Verdict
The idea of ChatGPT baked into smart glasses is an enticing one, and the Lucyd smart glasses certainly look like a high-fashion accessory, but the smart glasses miss the mark with a rather limited iOS-only integration that doesn’t mirror the true ChatGPT experience. Without it, the Lucyd smart specs struggle to stand out.
Pros
- Plenty of designs and colours to choose from
- Decent audio playback
- Long battery life
Cons
- ChatGPT integration is half-baked
- Only works with iOS devices
- Hit-and-miss build quality
-
ChatGPT integrationYou can access ChatGPT on the sunglasses by holding a button and saying Lucyd – as long as you’ve got an iPhone, anyway. -
Plenty of stylish designs to choose fromIn a world where smart glasses tend to be boring and chunky, the Lucyd collection has a range of high-fashion designs, colours and lens options to choose from. -
12 hours of battery lifeWith 12 hours of battery life and impressive standby times, the Lucyd smart glasses outpace the majority of the competition.
Introduction
Smart glasses are all the rage in 2024, thanks to big hitters like the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses, and the ever-more-helpful ChatGPT is another hot topic in the tech industry. But what would happen if you were to combine the two?
You’d get something that looks a whole lot like the Lucyd smart glasses, a new smart glasses brand on the market that looks to combine high-fashion design with the power of ChatGPT, as well as being able to play music and handle your calls.
It’s a great concept, but one that’s not quite fully realised with the Lucyd glasses. The ChatGPT integration is there, but there are workarounds and limitations on just how useful it can be in this form, especially compared to the impressive voice chat feature available when using the ChatGPT app.
It’s also reliant on Apple’s Shortcuts app to function, which makes the headline feature unusable for Android users.
That said, the Lucyd smart glasses are among the cheapest on the market (dependent on the design you go for), so could they be an affordable alternative to the Meta and Ray-Ban’s smart specs for iPhone owners? Let’s take a look.
Design
- Plenty of designs and colour options to choose from
- Lightweight and water resistant
- Overall build quality could be better
The thing about smart glasses is that they need to look like regular glasses in order for anyone actually wear them – and this is where most smart glasses manufacturers currently fail. Sure, the Ray-Ban Meta glasses look and feel like a premium bit of kit, but for every Ray-Ban Meta glasses, 10 other alternatives are chunky, cheap and just a bit disappointing.
For me, the Lucyd smart glasses occupy the murky middle ground between those two smart glasses extremes.
On the one hand, the Lucyd smart glasses are available in more styles and colours than any other smart glasses manufacturer I’ve come across. These range from big aviator-style frames to sleek, fashion-focused alternatives like the slimline Electra specs, and each comes with customisable lenses, including prescription and transition, depending on how much you’re willing to splash out.
And, I can’t lie, the Jupiter XXL glasses I was sent for review look the part. The brown and gold colour combination looks refreshingly retro for such a high-tech pair of glasses, and for the most part, they fit pretty well – again, thanks to Lucyd having multiple size options for each pair of glasses to make sure you get the pair that fits just right.
There’s also very little giveaway that these are smart specs. Sure, the arms are a little thicker than they might otherwise be, but that’s basically it – until you take the glasses off and inspect them a little closely.
You’ll notice not only a small speaker system in each arm for audio playback, and a snap-on connector module on each arm for charging upon closer inspection, but it’s not a big deal. These, compared to the likes of the Ampere Dusk, are very under the radar.
That’s all well and good, then, but on the other hand, they feel a little bit cheap and plasticky in the hand. These don’t feel like they’re on the same level as the Ray-Ban Meta glasses with a comfortable yet sturdy frame that feels solid, instead sporting a lightweight frame that feels a little bit too flexible.
That is somewhat understandable, with the cheapest frames on the site retailing at £95/$119, a third of the premium Ray-Ban Meta Glasses, but the price goes up quickly once you start adding optional extras like prescription or transition lenses. It’s worth noting that the Jupiter XXL glasses I was sent retail for £159/$199.
That entry-level feeling extends beyond the general design too, particularly with the shortcut button built into each arm of the smart glasses. They feel like the cheap buttons you’d find on a £5 toy, complete with a bit of wiggle when you depress them, and their sharp edges do tend to dig into the finger when pressing to summon Siri or ChatGPT.
You won’t find more premium tap or swipe controls like with the Meta Ray-Ban glasses or ChatGPT-enabled Solos AirGo 3 either, but again, the Lucyd smart specs are much cheaper.
That said, the specs have redeeming features including IP56 dust and water resistance that should survive even a torrential downpour without much issue, and they’re pretty lightweight too. I just wish the build felt a little more polished and premium to match the high-fashion look of the collection.
Smart Features and Performance
- Half-baked ChatGPT support for iOS users
- Speakers and microphones for music and calls
- Optional Lucyd Pro subscription
ChatGPT is the name of the game when it comes to the Lucyd smart glasses, acting as the star feature alongside pretty standard smart spec features like open-ear stereo speakers for music playback, beamforming microphones for calls and, of course, Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity to communicate with your phone and the AI-powered chat assistant.
There is a £7.99/$9.99 per month Lucyd Pro subscription which did worry me when I first booted up the Lucyd app for app setup, but I was relieved to find out that you can use most of the core functionality without splashing out on yet another monthly subscription. You’ll get premium features like access to ChatGPT 4-Turbo by subscribing, but the regular, free ChatGPT works just fine for most purposes.
So, how does it work? Turns out, it’s a completely different system to what I – and, I assume, most other consumers looking at Lucyd specs – might expect.
Rather than baking ChatGPT support into the specs as I expected, only using your connected iPhone to gain access to its cloud functionality, it instead relies on Apple’s Shortcuts app to function. When you press and hold the button on the specs, you’re actually summoning Siri, at which point you say the keyphrase ‘Lucyd’ to activate the Shortcut and grant you access to ChatGPT.
That’s a bit of a cheeky move if I’m being honest, as similar functionality is essentially free and already available to any iPhone user with the standard ChatGPT app installed. In fact, I set up a similar Shortcut using my AirPods Pro and official ChatGPT Shortcut plugins and it worked perfectly – the only difference is that I had to unlock my iPhone to use it.
You can also just install the Lucyd app and use the official Lucyd Shortcut to access ChatGPT on any other pair of earbuds you own, as there’s no kind of in-app verification to say that you’ve bought, or are currently connected to, the Lucyd glasses.
It also uses Siri, rather than the suite of more natural-sounding voices available in the ChatGPT app itself, to reply to your responses. There isn’t the kind of back-and-forth conversation you’d expect from ChatGPT either, with a single response given before going quiet and having to reactivate the Lucyd shortcut all over again. They’re good for the odd query, but it’s a shadow of what a proper ChatGPT voice chat can offer.
Moreover, the requirement for Apple’s Shortcuts app to function means that it simply isn’t available for Android users. Sure, you can pair the specs to listen to music and take calls, but if you want to summon ChatGPT, you’re out of luck.
While on the topic of pairing, it’s worth noting that both arms of the Lucyd smart glasses operate as individual Bluetooth devices, with one arm connecting to the other before connecting to your phone.
That’s not that different from most wireless earbuds, but the difference here is that you’ll need to turn on both sides of the glasses when you first turn them on, and you’ll need to charge both arms of the smart glasses separately too. It’s just another area where the premium look of the glasses doesn’t quite match up with the tech on offer.
The sound quality is about on par with what you’d expect from open-ear speakers on a pair of smart glasses, which is to say it’s not the best. They’re about on the same level as what you’ll get from the likes of the Huawei Eyewear 2 and Solos AirGo 3, with a focus on overall clarity over balance and bass, but given the Lucyd specs are way cheaper, that’s not that bad.
The beamforming mics also perform pretty well in quiet environments, with Siri/ChatGPT understanding the vast majority of my queries, but there were times in louder outdoor environments when it got it completely wrong. That’s pretty much par for the course when it comes to most audio products, wireless buds included, so it’s not a criticism exclusive to these frames.
I do find myself yearning for a little more here, though. There’s not much in the way of fitness tracking, as with the competing ChatGPT-enabled Solor AirGo 3 smart glasses, they lack the cameras and LLM smarts of the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses and miss out on the dimmable lenses of the Ampere Dusk – even if the Lucyd smart specs are cheaper than all those other options.
Sure, you get the ChatGPT support, but given that similar functionality is already available for free for iPhone users, I’m not sure that’s a strong enough USP to justify investing.
Battery Life
- 12-hour battery life
- Great standby times
- Rather inconvenient charging
Battery life is one area where the Lucyd smart glasses excel compared to much of the competition, with a battery in each arm equating to around 12 hours of constant use – almost double the six hours you’ll get from the top-end Ray-Ban Meta glasses. If you’re like me and only use them to listen to music and podcasts sporadically, they’ll last days before requiring a top-up.
That’s a good thing too, as the charging isn’t quite as streamlined as some might hope. Rather than coming with a charging case like Meta’s specs that delivers five full charges to the specs, you need to use Lucyd’s proprietary two-pin connectors that snap into place on both arms to charge simultaneously.
This is a more common method of charging than Meta’s polished charging case, with similar systems with the Ampere Dusk and Huawei Eyewear 2 specs, but it’s worth noting if you’re new to the smart glasses market.
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
You want smart glasses that don’t look like smart glasses
With a myriad of designs, colours and lens options to choose from, the Lucyd smart glasses are some of the best-looking around.
You want top-end smart glasses features
ChatGPT integration aside, the budget-friendly Lucyd specs miss out on premium features like touch controls, fitness tracking, cameras and true AI assistant smarts present with premium competitors.
Final Thoughts
The Lucyd smart glasses are closer to regular sunglasses than much of the bulky smart glass competition, with a myriad of designs, colour options and lens finishes to choose from to get the right look for you, and they’re pretty lightweight too.
However, the ChatGPT integration – the lead feature of the smart specs – is half-baked, using Siri Shortcuts to access ChatGPT, and that comes with various limitations, from not supporting back-and-forth conversation to having to say Lucyd to activate the shortcut after already holding a button to summon the assistant on the specs.
It’s also worth noting that very similar functionality is available to any iPhone owner with the ChatGPT app installed, thanks to Shortcuts support, and you can even download the Lucyd app and use Lucyd’s own shortcut with no authentication in the app to confirm you’re using Lucyd smart specs.
Oh, and with Shortcuts playing an integral role in the ChatGPT integration, it’s simply not available for Android users.
The only saving grace is pricing; starting at just £95/$119 for the Nebula-style Lucyd smart frames, they’re much cheaper than most competing smart glasses, and almost a third of the price of the popular Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Whether that makes up for the lack of premium smart glasses features, however, is up to you.
How we test
When testing a pair of smart glasses, we thoroughly test all the available features, be that audio, camera tech or even smart displays, evaluating various aspects like performance, battery life and comfort.
Used for over a week before review
Used in multiple ways to test battery life
FAQs
Yes, you can use the Lucyd smart glasses with Android devices to listen to music and take calls, but you won’t be able to use its ChatGPT integration.
Yes, you can get prescription lenses. Just select the option in the online storefront and add your prescription details.
Verdict
The idea of ChatGPT baked into smart glasses is an enticing one, and the Lucyd smart glasses certainly look like a high-fashion accessory, but the smart glasses miss the mark with a rather limited iOS-only integration that doesn’t mirror the true ChatGPT experience. Without it, the Lucyd smart specs struggle to stand out.
Pros
- Plenty of designs and colours to choose from
- Decent audio playback
- Long battery life
Cons
- ChatGPT integration is half-baked
- Only works with iOS devices
- Hit-and-miss build quality
-
ChatGPT integrationYou can access ChatGPT on the sunglasses by holding a button and saying Lucyd – as long as you’ve got an iPhone, anyway. -
Plenty of stylish designs to choose fromIn a world where smart glasses tend to be boring and chunky, the Lucyd collection has a range of high-fashion designs, colours and lens options to choose from. -
12 hours of battery lifeWith 12 hours of battery life and impressive standby times, the Lucyd smart glasses outpace the majority of the competition.
Introduction
Smart glasses are all the rage in 2024, thanks to big hitters like the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses, and the ever-more-helpful ChatGPT is another hot topic in the tech industry. But what would happen if you were to combine the two?
You’d get something that looks a whole lot like the Lucyd smart glasses, a new smart glasses brand on the market that looks to combine high-fashion design with the power of ChatGPT, as well as being able to play music and handle your calls.
It’s a great concept, but one that’s not quite fully realised with the Lucyd glasses. The ChatGPT integration is there, but there are workarounds and limitations on just how useful it can be in this form, especially compared to the impressive voice chat feature available when using the ChatGPT app.
It’s also reliant on Apple’s Shortcuts app to function, which makes the headline feature unusable for Android users.
That said, the Lucyd smart glasses are among the cheapest on the market (dependent on the design you go for), so could they be an affordable alternative to the Meta and Ray-Ban’s smart specs for iPhone owners? Let’s take a look.
Design
- Plenty of designs and colour options to choose from
- Lightweight and water resistant
- Overall build quality could be better
The thing about smart glasses is that they need to look like regular glasses in order for anyone actually wear them – and this is where most smart glasses manufacturers currently fail. Sure, the Ray-Ban Meta glasses look and feel like a premium bit of kit, but for every Ray-Ban Meta glasses, 10 other alternatives are chunky, cheap and just a bit disappointing.
For me, the Lucyd smart glasses occupy the murky middle ground between those two smart glasses extremes.
On the one hand, the Lucyd smart glasses are available in more styles and colours than any other smart glasses manufacturer I’ve come across. These range from big aviator-style frames to sleek, fashion-focused alternatives like the slimline Electra specs, and each comes with customisable lenses, including prescription and transition, depending on how much you’re willing to splash out.
And, I can’t lie, the Jupiter XXL glasses I was sent for review look the part. The brown and gold colour combination looks refreshingly retro for such a high-tech pair of glasses, and for the most part, they fit pretty well – again, thanks to Lucyd having multiple size options for each pair of glasses to make sure you get the pair that fits just right.
There’s also very little giveaway that these are smart specs. Sure, the arms are a little thicker than they might otherwise be, but that’s basically it – until you take the glasses off and inspect them a little closely.
You’ll notice not only a small speaker system in each arm for audio playback, and a snap-on connector module on each arm for charging upon closer inspection, but it’s not a big deal. These, compared to the likes of the Ampere Dusk, are very under the radar.
That’s all well and good, then, but on the other hand, they feel a little bit cheap and plasticky in the hand. These don’t feel like they’re on the same level as the Ray-Ban Meta glasses with a comfortable yet sturdy frame that feels solid, instead sporting a lightweight frame that feels a little bit too flexible.
That is somewhat understandable, with the cheapest frames on the site retailing at £95/$119, a third of the premium Ray-Ban Meta Glasses, but the price goes up quickly once you start adding optional extras like prescription or transition lenses. It’s worth noting that the Jupiter XXL glasses I was sent retail for £159/$199.
That entry-level feeling extends beyond the general design too, particularly with the shortcut button built into each arm of the smart glasses. They feel like the cheap buttons you’d find on a £5 toy, complete with a bit of wiggle when you depress them, and their sharp edges do tend to dig into the finger when pressing to summon Siri or ChatGPT.
You won’t find more premium tap or swipe controls like with the Meta Ray-Ban glasses or ChatGPT-enabled Solos AirGo 3 either, but again, the Lucyd smart specs are much cheaper.
That said, the specs have redeeming features including IP56 dust and water resistance that should survive even a torrential downpour without much issue, and they’re pretty lightweight too. I just wish the build felt a little more polished and premium to match the high-fashion look of the collection.
Smart Features and Performance
- Half-baked ChatGPT support for iOS users
- Speakers and microphones for music and calls
- Optional Lucyd Pro subscription
ChatGPT is the name of the game when it comes to the Lucyd smart glasses, acting as the star feature alongside pretty standard smart spec features like open-ear stereo speakers for music playback, beamforming microphones for calls and, of course, Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity to communicate with your phone and the AI-powered chat assistant.
There is a £7.99/$9.99 per month Lucyd Pro subscription which did worry me when I first booted up the Lucyd app for app setup, but I was relieved to find out that you can use most of the core functionality without splashing out on yet another monthly subscription. You’ll get premium features like access to ChatGPT 4-Turbo by subscribing, but the regular, free ChatGPT works just fine for most purposes.
So, how does it work? Turns out, it’s a completely different system to what I – and, I assume, most other consumers looking at Lucyd specs – might expect.
Rather than baking ChatGPT support into the specs as I expected, only using your connected iPhone to gain access to its cloud functionality, it instead relies on Apple’s Shortcuts app to function. When you press and hold the button on the specs, you’re actually summoning Siri, at which point you say the keyphrase ‘Lucyd’ to activate the Shortcut and grant you access to ChatGPT.
That’s a bit of a cheeky move if I’m being honest, as similar functionality is essentially free and already available to any iPhone user with the standard ChatGPT app installed. In fact, I set up a similar Shortcut using my AirPods Pro and official ChatGPT Shortcut plugins and it worked perfectly – the only difference is that I had to unlock my iPhone to use it.
You can also just install the Lucyd app and use the official Lucyd Shortcut to access ChatGPT on any other pair of earbuds you own, as there’s no kind of in-app verification to say that you’ve bought, or are currently connected to, the Lucyd glasses.
It also uses Siri, rather than the suite of more natural-sounding voices available in the ChatGPT app itself, to reply to your responses. There isn’t the kind of back-and-forth conversation you’d expect from ChatGPT either, with a single response given before going quiet and having to reactivate the Lucyd shortcut all over again. They’re good for the odd query, but it’s a shadow of what a proper ChatGPT voice chat can offer.
Moreover, the requirement for Apple’s Shortcuts app to function means that it simply isn’t available for Android users. Sure, you can pair the specs to listen to music and take calls, but if you want to summon ChatGPT, you’re out of luck.
While on the topic of pairing, it’s worth noting that both arms of the Lucyd smart glasses operate as individual Bluetooth devices, with one arm connecting to the other before connecting to your phone.
That’s not that different from most wireless earbuds, but the difference here is that you’ll need to turn on both sides of the glasses when you first turn them on, and you’ll need to charge both arms of the smart glasses separately too. It’s just another area where the premium look of the glasses doesn’t quite match up with the tech on offer.
The sound quality is about on par with what you’d expect from open-ear speakers on a pair of smart glasses, which is to say it’s not the best. They’re about on the same level as what you’ll get from the likes of the Huawei Eyewear 2 and Solos AirGo 3, with a focus on overall clarity over balance and bass, but given the Lucyd specs are way cheaper, that’s not that bad.
The beamforming mics also perform pretty well in quiet environments, with Siri/ChatGPT understanding the vast majority of my queries, but there were times in louder outdoor environments when it got it completely wrong. That’s pretty much par for the course when it comes to most audio products, wireless buds included, so it’s not a criticism exclusive to these frames.
I do find myself yearning for a little more here, though. There’s not much in the way of fitness tracking, as with the competing ChatGPT-enabled Solor AirGo 3 smart glasses, they lack the cameras and LLM smarts of the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses and miss out on the dimmable lenses of the Ampere Dusk – even if the Lucyd smart specs are cheaper than all those other options.
Sure, you get the ChatGPT support, but given that similar functionality is already available for free for iPhone users, I’m not sure that’s a strong enough USP to justify investing.
Battery Life
- 12-hour battery life
- Great standby times
- Rather inconvenient charging
Battery life is one area where the Lucyd smart glasses excel compared to much of the competition, with a battery in each arm equating to around 12 hours of constant use – almost double the six hours you’ll get from the top-end Ray-Ban Meta glasses. If you’re like me and only use them to listen to music and podcasts sporadically, they’ll last days before requiring a top-up.
That’s a good thing too, as the charging isn’t quite as streamlined as some might hope. Rather than coming with a charging case like Meta’s specs that delivers five full charges to the specs, you need to use Lucyd’s proprietary two-pin connectors that snap into place on both arms to charge simultaneously.
This is a more common method of charging than Meta’s polished charging case, with similar systems with the Ampere Dusk and Huawei Eyewear 2 specs, but it’s worth noting if you’re new to the smart glasses market.
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
You want smart glasses that don’t look like smart glasses
With a myriad of designs, colours and lens options to choose from, the Lucyd smart glasses are some of the best-looking around.
You want top-end smart glasses features
ChatGPT integration aside, the budget-friendly Lucyd specs miss out on premium features like touch controls, fitness tracking, cameras and true AI assistant smarts present with premium competitors.
Final Thoughts
The Lucyd smart glasses are closer to regular sunglasses than much of the bulky smart glass competition, with a myriad of designs, colour options and lens finishes to choose from to get the right look for you, and they’re pretty lightweight too.
However, the ChatGPT integration – the lead feature of the smart specs – is half-baked, using Siri Shortcuts to access ChatGPT, and that comes with various limitations, from not supporting back-and-forth conversation to having to say Lucyd to activate the shortcut after already holding a button to summon the assistant on the specs.
It’s also worth noting that very similar functionality is available to any iPhone owner with the ChatGPT app installed, thanks to Shortcuts support, and you can even download the Lucyd app and use Lucyd’s own shortcut with no authentication in the app to confirm you’re using Lucyd smart specs.
Oh, and with Shortcuts playing an integral role in the ChatGPT integration, it’s simply not available for Android users.
The only saving grace is pricing; starting at just £95/$119 for the Nebula-style Lucyd smart frames, they’re much cheaper than most competing smart glasses, and almost a third of the price of the popular Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Whether that makes up for the lack of premium smart glasses features, however, is up to you.
How we test
When testing a pair of smart glasses, we thoroughly test all the available features, be that audio, camera tech or even smart displays, evaluating various aspects like performance, battery life and comfort.
Used for over a week before review
Used in multiple ways to test battery life
FAQs
Yes, you can use the Lucyd smart glasses with Android devices to listen to music and take calls, but you won’t be able to use its ChatGPT integration.
Yes, you can get prescription lenses. Just select the option in the online storefront and add your prescription details.
