Engadget has reviewed the HTC Vive Eagle, and reviewer Daniel Cooper lands on a hard verdict: the $499 glasses are inessential, far too expensive and let down by their imaging. The score is 7.4 out of 10.

The Eagle follows the template Ray-Ban set in 2021. It is a Wayfarer-style frame offered with round Panto or square lenses in black or tinted translucent plastic, with a camera, white recording LED and sensor set into the hinges. The Panto test unit weighs about 49 grams, which keeps it comfortable but leaves the frames feeling larger and less rugged than the price suggests.

Inside, little has changed since the Taiwan launch a year ago: Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 silicon, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage and a 235mAh battery rated for 4.5 hours of music, three hours of calls or 36 hours on standby. The left hinge hides a 12MP ultra-wide camera that shoots 3,024 by 4,032 stills and vertical video, and a four-microphone array handles capture. Connectivity covers Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E.

Cooper credits HTC with useful on-frame controls, a light build and a genuine focus on privacy, including that recording indicator. His argument is that a challenger has to explain why anyone needs camera glasses and then beat Meta on hardware and software at the same time. The Eagle, he concludes, does neither well enough to earn its price.

Source: Engadget