I’ve tested a dozen smart glasses. They’re mostly just looking for a job to do.

I’m wearing the Even Realities G2 right now. On my desk sit two pairs from Rokid. The Meta Ray-Ban Display is charging nearby, along with their Neural Wristband. In my closet, six pairs of $50 smart sunnies from an overzealous Walmart rep gather dust next to Xreal, RayNeo, Lucyd, and an old Razer Anzu. Later today, I’m calling my optician to see if I can test the new Ray-Ban Meta Optics, which supposedly handle my tricky prescription.

I’m drowning in smart eyewear. And more is coming.

Here’s the thing: the hardware is finally decent. The Even Realities G2 is lightweight, the Meta Ray-Bans look like normal glasses, and the Rokid units have surprisingly crisp displays. But after testing all of them, I keep coming back to the same question: what am I actually supposed to do with these things?

Notifications? I glance at my wrist. Navigation? My phone does it better. Music? My earbuds sound way better. Camera? The quality is mediocre at best, and you look like a weirdo taking photos in public.

The killer app everyone keeps talking about is AI integration. Meta’s glasses can identify objects, translate text, and even suggest what to say in conversations. In theory, that sounds useful. In practice, it’s awkward. You have to talk to your glasses, which feels unnatural, and the responses are often slow or wrong. I asked the Ray-Ban Display to identify a plant once, and it told me it was a “green leafy thing.” Thanks.

Then there’s the form factor problem. Most smart glasses still look like tech gadgets strapped to your face. The Meta Ray-Bans are the closest to normal, but they’re thick. The Even Realities G2 is sleeker, but the arms are chunky. The Razer Anzu just looks like cheap sunglasses. None of them are something you’d wear to a dinner party without getting side-eyes.

Battery life is another headache. You’re lucky to get four hours of active use. That’s fine for a quick walk, but not for a full day. And you can’t just swap batteries—you have to charge the whole thing.

The real problem isn’t the hardware, though. It’s that nobody has figured out what smart glasses are for. Are they a phone replacement? A companion device? A fashion accessory? Right now, they’re trying to be all three and failing at each.

I’m not saying smart glasses are doomed. The tech is improving fast. But until someone builds a use case that’s genuinely better than what a phone or watch can do, these will remain a niche product for early adopters and tech reviewers like me who have to test them.

For now, I’ll keep wearing them in the name of journalism. But I’m not convinced I’d wear them for fun.