Snap Specs Launch LIVE: Updates as CEO Evan Spiegel shares more at the keynote
CEO Evan Spiegel shares more on Snap Specs
Can Specs break through?
Smart glasses have cooled this year with global shipments only rising 35% in 2026 compared to a meteoric 130% increase tracked in Q1 according to IDC.
But even outside of cooling shipments, the elephant in the room is Meta, which IDC research shows claims 70% of the smart glasses market with its Ray-Ban Meta audio glasses. RayNeo is a distant second at 3.6% of the market.
That said, a wave of new devices, including the Specs are set to launch this fall. And Meta has its own Connect event next week. IDC believes this will be enough to drive growth and excitement despite concerns surrounding privacy and a dulling of innovation as companies adopt similar business models.
A delayed launch
Snap officially revealed the Specs during AWE 2026 back in June, promising a nebulous fall release date.
Today’s launch finally makes the Specs a reality, even if the actual ship date is still unknown. Hopefully, CEO Evan Spiegel announces dates today
Snap believes Specs will be a major shift
“We’ve seen these different shifts in computing happen, and we see a shift is coming,” Russell Patton, product manager for Specs at Snap told Tom’s Guide in an interview. “Going forward, it’s going to be that shift from phones to glasses, and I think it’s not just taking the apps that are on our phones and putting them into glasses.”
In June, Snap highlighted the truly spatial content that Specs is capable of producing. It’s visual AI that actually teaches.
Will people wear Specs?
Compared to the older developer Specs, the official consumer design is svelte, but versus literally any other glasses these things are chunky and thick.
After some hands-on time, they’re more comfortable than you’d think, though I’ve seen ears get squished by the giant arms.
The glasses are a true breakthrough in AR and wearable tech. The question is whether or not this design will be off-putting to people or if customers are actually willing to try them out.
We just took our seats at the theater. It's pretty cool design space!
Specs’ first rival
Meta may own the smart glasses category but Specs first true rival may be the as-yet-unreleased Xreal Aura glasses. Built in collaboration with Google, the Aura is a pair of XR glasses that offloads its computing power to an attached puck (or brick about the size of a smartphone).
It offers similar features to the Specs, including AR apps and tools, gesture controls and AI functionality. However, it also has a larger field of view, a crisper display and some connectivity features that Specs can’t match.
5 minute countdown
Snap's keynote kicks off in 5 minutes.
As a reminder, keep Tom's Guide in your tabs as we'll have hands-on impressions, analysis and more after the keynote and in the coming days.
Are you excited for Specs?
We're still about 10 minutes from show start.
While we wait, are you excited for Specs or intrigued? Let me know in the comments
Eargate debunked
Also not to say that eargate may have been blown out of proportion for the memes, but Evan did reply to it...https://t.co/NXbu7fX5PLJune 19, 2026
His ears are just like that.
A treatise on mortality?
Starting us off with a discussion on souls and what we leave behind or don't.
Evan Spiegel has taken the stage.
Spiegel says most of the show will be live demos.
"Making people irrelevant is not progress. Computers should make us more important not less.
"Instinctual computing"
Specs are glasses so they can see what you see, understand the world without recording it, just like you. - Spiegel
Native AI
Spiegel says Snap built the first native AI for glasses. Built shared experiences as a foundational part of operating system.
Specs help you do what you want to do in the real world like shooting a basketball or cooking.
Specs Intelligence
Spiegel announces that today is the day that people can finally try Specs.
Says they're not just AR glasses. "Specs are part of an intelligence system that lives across your Mac and IPhone."
Announces Spec Intelligence.
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Three pillars
The video being shown shows three pillars:
Portrait - Specs understanding of you
Corners - Organizing your life like work, family and travel
Goals - An understanding of the things you're working towatrds.
Privacy and consent
Specs Intelligence lets you choose what it has to access to and you have to approve prompts that it proffers.
Spiegel says that privacy is built-in to the platform.
First live demo
Evan is live demoing the Specs showing off the home menu on the palm of his hands.
The menu can be accessed in either palm.
Snapchat on Specs
Spiegel takes some pretty instantaneous images using the glasses to send a Snapchat to a friend.
Watching videos and technical difficulties
Spiegel highlights entertainment options like YouTube, HBO Max or Spotify.
He navigated to YouTube in an attempt to show off watching videos. There are some technical difficulties as the videos won't load.
In attempt number 2 it finally seemed to work with a cheeky joke a the expense of Meta.
"An opportunity to change the way people shop"
Specs are AR glasses in that you can shop on sites like Amazon and pull an item of interest in the "real world" to see how it would fit in your space.
Impressively, he pulled a sauna out of the demo and was able to walk inside the hut.
Specs for work
Spiegel is moving into an enterprise discussion or how businesses might use Specs with employees in the field.
Partners include Salesforce, AWS, and Nvidia.
Using Specs they can do things like look up guides witout pulling out their phone or laptop. Retail associates can quickly discover if a product is available. Those are just a couple exampes.
Spatial workstation
An app called Hololight enables spatial computing including working with multiple monitors, and interacting with 3D objects.
This could be useful for more than just businesses but also artists and multitaskers.
Using Specs to learn
We've seen some of these ideas before like the basketball training lens that teaches you how to shoot with AR overlays.
Other examples include soccer training or working on your golf swing.
NBA star Jimmy Butler
NBA Star Jimmy Butler is here. He's one of several celebrity partners that have created unique lenses for Specs that show different ways to use the glasses from games to music and meditation.
Tracing live demo
The second live demo involved Spiegel tracing a Specs mascot using an overlay from the glasses.
To space
My favorite demo so far is the Apollo launch that shows how the launch worked in stages giving you an understanding of the history and process of the launch.
Navigation
One of the promises of AR glasses is the ability to navigate the world through directions, live translation, and more.
Harry Potter has a lens in partnership with HBO Max.
Hands-on
While Spiegel plays with Harry Potter stuff, let me remind you that we've gone hands-on with Specs.
You can find our first impressions right here
If you're in Los Angeles or visiting you can check out a Snap pop up at the Westfield Century City mall where the glasses will be available to try out.
Cellular plans available
Spiegel just announced a cellular charging case for Specs.
Cellular plans can be purchased through Verizon at $10 a month for Verizon customers and $20 a month for non-customers.
Specs visionaries
As mentioned, Specs has partnered with celebrities like Kaia Gerber, Jimmy Butler and Jack Harlow for bespoke apps.
Gerber's is a book club that lets you take notes, look up a note or learn more about the book as you read.
Butler's is a dominoes game that you can play with other Specs players.
Ho-yeon's is a meditation practice with fun graphical touches.
Performance by Imogen Heap.
Heap designed a lens with a soundspace that lets her build songs using virtual tools she likes.
She shows gesture controls like panning her voice by moving her head side to side and using her arm to create reverb.
That's a wrap on the stage, but stay tuned
The stage show is over but we are hitting up hands on demos. Stay tuned and we'll share more.
At the event for hands on demos.