Microsoft and Google are getting some serious competition in the sphere of enterprise Smart Glasses. Vuzix has just announced that their best of the bunch M300XL AR Smart Glasses are hitting the shelves for enterprises. The price? $1,499.
There is quite a lot of movement in the enterprise AR canopy. The struggle of much anticipated Google Glass to deliver the goods has left a hole to be filled. Microsoft HoloLens are doing well at the moment but other players figured it’s time to jump in. Vuzix among them, whose Android-based M-series proved decent business AR solutions. The time is ripe, Vuzix figure, for their flagship, top-of-the-line M300XL AR Smart Glasses to arrive.
And with flying colors, at least on paper. The best thing to be said about the device is that there are no rough edges. The XL suffix on the M300 model stands for improvement in almost every meaningful way. Starting with camera, it’s a solid 16 megapixel performer with much improved autofocus and image stabilization. Though image quality remains similar, the barcode scanning is now twice as fast compared to previous Vuzix smart glasses iterations. Moreover, M300XL comes with telephoto lens enabling for the barcode scans at a due distance, which also brings a few speed points.
Wi-Fi performance has been upped to 2.4 GHz for faster information flow with better roaming support. Battery has also received a treatment. Vuzix engineers are fully aware that enterprises use smart glasses sparingly, that is, they go long bouts of inactivity between uses. The battery life between periods of activity is therefore just as important. M300XL AR Smart Glasses offer better shelf battery performance. On field however, the battery is USB compatible with external or hot swappable batteries.
Hardware-wise, there is a host of features to XL that come from previous versions. Left or right eye adjustability, prescription lenses compatibility, headband compatibility and the general easy-on-the-eye and on the head feel to them. Where the M300XL differs however is having USB socket support instead of Vuzix proprietary pogo-pins. In short, improvements wherever you look.
Enterprise market is where the money is. Allow the Vuzix President and CEO Paul Travers a word on this:
‘Vuzix continue to innovate and provide industry leading enterprise smart glasses products for our customers and the Vuzix M300XL Smart Glasses are a significant step forward for the enterprise market’.
Vuzix has waited for the market to open up and have carefully planned their timing. Hardly a bad thing, as the reality technology industry does welcome new flagship-caliber devices to propel it forward.
‘The Vuzix M300XL Smart Glasses have already been placed into the field with select Vuzix channel partners and enterprise customers and are now commercially available for all enterprise customers’. Available, and for a price that is competitive. M300XL AR Smart glasses go down for $1,499, while the original M300 has dropped to $999. Only for as the stocks last, however, the plan is to clear the shelves for the XL only.
Not a bad price for what’s still among better smarts out there now borrowing the camera from older brother. As for the M300XL AR Smart Glasses, not exceeding competition in any particular way, they are the most universal and rounded piece of smart eyewear hardware on the enterprise market.
