2025 has been dubbed the "Year of Smartglasses." In less than six months, numerous manufacturers have intensively released new generations of smartglasses, with a new product launch conference occurring almost every few weeks.

These products have varying technical approaches and functional designs: some emphasize voice interaction and AI assistants, some focus on spatial computing and immersive experiences, some focus on visual search and generative AI, and still others attempt to transform glasses into portable video recorders.

Despite their diverse directions, they share a commonality in one function: payment.

Since June 2025, when a manufacturer partnered with a payment platform to launch the "Look and Pay" feature, numerous brands have quickly followed suit, integrating comprehensive payment capabilities from visual recognition to security and risk control. Payment is becoming a critical turning point in the journey of smartglasses from niche geek toys to everyday tools for the masses.

I. Why has payment become an industry consensus?

Ever-changing payment experiences are accompanied by shifts in consumer patterns. From cash to credit cards, from online payments to QR codes, every shift in payment methods has profoundly impacted people's lifestyles. Smart glasses are no exception.

Industry analysis shows that the current development of smart glasses faces two core challenges:

1. Technological maturity,
2. Lack of frequent use cases.

Early smart glasses suffered from issues such as insufficient display clarity, short battery life, and poor wearing comfort, which easily led to dizziness, nasal pressure, and other discomfort, making them difficult to meet all-day wear requirements. With continuous improvements in optical module lightweighting, battery efficiency management, and structural design, mainstream products have now dropped in weight to under 60 grams, with battery life generally exceeding 8 hours, and display and sensor stability significantly improved. These technological bottlenecks are gradually being overcome.

A more critical issue is that many users purchase smart glasses, only to try out features like photography and translation a few times out of novelty, and then leave them unused. The lack of a compelling reason to wear them out of the home is the core reason why smart glasses haven't gained widespread adoption. The industry is gradually realizing that product success lies not in piling up flashy features but in integrating them into users' daily lives and creating frequent, consistent use cases.

Navigation and payment are currently the two most promising areas. For those with a weak sense of direction, real-time navigation can provide uninterrupted route guidance while walking or cycling. Combined with AI route planning, it is highly practical. Payment, on the other hand, is a more frequent need—the average adult makes over 10 payments daily, covering every aspect of life, from breakfast to commuting to shopping. This high-frequency demand is highly compatible with the "heads-up, go" interaction of smart glasses.

The payment process for some glasses is already quite mature: users first link their payment account and enter their voiceprint in the accompanying app. To pay, they simply speak the amount, look at the payment code, and confirm the payment. Recently, some products have announced support for identifying merchant cashier devices, further expanding payment scenarios.

In practice, this convenience is particularly evident: buying breakfast during the morning rush hour without having to fetch their phone, or stopping to scan a code while cycling to buy groceries. Payment not only addresses user pain points but also provides a compelling reason to wear smart glasses daily.

II. How will payment drive the industry past the tipping point?

Historically, payment functionality has been a key driver of smartphone and smartwatch adoption. QR code payment has transformed mobile phones from communication tools into comprehensive transaction portals, and smartwatches have become everyday wearables thanks to their payment functionality.

Data shows that within two years of integrating payment functionality into a well-known smartwatch, payment usage rapidly increased, with approximately 37% of users adopting it as a regular payment method.

Smartglasses are following a similar path. The introduction of payment functionality not only enhances product practicality but also transforms users' perception of the device—from a "wearable device" to an "everyday tool." Once payment scenarios are established, product usage frequency and user base are expected to experience explosive growth within two years.

Payment is called the "coming of age" for smartglasses because it signals the transition from the technologically advanced stage to the practical stage. It's more than just a functional supplement; it serves as the gateway to the ecosystem. Payment connects multiple processes, including consumption, identity verification, and service invocation, laying the foundation for the implementation of more application scenarios.

III. Why is China Leading the World?

While the global smartglasses industry is still searching for a "killer app," Chinese manufacturers have already achieved significant breakthroughs in payment functionality.

This lead is not accidental; it is based on three structural advantages:

1. Differences in payment systems. European and American payment systems rely on bank card networks and POS terminals, with transactions mostly completed via NFC tapping on phones. This model is difficult to adapt to eyewear—the devices lack the capacity to attach cards, and removing glasses to pay defeats the purpose of seamless interaction. In contrast, China's mobile payment, primarily based on QR codes, has penetrated 86% of transaction scenarios. With well-developed infrastructure and mature user habits, there's no need for hardware modifications or market education.
2. The maturity of the supply chain. China boasts a globally comprehensive supply chain, encompassing everything from optical modules and display modules to chips and complete device assembly, with a domestic production rate of over 60% for core components. This capability is reflected not only in the comprehensiveness of the supply chain but also in rapid response and collaborative efficiency. Manufacturers can complete prototype verification and mass production adjustments within weeks, rapidly optimizing algorithms and hardware parameters to address specific payment scenarios (such as QR code recognition rates under varying lighting conditions).
3. The speed of ecosystem collaboration. The uniformity of the Chinese market allows for rapid follow-up from upstream and downstream suppliers once a capability has been validated, leading to large-scale replication. Numerous brands have rapidly launched payment features, transforming them from a single innovation into an industry standard. This efficient collaboration has accelerated user habit formation and driven continuous optimization of the supply chain and service ecosystem.

IV. Future Challenges and Opportunities

Despite rapid growth, smartglasses are still in their early stages.

Global sales are projected to reach 3.5 million units in 2025, a 230% year-on-year increase, but this still lags far behind the 150 million annual smartwatch shipments.

The industry must overcome three major hurdles:

• User habit formation,
• Product form factor optimization, and
• Establishing security and trust.

Payment functionality provides a breakthrough in addressing these challenges. It is not only a high-frequency use case but also an ecosystem activation point. As payment capabilities become more widespread, more services will be developed around scenarios such as identity verification, consumer decision-making, and real-time feedback, driving smartglasses from information display devices to sensing-decision-making-execution nodes.

The current smartglasses market is still in the "pre-Android era"—with diverse technology paths and no unified standards.

Leveraging its advantages in digital infrastructure, industrial chain, and ecosystem collaboration, China has already gained an early advantage in payment implementation.

In the future, whether this advantage can be replicated in more scenarios will determine who can dominate the competition in the next generation of smart terminals. Return to Sohu to see more.