On October 27, Rokid launched its first full-color AI glasses, the Rokid Color, in Hangzhou. The black model with 2GB+64GB storage is priced at CNY 4,999, while the tortoiseshell model with 4GB+64GB storage costs CNY 5,499. The accompanying interaction ring, the Rokid Ring, is priced at CNY 1,699. Shipments are expected to begin gradually from April 2027.
Prior to this launch, almost all AI glasses on the market with displays featured monochrome green screens. For translating subtitles, teleprompting, and navigation arrows, green was sufficient, representing the most mature and cost-effective solution.
However, at the launch event, Rokid founder Zhu Mingming stated: "The reason for going full color is that people's desire for visual richness is intense; it provides a dopamine-like sensation."
The inability of single-green screens to support a content ecosystem is the true driver behind the shift to full color.
For text prompts, green is adequate; but for viewing images, scrolling through short videos, gaming, or previewing video calls, without color, glasses remain nothing more than advanced teleprompters.
01. How Full Color Fits into 55 Grams
The engineering challenge of full color lies within an optical engine smaller than 0.2cc. The Rokid Color uses a 0.16cc Micro-LED full-color optical engine custom-developed exclusively with JBD. Despite being no larger than a mung bean, it outputs 16.77 million colors and covers 167% of the sRGB color gamut.
A small form factor allows space for the battery, camera, and speakers. However, as the size decreases, balancing brightness, power consumption, heat dissipation, and display quality becomes increasingly difficult.
Guangzhineng Intelligence noted after an on-site experience that while it does not yet match high-end AR display effects, everyday information viewing is clear enough, with sufficient brightness and a noticeable improvement in visual experience compared to single-green screens. Weight is the critical factor.
The entire Rokid Color unit weighs 55 grams (excluding nose pads). For comparison, Meta's Ray-Ban Display standard and large models weigh 69 grams and 70 grams respectively, making them 14 and 15 grams heavier than the Rokid Color. The Thunderbird X3 Pro features binocular full color but weighs 76 grams.
Retaining full functionality including cameras and speakers within 55 grams, without sacrificing specifications for weight reduction, marks the biggest difference between the Rokid Color and previous full-color attempts. While 55 grams is still far from the 20 grams of ordinary glasses, it stands at the lighter end of the binocular full-color category.
02. The Ring Is What Truly Changes Interaction
The Rokid Color supports temple touch controls, voice commands, and eye-tracking, and can also be operated via smartwatches or wristbands.
However, the more interesting accessory unveiled was the Rokid Ring. Its logic shifts the control interface from raising a hand to touch the temples to subtle finger movements. Swiping left or right, single taps, double taps, rubbing fingers, and snapping—these micro-gestures are more natural than voice or touch controls in scenarios where speaking is inconvenient or continuous browsing is required.
It also supports heart rate, body temperature, blood oxygen, and sleep monitoring. Priced at CNY 1,699, existing Rokid users can pre-order it for CNY 998.
Glasses handle viewing; the ring handles control.
This combination aims to transform smart glasses from tools requiring deliberate operation into devices where interaction occurs naturally when hands rest by the side. The direction is correct, but since the ring must be purchased separately, the effective barrier to entry for the complete experience rises to approximately CNY 6,700.
03. Full Color Suddenly Becomes the Entry Ticket
On the day the Rokid Color was launched, promotional materials for Thunderbird's fourth-generation binocular full-color AI glasses, the Thunderbird iO+, leaked online, and INMO Technology issued a teaser for a launch event promising "more than just full color." Full color has suddenly shifted from a selling point to a standard feature among leading players. This trend reflects supply chain maturity.
In the previous single-green era, the entire industry struggled with combining red and blue light, facing low yields and high costs, meaning full-color solutions were limited to bulky helmet-style devices. With JBD's full-color solution maturing, the technical hurdle for full color shifted from whether it could be made to whether it could be made within wearable weight and price constraints. The Rokid Color secured an early lead, but how long this advantage lasts depends on the product pace of competitors like Thunderbird and INMO.
04. The Real Bet Is Not on This Generation
Rokid's expectations for the Color clearly extend beyond selling a few more units. Zhu Mingming set a sales trajectory for the team: entering the million-unit level next year, reaching several million units the year after, and hitting ten million units by 2030 at the latest. Regarding retail presence, there are currently about 200 exclusive stores in China, with plans to expand to 500–1,000 next year. Zhu defines ten million units as the survival threshold, stating explicitly, "If we don't achieve it, we lose."
Leifeng.com, in analyzing the launch, pointed out that while teleprompting is a native application, it remains far from being a killer app. Full color expands the content glasses can carry from lines of text to images, videos, and games, but this merely opens up the possibility of a content ecosystem. The factors determining whether users will wear these glasses daily remain the same old questions.
Specifically: Is wearing 55 grams for a whole day tiring? Can battery life withstand the drain of binocular full-color displays? And how many people are willing to pay the CNY 6,698 total entry price?
During group interviews, the Rokid product team admitted that binocular full color poses greater challenges to battery life, and they are still comprehensively optimizing power consumption and user experience. Full color is a necessary condition for smart glasses to become content platforms, but not a sufficient one.
Rokid has proven with the Rokid Color that full color can fit into 55 grams. The next proof needed is whether people are willing to put on these 55 grams every time they go out.
Zhu Mingming declared that the iPhone moment for glasses has arrived. However, the iPhone moment was never defined by a colorful screen alone, but by the hundreds of thousands of applications that emerged afterward. The Rokid Color has opened a door; what lies behind it will only truly be answered after shipments begin in 2027.