With new developments in XR, AI, and wearable tech, CES 2025 has solidified its place as a barometer for the next wave of innovation.

Fortunately, some of the best smart glasses we saw at the show will, making the product category one of the most exciting ones going into the rest of 2025. Over the past week, ZDNET has been scouring the show floor to select the best of the best.

It’s the second day of CES, and I’m waiting in a line to see my tenth pair of smart glasses. I honestly don’t know what to expect: I’ve seen glorified sunglasses with dubious ChatGPT clones. I’ve sidled up to several booths where the glasses were almost carbon copy clones of the pairs a booth over.

Each had their own draws and features, things like AR glasses that focused on projecting your computer monitor or smartphone screen and devices made for AI transcription and trans