Snap’s AR glasses with display reportedly beat Android XR to launch, but for $2,500

Ben Schoon | May 22 2026 - 10:35 am PT

A new report reveals that Snap’s long-in-development AR glasses, “Spectacles,” are finally set to launch later this year, but for a steep price tag.

Sources, a newsletter from reporter Alex Heath, reported in April that Snap (the parent company of Snapchat) would be previewing an updated pair of its Spectacles AR glasses soon, with a consumer launch “in the fall.” The report was highlighted by UploadVR this week, which also highlighted another prior report that the price target for these glasses is an eye-watering $2,500.

Oof.

Snap has confirmed a keynote address at the Augmented World Expo (AWE) event in June which, based on Heath’s reporting, would be an ideal time to talk about updated hardware.

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Should the Fall 2026 launch timeline pan out, it would see Spectacles beating the first Android XR glasses to market. At I/O, Google previewed the first audio glasses using the platform, with confirmation that a display-equipped model is planned for 2027. XREAL’s Android XR glasses are also due out before the end of 2026, but they’re a bit closer to a traditional VR headset than smart glasses. Meta’s display-equipped Ray-Ban Display glasses are already out on the market for $800.

Where Snap’s glasses would differ would be that Spectacles are designed for augmented reality specifically, including the abiltiy to place objects “in” a physical space, whereas Meta and Google are currently focused on glasses that effectively act as a heads-up display.