Alibaba Qwen smart glasses debut at MWC 2026, challenging Meta with AI-powered design at $275

Watch Out, Meta. I Tried Alibaba's Qwen Smart Glasses and They're Mega Impressive

Katie is a UK-based news reporter and features writer. Officially, she is CNET's European correspondent, covering tech policy and Big Tech in the EU and UK. Unofficially, she serves as CNET's Taylor Swift correspondent. You can also find her writing about tech for good, ethics and human rights, the climate crisis, robots, travel and digital culture. She was once described a "living synth" by London's Evening Standard for having a microchip injected into her hand. Mobile World Congress in Barcelona might be a European tech show, but for the past few years, the event has largely been dominated by Chinese phone companies such as Xiaomi and Honor. This year, they were joined by tech giant Alibaba, which launched its Qwen smart glasses at the show -- and having tried them, all I have to say is, Meta should watch its back. The Qwen glasses are among the first wearable devices Alibaba is building on top of its Qwen AI family of large language models, and the company brought two different models to the MWC. The first pair, the Qwen S1 specs, have a heads-up waveguide display etched into the lenses, and serve as a rival to Meta's Ray-Ban Display model (minus the gesture control). My first impression of these AR glasses was that they were light and comfortable to wear -- I wouldn't have known that they were smart glasses by their weight alone. At the end of each arm are swappable batteries, which snap off easily so you can keep the glasses running for longer when you're on the go. I activated the glasses with the phrase "Hey Qwennie," which it picked up with its five microphones. I then asked it to complete a range of basic tasks, including asking the device to take a photo and to tell me what I was looking at when I held a photo of Barcelona's Sagrada Familia in front of my face. I could see a miniature version of the photo I captured in the green display, and the glasses were able to answer my architectural query both by displaying text in the heads-up display and through the bone conduction built into the arms of the S1. Perhaps my favorite feature, though, was the turn-by-turn directions. This feature felt like it could become essential for navigating a busy city, and far more convenient than using a phone or smartwatch. I also tried out the teleprompter feature, which scrolled as I read out loud from the text appearing on the display but must confess I didn't find it quite as easy to follow as a similar demo I tried earlier in the week on the MemoMind One glasses. With the Qwen booth assistant talking to me in Chinese, I was able to see and hear the English translation of her words on the display and in my ear simultaneously, although there was enough of a delay to prevent our communication from being entirely smooth. The second pair of glasses Alibaba brought to the show were the Qwen G1 glasses, which lack the heads-up display present on the S1, but otherwise offer pretty much the same features thanks to the microphones, cameras and bone-conduction. On the whole, I was impressed by the look, feel, sound quality and capabilities of these glasses, which for many people might be their first introduction to Alibaba's Qwen AI (by way of the Qwen App, which is integrated with the specs). In China, where preorders for the glasses are already live, people wearing the glasses will be able to complete tasks such as ordering food or hailing a cab completely hands free. Alibaba said pricing for the G1 glasses will start at around $275 (for comparison, Meta's Ray-Ban Gen 2 glasses cost $379), but didn't say how much the more advanced S1 glasses will cost. Official sales in China will commence on March 8, with Alibaba promising an international rollout featuring integration with popular global services scheduled for an unspecified date later in 2026.

I wore new smartglasses at MWC 2026, and they took comfort to the next level

If your normal glasses are uncomfortable or don't fit right, you won't want to wear them. Making sure this doesn't happen with a pair of smartglasses is the challenge faced by all manufacturers, whether they want to admit it or not. As more companies work to build compelling products, design is clearly evolving at the same time. I tried the new Qwen AI Glasses at MWC 2026, and was surprised to find they have solved one of the biggest fitment pain points: balance. Related Smartglasses are in danger of being ruined, again, if people can't stop being creepy It's Glassholes all over again Posts 8 By Andy Boxall Meet Qwen Don't worry, Gwen and Queen both seem to work You may not have heard of Qwen before, so here's what you need to know. It's the name of Chinese mega-corporation Alibaba's AI model, and it's the main reason the Qwen AI Glasses exist. The Qwen AI Glasses are Alibaba's second smart eyewear project, after the S1 and G1 models, and the plan is to launch them globally, including in the US and the UK, later this year. The AI assistant can help with the usual tasks, including translation, image recognition, and music playback, all from the wake word "Hey Qwennie." If you're wondering about the pronunciation, in my tests, the glasses reacted the same regardless of whether I said it like "Gwennie" or "Queenie," so don't worry too much. Weight distribution and balance Getting the recipe right There were two models for me to try, one with a screen in the lenses, and one without. The team didn't confirm how different the models were to the Quark S1 and G1 models, but I suspect the underlying technology is very similar. The model with the screen was most interesting, as it showcased the clever way the weight of the components was distributed in the arms. Rather than spread the internal components throughout the arms, the majority of them were placed at the ends of the arms, along with crucial screen tech in the hinge area at the front. The result is a curvier middle-section, and better weight distribution, despite heavier sections behind your ears. I was surprised at how this didn't feel uncomfortable. Take a look at the frames around the lenses, which are thinner than expected on a model with a screen. I immediately noticed the benefit of less weight on the bridge of my nose. Screen and voice commands Both worked well The balanced weight distribution means you have the chance to better enjoy the screens, which look great. Embedded in each lens, green text overlays the real world, and you operate the software using buttons, gestures, and your voice. Not only could I see the text easily in the bright Spanish sunlight, but the voice activation worked in a noisy outside environment too. This was especially impressive given I was speaking normally, saying the AI's name in different ways, and all in a British accent, which may not be something the glasses have been trained on. For smart glasses with a screen, the Qwen AI Glasses felt, and mostly looked, quite normal. Far more so than the Meta Ray-Ban Display, which goes in the opposite direction in terms of design, and appears worse for it. Smartglasses with screens in the lenses are really useful, but they need to look and feel great if people are to use them. Subscribe to the Newsletter for Smartglasses Design Deep-Dives Find deeper hands-on analysis in the newsletter focused on smartglasses and wearable design. Subscribe to access focused coverage that breaks down how different approaches and trade-offs shape real-world wearability and user experience. Get Updates By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. I could also hear Owen's voice clearly through the speakers, although the intonation was far from the brilliance of Google Gemini. The models without the screen were similar to many other regular smartglasses in terms of functionality, but still benefited from great balance and light weight. Competition matters Design is evolving While my short demo of the Qwen smartglasses wasn't enough to say if they're worth buying, or if they'll take on the best from Meta, it was fantastic to see not every company is stuck making smartglasses in exactly the same way. Face shapes, sizes, and wear preferences all differ, and what one person likes, another may not. Having a wider choice, with different designs and ways of building smart eyewear, will help the category grow. It has been predicted that 2026 will be a year of growth for smartglasses, and it's only through more companies taking design seriously that this will happen. The final release date and price for the Qwen AI Glasses hasn't been announced yet. Reports also indicate Alibaba has plans for Qwen-powered AI earbuds and an AI smart ring too.