Experts Share: Could Smart Glasses Really Replace Smartphones?

Smart glasses, for tech companies, are becoming much bigger and heavily invested in. Meta is leading this race right now, with it investing heavily in wearable technology that could one day take over many smartphone functions.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple’s second-generation smart glasses may come with two different modes where the functionality changes depending on the connection. What we’re gathering from that is that Apple is designing its glasses to adapt to how people already use their devices.

The company’s first-generation glasses, rumoured to arrive in 2026 ahead of a 2027 launch, will not feature an in-lens display. Instead, they will include speakers for music playback, cameras for taking photos and videos, and voice control. Gurman said Apple may also add health features, continuing its focus on wellness tools already seen in the Apple Watch.

These glasses would directly compete with Meta’s Ray-Bans, which have already launched with an in-lens display. Meta’s current version allows users to take photos, record videos, livestream and even interact through voice commands using the built-in Meta AI assistant. The early reception has been mixed, as users enjoy the convenience but are still a bit skeptical about privacy and other such factors.

Regardless, wearable technology is beginning to bridge the gap between mobile and hands-free living. Many users find appeal in being able to capture moments or access information without reaching for a phone. But this leads to a bigger question… could they ever replace smartphones completely?

Could Smart Glasses Replace Smartphones In The UK?

Smartphones have become deeply rooted in everyday life. Data from Statista shows that in 2024, 93% of UK mobile users owned a smartphone, and 100% of adults aged 16 to 24 had one. As of early 2025, there were 88.4 million mobile connections across the country, equal to 127% of the population. So, many people have more than one device, such as personal and work phones.

The transition from mobile to wearable technology would therefore require a complete change in habits. People use phones for everything: online banking, entertainment, messaging, you name it. Statista reported that 89% of people went online using their mobiles in 2023, compared to just 28% in 2009. Even children have joined this digital culture, with 61% of those aged 8 to 11 owning a smartphone in 2024.

Convincing users to give up a smartphone for glasses would depend on things like design, convenience and of course, the cost. On the pricing side, phones already cost a great deal. Uswitch data from 2025 shows that the average monthly contract for a Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold was £65.40, while Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro Max cost £58.40 a month. That means the jump to smart glasses would not necessarily need to be drastic in price, but they would have to feel worth it.

For Apple, that may mean designing glasses that fully connect to other Apple devices, making them as natural to use as an iPhone or MacBook. With Meta, it could mean improving the accuracy and usefulness of the built-in assistant. The issue here is that people expect their phones to do everything. Smart glasses would need to do all of the things seamlessly, or at least integrate so smoothly with phones that they eventually replace them without users even noticing.

Remember, though: when smartphones first arrived, few imagined how quickly they would replace cameras, MP3 players and even credit cards. The same could happen here, but only if the experience feels smoother than reaching into a pocket.

What About The Issue Of Privacy?

Then there’s the issue of privacy. Last year, Meta faced heavy criticism over how data captured through its Ray-Ban smart glasses was handled. The glasses have a small LED that lights up when recording, but privacy regulators said it was too subtle to notice. Images and videos taken using the device are uploaded to Meta’s cloud and processed using AI, which the company says helps train its systems.

Meta has published guidelines for responsible use, such as telling others before recording or live streaming and turning the glasses off in private spaces. But privacy concerns have not gone away.

Lets find out whether experts think these smart glasses actually can replace smartphones…

Our Experts:

• Dewi Lawrence Gale, Founder, Fittux Ltd
• Rich Pleeth, CEO and Co-Founder, Finmile
• Kari Dowiak, Founder/Designer, Memorí Eyewear
• Andrei Komissarov, Founder & CTO, DEVAR, OpenWay.AI
• Rory Bokser, Head of Product, Moken.io.
• Steven Athwal, CEO and Founder, The Big Phone Store
• Aleksandr Kochetkov, Chief Product Officer of Engagement, NOVACARD

Dewi Lawrence Gale, Founder, Fittux Ltd

“It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to see smart glasses replacing our phones. The technology already exists. You can track a workout, follow directions, or take a call without even looking at your phone. What’s really missing is mass adoption, but that won’t take long.

“Our lives are filled with work, family, and constant notifications, and most of us spend too much of our free time staring at screens. It feels inevitable that soon we’ll be wearing our tech instead, a pair of glasses we won’t want to take off.”

Rich Pleeth, CEO and Co-Founder, Finmile

“Super interesting topic, I think for some things, smart glasses will absolutely replace phones, but not for everything. In specific use cases such as watching a movie, on a plane or train, definitely, reading directions while cycling, brilliant. Capturing a photo hands free, makes total sense.

“But scrolling Instagram, typing an email, I don’t see that replacing the phone just yet, the tech has a long way to go, we are in the dumb phone era, think the very first Nokia you’re dad had, we will be making huge strides over the coming years with Google, Apple and Meta. It’s an incredibly exciting time. At Finmile we are looking at replacing the phone for all deliveries with smart glasses, we estimate we can speed each delivery up by over 40%, no getting your phone out, no having to find the parcel, the glasses highlight which parcel in the truck, then records the whole movement from scanning to delivery to eliminate mistakes.

“One thing is for certain, it’s exciting.”

Kari Dowiak, Founder/Designer, Memorí Eyewear

“Do I think smart glasses could really replace smartphones?

“NO WAY.

“We are too addicted to doom-scrolling before bed – can’t properly have your face in the pillow while wearing smart glasses.

“+many other, more obvious reasons.”

Andrei Komissarov, Founder & CTO, DEVAR, OpenWay.AI

“Smart glasses won’t replace smartphones instantly. They’ll first become a side-by-side screen. Real change will begin when they combine three crucial layers: contextual awareness, constant connectivity, and seamless AI assistance.

“Judging by what we’re seeing in the augmented reality industry, people are already adapting to spatial interfaces. On our AR content creation platform, AR scenes keep users engaged for 2–3 minutes on average versus about2.5 seconds for a banner; people already prefer spatial content when it’s one tap away. It’s not about novelty but about habit formation. People are learning to process information spatially, not on a flat screen.

“Finally, user behaviour is already changing: 40% of Generation Z say they prefer to receive information through a voice or visual interface rather than typing on a phone. When smart glasses achieve a high level of comfort and continuity, like smartphones did 15 years ago,they won’t simply compete with phones. Will glasses replace phones? In the next 5–7 years, they will likely replace many phone functions: navigation, translation, social media, e-commerce, and gradually become the primary screen. They will gradually replace the idea of a single screen.”

Rory Bokser, Head of Product, Moken.io.

“Smart glasses will not replace smartphones. Not now, not later, not even as a niche!

“There’s a hard limit on social tolerance for people talking in people’s faces or waving their arms at thin air while blinking command inputs. Until you can cram a full-blown APU, a battery that lasts more than 2 hours, a 5G antenna, and a visual privacy layer into something that weighs less than 100 grams and fits 80 percent of face shapes, this is an accessory. The physics do not care about the dream.

“Smartphones overtook every other device because they killed dozens of devices: camera, GPS, flashlight, even barcode scanners. Smart glasses have yet to kill anything. At best, they complement.

“Until they hit a utility-per-gram ratio on par with smartphones while being comfortably wearable for 8 hours straight, they will remain an expensive novelty.”

Steven Athwal, CEO and Founder, The Big Phone Store

“Mobile phones taking off like they did was a one-in-a-million event. I watched it happen. It changed everything. How we communicate, shop, navigate, how we think. That kind of cultural shift doesn’t happen twice, certainly not with a pair of glasses.

“They’re too established, too practical, and too deeply embedded in every part of society to be replaced by something less versatile. A phone is a screen, a wallet, a camera, a hub for your digital life, and it fits in your pocket. Glasses may be able to compete in similar ways, at the cost of fragility. Imagine accidentally sitting on or losing a pair of glasses that have your entire life ingrained onto them….

“You’ve also got a generation being told to cut down their screen time, and now we’re saying, ‘Strap one to your face all day’… It comes off as a bit tone-deaf. People will experiment, sure, early adopters always do, that won’t mean it’ll become the next smartphone.

“Similar to how people said that VR gaming was going to replace consoles and PCs, but how many people would you say actually use a VR headset daily? It’s a similar/ the same sentiment. I think smart glasses are going to end up in the same space, as interesting tech, with limited use.

“Smart glasses will complement phones, and not replace them, as I just can’t see that kind of lightning striking twice. There’ll be a niche of smart glasses users, most modern tech will have some kind of user-base… it won’t come close to phones. However, that’s just my opinion as someone who’s watched mobile phones so closely for so long, I am always happy to be proven wrong and see where tech goes next.”

Aleksandr Kochetkov, Chief Product Officer of Engagement, NOVACARD

“Any innovative device requires the joint efforts of marketing and engineering teams. If a player enters the market and proves that their product is truly affordable, stylish, and convenient – then yes, it can become popular. However, I don’t think the replacement will happen immediately – for quite long time this device will complement rather than replace traditional smartphones.”