these. The assistant needs your phone within Bluetooth range. It needs a connection, with exceptions a maker publishes; Meta, for instance, says some translation language packs can be downloaded for use without internet. And there is a short pause while the request makes the round trip. Our how AI glasses work guide walks through the plumbing, and do smart glasses need a phone covers what still works when the phone is elsewhere.

It also means the choice between brands is mostly a choice of app and platform. Which app do you install, what does it ask you to sign in with, and is there a subscription? For Meta, the answer is the Meta AI app. For OXIVUE there is no Meta account and no subscription; the no-Meta-account guide covers that trade in detail.

The assistant on OXIVUE frames

All four OXIVUE camera frames pair with the free HeyCyan companion app on iOS 14+ or Android 9+ over Bluetooth 5.4, and the app handles the assistant, translation and firmware updates. What differs by frame is what the assistant has to work with.

The M02C is the only OXIVUE frame whose spec table lists an AI wake word and visual AI, so it is the one to buy if talking to your glasses and asking about what you see is the reason you are shopping. It is also the lightest camera frame in the line at about 41 grams, rated IP65 for rain and sweat, with magnetic pogo charging.

The M08 is the entry frame at $149, with the same 8 MP camera class, open-ear audio and 40+ language translation through the app. The M08C puts that in a gold- or silver-trimmed frame and adds meeting transcription for the conversation you cannot take notes in. The M14 is a different object, a 52-gram wrap-around shield with IPX4 splash resistance, and it translates 139 languages; its microphone setup, dual-mic noise cancellation plus a bone-conduction mic, is built for wind. For language-first buyers the translation guide goes deeper.

What OXIVUE does not offer: a ChatGPT integration by name, Alexa, or a display in the lens. If one of those is the requirement, the frames that name it are the better buy, and we would rather say so than stretch our spec sheet. The Lucyd comparison is candid about where Lucyd wins.

How to choose voice assistant glasses

• You live in one ecosystem.If your home runs on Alexa, Echo Frames keep the same assistant everywhere. If you already use Meta’s apps, Meta AI fits.
• You want ChatGPT by name.Lucyd and Aventa both advertise it; Lucyd reaches it through your phone’s own assistant, Aventa with its own wake word.
• You want to ask about what you see. You need a camera frame with a visual assistant: Meta glasses, or the OXIVUE M02C at $159 without a Meta account or subscription.
• You mostly want translation. Compare language counts first; the OXIVUE M14 covers 139 and the M08 family 40+.
• You want no camera at all. Stay with an audio-only frame; a visual assistant is not possible there, and that is a fair trade for some rooms.

Bottom line

Most voice assistants on glasses are reached through a phone app, so pick the assistant and the platform first and the frame second. Meta AI is a camera-aware assistant that comes with Meta’s app; Alexa+ suits an Alexa home; Lucyd and Aventa are the routes to ChatGPT. If you want a visual assistant you wake by voice without a Meta account or a subscription, the OXIVUE M02C at $159 is the frame built for it. The M08 at $149 is the lower-priced way into the same app, and the M14 at $199 is the pick for 139-language translation. Every spec side by side is on the comparison page.

Frequently asked questions