Recently, HTC officially launched its new lightweight AI headset, the VIVE Eagle, challenging Meta's dominance in the smart glasses market with its ultra-light design weighing less than 49 grams and a localized privacy protection strategy. The product is now available in Taiwan, with a price of approximately $520.
Technical Specifications and Core Features
The VIVE Eagle is equipped with a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera and an integrated speaker system, and it features an AI voice assistant supported by both OpenAI GPT models and Google Gemini. Users can use voice commands to perform 13 language translations, set smart reminders, take notes, and access local information.
Notably, HTC has not disclosed the specific version of Gemini or GPT used, only marking the GPT access as "beta" status, indicating that the product is still in the technical optimization phase.
Privacy Protection as a Differentiation Advantage
In contrast to its competitors, HTC emphasizes that all data is processed locally on the device, sending requests to external AI services only in an anonymous manner. The device features LED indicator lights to show the recording status in real time, automatically stopping recording when the device is removed or covered, offering users more transparent privacy control.
This strategy directly addresses concerns about Meta's smart glasses privacy policies. Currently, Meta defaults to storing user voice recordings for AI training, and users cannot completely disable this function, leading to widespread criticism from privacy advocates.
Power Supply and Design Highlights
The VIVE Eagle offers 4.5 hours of music playback and 36 hours of standby time, supporting magnetic fast charging. The product comes in four colors and features ZEISS brand sunglasses lenses, combining functionality with fashion.
Reconfiguration of Market Competition
This marks HTC's extension of competition with Meta from the VR field, where Oculus vs. Vive once dominated, into the new battlefield of AI glasses. Meta leads the market with Ray-Ban smart glasses, providing real-time city navigation, multilingual translation, QR code scanning, and demonstrating advanced AR capabilities through Aria Gen2 and Orion AR prototypes.
Meta's core advantage lies in its ability to run its own AI models directly on wearable devices, effectively controlling product costs. However, HTC's localized data processing strategy may gain a competitive edge in a market increasingly focused on privacy protection.
As AI-driven wearable devices rapidly become popular, the balance between privacy protection and functional experience will become a key factor in consumer choices. The launch of the VIVE Eagle in Taiwan will provide important reference data for its global market expansion strategy.