HTC announced the Australian launch on 7 September. The glasses are A$799 from vive.com and from selected Harvey Norman stores from 14 September, with more retailers to follow, according to HTC's launch announcement. There are two frame shapes, Square and Pantos, and six colours. HTC's own Australian product page says only the Zeiss sunglass lenses are available for now, with blue light and adaptive lenses to come later. Prescription lenses are handled through a partner called Lenswap and priced separately.

What's in them

HTC's spec sheet lists a 12MP ultra-wide camera that takes 3024 by 4032 photos and records video at up to 3K, in vertical format. Video clips are capped at three minutes by default and can be stretched to ten. There are open-ear speakers in the arms, four microphones, and a 235mAh battery that HTC puts at about 4.5 hours of music, more than three hours of calls, and 36 hours on standby. It charges by magnet, to 50 per cent in about 10 minutes and 80 per cent in about 23. The frames start at 48.5 grams and carry IP54 dust and splash protection, so splashes are fine but swimming is not.

An optional Power Boost battery clips on magnetically, weighs under 8 grams and adds 120mAh. HTC's Australian launch announcement priced it at A$79.

The AI part, and what it costs after two years

The assistant runs through the Vive Connect app on a phone with Android 10 or iOS 17.6 or later, and HTC says it uses Google Gemini or OpenAI GPT depending on the region. It does live translation of speech and of text you look at, meeting transcription and summaries, a memory bank for notes and lists, and can hand calls, reminders and music off to Siri or Google Assistant. HTC says queries are de-identified before they leave the device, and that the data isn't sold or used for training.

Every pair includes 24 months of the Vive AI Plus plan, which starts when the glasses are first activated. HTC's Australian launch material, as reported at the announcement, puts Plus at A$4.99 a month or A$49.90 a year after that, with 100 AI credits a month and translation across 12 languages. The Pro plan is A$15.99 a month or A$159.90 a year for 400 credits, 90-plus languages and automatic language detection. Kropp Media could not confirm those Australian subscription prices on an HTC Australian pricing page from this run, so treat them as reported figures.

Privacy for everyone else

A light on the frame comes on whenever the camera is active, and it gets brighter in bright conditions so it stays visible. HTC says the camera won't work if that light is covered or if the glasses aren't being worn. The launch announcement also describes a spoken 'stop filming' command that anyone nearby can use.

Why it matters

At A$799, plus a subscription after two years, this is a premium buy aimed at travellers and people who want notes and translation without pulling a phone out. Meta's Connect event on 23 September is expected to bring new smart glasses too, so anyone weighing this up has a comparison landing within the week.