IFA 2022: Lenovo unveils smart video glasses, laptop with a foldable screen

Lenovo has unveiled new smart glasses at the IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung) consumer electronics show, which is back on September 2 after two years as an in-person event in Berlin. 

Lenovo’s Glasses T1 belongs to a new breed of compact smart glasses that provides users with a large screen for watching movies or playing games privately. The glasses are tethered and have to be connected to a smartphone or PC through a USB Type-C cable to play content. It has an OLED screen with full HD (1080p) resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate. 

Though the capability to watch movies on a large screen is also available in virtual reality (VR) headsets, Lenovo’s Glasses do not have any VR capabilities, which means they can only be used to watch movies or play games on a large screen. It will not put users in a virtual world as VR glasses do. It is one of the reasons why the Lenovo Glasses are compact, unlike VR headsets. Its other limitation is that the glasses are opaque and users won't be able to see through them while wearing them. 

The glasses have in-built speakers, battery and they can draw power from smartphones and PCs when tethered to them. The Lenovo Glasses will be released first in China by the end of this year and in select markets in 2023. 

Smart glasses without VR or AR capabilities are the new fad among tech companies. 

Many companies including Bose and Noise have launched smart audio glasses which can allow users to listen to music while wearing them.

Among glasses with video capabilities, TCL also launched something called NxtWear Air at CES 2022. NxtWear Air is similar to Lenovo’s Glasses and offers a full HD OLED screen with a size of up to 140-inch.

Lenovo’s foldable screen laptop

At the IFA, Lenovo also unveiled a foldable PC device called ThinkPad X1 Fold, which can be used as a laptop or a large screen tablet with a 16.3-inch OLED touch screen. It runs Windows 11 and is powered by Intel’s 12th gen Core-i series processor with up to 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD. It weighs 1.28kg and will be available in November at starting price of $2,499.