# These New Smart Glasses From Solos Come With a Privacy Shield for the Cameras > Source: > Published: 2026-07-07 13:00:00+00:00 Smart glasses company Solos has long focused on audio-only smart glasses. On Tuesday, it announced two new pairs of glasses, one of which has a camera—but you can buy a separate accessory to hide the camera for privacy’s sake. [Solos](https://solosglasses.com/)’ new smart glasses are the audio-only AirGo A6 and the second iteration of its camera-enabled glasses, the Solos AirGo V2. The latter was first announced last year as an effort to directly “[outshine Meta](https://solosglasses.com/blogs/news/solos-airgo-v2-smart-glasses-outshine-meta-with-enhanced-features).” These $299 glasses do just about everything you’d expect from Meta’s new $299 [Meta Smartglasses](https://www.wired.com/story/meta-new-smart-glasses-are-cheaper-colorful-and-meta-branded/), including photo and video capture, playing music, and interacting with an AI-powered assistant that can see what you see. They can be fitted with prescription lenses and have a 10- to 12-hour battery life. The AirGo V2 glasses can also be paired with a new Privacy Kit, a set of clip-on accessories that let wearers control what their camera glasses can access. The clip-on privacy shield blocks the cameras from view and from recording the world, allowing you to keep wearing the glasses in audio-only mode. There’s also a clip-on polarized lens, and the full kit of modular options costs $79. Selling a privacy kit as a clip-on accessory is perhaps not the most effective way to stave off concerns about people running around with small, discreet cameras on their faces. Having to buy a separate item, then clip it on and off every time you want to use or disable the camera, is a lot of extra steps that will likely keep people from bothering with privacy at all. Also, there isn’t anything stopping bad actors from removing the clip-on blockers later in an interaction—say, after entering an event that prohibits camera recording. Solos’ first camera-enabled glasses, the Solos AirGo Vision, launched in 2024. WIRED put them in the “Don’t Bother” section of our [Best Smart Glasses](https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-smart-glasses/) gallery, citing some decent design choices, albeit ones held back by middling media capture quality, frustrating touch controls, and a power-hungry app that demands too many permissions. All in all, the glasses haven’t quite reached the standard Meta has set with its popular [smart glasses](https://www.wired.com/story/best-meta-glasses/). Meta has been the dominant force in the smart glasses market, but other big companies are trying to fill in the cracks. Google and Samsung have a partnership to build out Google's Android XR platform, with new glasses arriving later this year from eyewear brands [Warby Parker and Gentle Monster](https://www.wired.com/story/hands-on-with-all-of-google-new-upcoming-android-xr-smart-glasses/). Apple has reportedly been building its own smart glasses as well. Some smaller companies are adjusting their target markets to counter Meta, like [Even Realities](https://www.wired.com/story/even-realities-even-g2-smart-glasses-and-even-r1-smart-ring/) and its [camera-free glasses](https://www.wired.com/review/even-realities-g2/). Solos’ reemphasis on privacy comes after a period of widespread criticism of Meta’s glasses. The devices have been called creepy “[pervert glasses](https://www.wired.com/story/the-rise-of-the-ray-ban-meta-creep/)” and were criticized after the company silently added [face recognition](https://www.wired.com/story/meta-smart-glasses-face-recognition-nametag-connections/) code to its glasses, then quickly [removed it](https://www.wired.com/story/meta-removes-face-recognition-code-meta-ai-app-smart-glasses/) after public outcry following a WIRED report. Meta hasn’t done itself any favors since then, announcing last week that it will [start charging](https://www.wired.com/story/why-meta-is-charging-a-subscription-for-on-device-smart-glasses-features/) for features on its smart glasses that have previously been free. Meta has acknowledged that a market for audio-only smart glasses exists, as CTO Andrew Bosworth [said in a private Q&A session with media](https://www.wired.com/story/meta-new-smart-glasses-are-cheaper-colorful-and-meta-branded/) that he thinks there is “market demand for that product for sure.” But Meta hasn’t moved away from its camera-forward spectacles yet. It may very well make audio-only glasses in the future. Until then, companies like Solos are eager to chip away at that market.