The company announced today that after years of promoting augmented reality (AR) glasses for business, Lenovo will finally start selling AR glasses to consumers, and I briefly demonstrated Lenovo Glasses T1 lightweight glasses. With their Micro OLED displays and their mandatory tethering to Windows, macOS, Android, or iOS devices, they bring some notable features to an area that has sparked interest in the industry but is probably still far from being ubiquitous.
An early version of T1 that I tried had limited features; Basically, I could only view the home page with basic menu options and the desktop with application icons such as web browsing. While the glasses weren’t ready for me watching a movie or hopping through apps, I was impressed with how crisp text and menu options were. It was in a sunny room with extremely high windows. Even in sunlight, several colors on the display appeared bright and text was legible.
Lenovo specifies displays with a contrast ratio of 10,000:1 and a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels per eye. The glasses are also TÜV certified to reduce blue light and flicker, Lenovo says. It takes a lot more time to learn and try out Micro OLED displays before I make my final decision. But the combination of smaller pixels and, from what I’ve seen so far, richer colors should work for screens this close to the eyes. More broadly, brightness can be a problem with OLED technology, but a small demo I saw performed well in a sun-drenched room.
I used the Glasses T1 when they were connected to an Android smartphone via a USB-C cable, but they are also expected to work with PCs, macOS devices, and iPhones (via an adapter sold separately).
The user interface displayed on the glasses depends on the connected platform. During my demo, I controlled input using a five-way trackpad, home button, and menu button on a tethered smartphone’s touchscreen. I didn’t have much time with the glasses, but it was clear that I needed a lot more time for the movements to be natural; I often had to look at my phone to see where I was on the display.
The rims of the goggles are made of a flexible rubber-like material that fits a variety of head shapes. Lenovo’s specs fit the shape of my face nicely without weighing it down or forcing me to experiment with nose clip options. However, the left hand that the cable comes out of never sat perfectly around my ear. Whatever the case, I wouldn’t want to aggressively move around in them or wear them for many hours.
Without a processor and battery, it is easier for glasses to keep their shape. There are also no sensors or cameras like the Lenovo ThinkReality A3 announced last year . Other T1 features include a pair of speakers (one near each temple) and the ability to add prescription lenses.
Lenovo is building the T1 to be less powerful (and more affordable) than the A3, which supports up to five virtual monitors. But with less equipment, they should feel lighter on the face than the 0.3-pound A3 goggles. However, it remains to be seen how complete or immersive an AR experience Lenovo can deliver with the T1, which also includes a lower 60Hz refresh rate and a 38-degree field of view.
Lenovo says its wearable display will be suitable for gaming or streaming video content on the go. It also indicated that the head display was more closed to viewing things like bank records, documents, or other sensitive information in public places than a phone or laptop.