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L’Atitude 52°N sensible glasses: one-minute evaluation
A brand new sensible specs maker has arrived on the scene, and it’s trying to arrive with a bang. The L’Atitude 52°N Smart Glasses are loud and proud, and after L’Atitude dispatched a barely rocky first batch of evaluation items to tech publications (together with ourselves), I’ve been placing the newer, extra production-ready glasses by way of their paces over the previous month.
Let’s first unpack the promoting factors, which I mentioned with L’Atitude’s founders (together with ex-OnePlus engineer Gary Chen) within the weeks earlier than my evaluation. Made in Europe and unapologetically Euro-coded, with Berlin-inspired and, coming quickly, Milan body designs, these gained’t be the glasses for everybody, and that’s okay, the crew says; however they are for adventurers.
On board, you’ll discover Goya AI (named after the Spanish painter, Francisco Goya), a dulcet-toned Southern California male voice assistant who’s keen that can assist you discover the world with options like AI Tour Guide, Live Translation, and the standard retinue of camera-laden smart-glasses options.
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At least, that’s the pitch. On trip with my beautiful mother on the Greek island of Santorini, I put these supersized specs to the take a look at, and though I can see them shaping as much as be terrific journey companions, proper now they’re dogged by large issues. From spotty software program to a completely unclear future by way of how a lot its AI options will value when the subscription plan kicks in someday within the subsequent 12 months, it’s onerous to advocate L’Atitude’s daring frames from a worth perspective, no less than for now.
L’Atitude 52°N evaluation: value and availability
- List value: begins at $465.00 (about £345)
- Availability: US, with UK availability anticipated quickly.
The L’Atitude Berlin glasses begin at $465, which converts to about £345, growing to $520 should you go for photochromic lenses. At the time of writing, they’re completely accessible within the US and EU, with UK availability to comply with quickly. You can select from Obsidian (black) and Dune (greige) frames in addition to gray gradient, orange, and photochromic lenses. These costs apply to each the at the moment accessible Berlin frames, in addition to the upcoming Milan mannequin, which supply a extra delicate design.
Already, that’s a lofty record value, particularly when in comparison with the comparatively costly Meta Ray-Ban (Gen 2), which begin at $379 / £379 / AU$689. And it will get worse.
The main dampener right here is that these glasses will, in some unspecified time in the future, additionally require you to take out a subscription with a view to use the complete set of options, however proper now now we have no confirmed pricing for this. I requested the model about its plans on this space, they usually informed me: “Customers who purchase any Departure Collection [a.k.a. Either the Berlin or Milan frames] product by December 31, 2026 and register an account will automatically receive a complimentary 12-month trial of all AI features, requiring no separate purchase or activation.
“The trial starts as soon as the account is activated and grants full access to current and future AI capabilities, including upcoming releases, with a generous daily usage allowance of 60 minutes. After the trial period, users can continue to enjoy AI features with a subscription plan, while essential functions will always remain accessible. AI usage tracking will soon be available in the app for added transparency.”
As for pricing for mentioned plan, numerous sources cite this as “less than $20” per 30 days, although L’Atitude didn’t verify this after I requested. So total, this gives little consolation given that you simply’re already shelling out for an already costly pair of specs, and till that closing quantity is confirmed I can’t in good conscience give these glasses a better worth ranking.
If you’re keen on the designs right here, and particularly the actual fact no different pair of sensible glasses look fairly like them, then you would argue that the value-for-money proposition is improved; personally, I nonetheless assume it’s a tough promote.
L’Atitude 52°N evaluation: specs
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
L’Atitude 52°N |
|
Weight |
50-51g |
|
Camera |
12MP Sony sensor, 1080p video recording at 30fps |
|
Chip |
Bestechnic BES2800 6nm chipset |
|
AI Assistant |
Goya AI, powered by Google Gemini |
|
Battery |
200mAh (case gives 8-10 full recharges) |
|
Storage |
32GB |
L’Atitude 52°N evaluation: design
- Chunky however funky frames
- Lightweight with IP65 ranking
- Charging case is a behemoth
Design is the place L’Atitude takes its greatest swing, and whereas different fashion-first and adventurous designs have hit the market in 2026, I do assume the model is carving an thrilling area of interest, particularly within the European market.
Do I really like how the Berlin frames look on my face? No, however the fashionable, rounder new Milan frames weren’t accessible for me to attempt after I began my testing. Still, there might be some who discover the boxy form and unapologetically Berlin-esque chunkiness is correct up their road.
The nostril grips had been high quality, however total the glasses had been a bit too large and free of a match for me. While traversing the well-known steps of Oia, that are notoriously perilous, having to carry these onto my face whereas I appeared down on the cobbled roads meant I took a little bit of a tumble and hobbled residence with a sprained finger and a nasty gash; I’d put a good chunk of accountability on my selection of sneakers and common clumsiness right here, although.
They are fairly effectively designed, although. At simply 50-51g, they’re mild and cozy to put on, and although the plasticky frames aren’t fairly as svelte as, say, some Ray-Ban Meta frames, they’re removed from cheap-looking. They’re IP65 rated for climate and dirt resistance, and a scratch-resistant therapy is utilized to the lenses, which means they’re in the direction of the extra sturdy finish of the spectrum versus different at the moment accessible sensible glasses.
The arms home the Bestechnic BES2800 6nm chipset and 200mAh battery, in addition to some fairly punchy audio system for listening to music or podcasts, calls, or chatting with the AI on the go. In day-to-day settings whereas out and about, I discovered sound leakage to be fairly minimal except somebody’s very shut by and you’ve got the quantity turned up; nevertheless, in a quiet room you’ll be able to hear no less than a few of what’s happening on-device, even at decrease volumes, albeit not clearly.
There’s a 12MP digital camera on the left-hand facet of the body, and an identical dummy digital camera on the fitting facet. A recording mild flashes whilst you’re filming or taking pictures; that is pleasingly vivid, so these round you’ll know you’re recording. If the sunshine is roofed, seize is straight away shut down; whether or not lights are enough to alert potentially unconsenting parties is a separate conversation, but for now, this is the privacy bar that’s been set by smart-glasses manufacturers. I tried several times to obstruct this and gladly found it’s pretty darn reliable.
The biggest design fault, for me, is the case. Now, these are bulky frames, but the charging case is a real heifer at 2 x 6.8 x 3.14 inches / 5.2 x 17.5 x 8cm (H x W x D), which somewhat defeats the purpose of branding these glasses as travel-friendly, as it’s going to take up a good chunk of your carry-on luggage space. Speaking of which, I noticed following both my flight to and from Santorini that the case had suctioned shut due to the cabin pressure on board, and I had to prise it open with a pin.
Still, the case is robust and well-made, and with its IP67 rating it’s hardy enough to come along on more adventurous trips, too. Plus, it lights up a nice orange color when the glasses are charging.
L’Atitude 52°N review: Performance
- On-device photo transfers are a privacy boon…
- But some shots are lost in the void
- Great photos, decent video
L’Atitude really wants you to treat its glasses, and specifically Goya AI, as a travel companion; the moment you open up the app, the AI Tour guide feature is front and center. But how do they fare on the camera-hardware side?
Fairly well, I’d say. Horizontal and vertical photos captured by the 12MP Sony sensor, and cleaned up by the on-board AI, are comparable to results from my second-generation Meta Ray-bans, and the specs record well-stabilized 1080p video at 30fps (though this pales against the latest Meta Ray-Ban’s 3K capture), with clips from 30 seconds to three minutes.
(Image credit: Future)
Even low-light and night shots came out pretty well, and I found that framing shots broadly felt natural, though some were a little wonky. The five-mic array captured my voice impressively clearly and without too much background noise, and the speakers deliver bright, clear audio.
With 32GB of on-board memory, there’s a decent amount of room to store photos and videos before sharing them from your phone — your content goes straight to your local companion phone app instead of a permanent cloud database, swerving the privacy minefield of your most personal moments living on someone else’s database.
That being said, uploading your content isn’t always easy. I most definitely lost a few shots — especially if my glasses ran out of battery before I had a chance to sync them — and syncing sometimes inexplicably stalls, and you have to wait a while to try again.
Elsewhere, everything works as expected; the touch controls on the arms are responsive and intuitive, and the battery lasts up to six hours — with moderate use, I generally saw four to five hours of usage. The case offers between eight and 10 full charges, and fast-charges the glasses to 70% in 20-25 minutes.
L’Atitude 52°N review: AI features
- Goya AI often cuts you off
- Replies are spotty at best
- Tour guide feature is a work in progress
I’d originally tried some beta versions of these frames, and while the current software is far from perfect, it’s impressive to see how many kinks L’Atitude has ironed out in a few short months.
Contrary to earlier reviews you may have read, as well as my own experience, I’m pleased to report that many of Goya AI’s advertised features now work (hooray!), though in my experience it’s still not always quite as advertised.
Some of that may be to do with my main testing location; Santorini is beautiful, but there aren’t a great number of landmarks for which the tour guide feature could come in handy; and Oia, where we stayed, is a labyrinth of winding stairways, private paths and roads less traveled, so navigation — even on more developed software like Google Maps — is a challenge.
That being said, I did get to try the AI tour guide out on the ruins of the Castle of Oia, which it helpfully informed me were the ruins of the Castle of Oia, offering little else beyond a few brief words on its popularity as a sightseeing and photography spot in Santorini. This was all happening while I was fighting for my life not to be pushed off the edge of the castle walls by other tourists, so while it’s accurate, I wouldn’t exactly call it additive.
I tried this feature on a few locations back home in the UK to much the same results; sometimes, the synopses were more detailed, but I couldn’t seem to find any landmarks that offered the full walkthrough experience I’d hoped for when I first read about the “expert-level guidance” offered by the feature.
The five-mic array may help capture great audio for your video, but so much is lost in translation when speaking with Goya AI. Maybe it’s my British accent, but I found that more than half of my questions were entirely misheard, making for some hilarious if not mildly frustrating interactions with the on-board intelligence. It frequently cut me off, answered completely different questions to what I’d asked, and often couldn’t recall previous prompts.
Sometimes Goya AI does seem to understand you, but doesn’t want to execute your commands. When I asked it to take photos, shoot video, tell me what I’m looking at or play music from Spotify, Goya would occasionally spit out a totally random response at best, and at worst behave as though it was about to follow my command before doing big fat nothing. It had good days and bad days, so I have to wonder how much of this stems from connectivity issues. Regardless, spending much of your time yelling at your glasses is not what you want when you’re out travelling or in public places.
Translation to and from Greek isn’t yet available, so when I got home I tested this feature out with my Spanish friend. I wouldn’t quite call spoken-word translation live as advertised; Goya can handle approximately one sentence at a time, will need to think for up to 20 seconds, and will then speak it in your native language through the glasses. When I asked Goya to translate a written book synopsis from Spanish to English, though, it worked much more quickly and fluidly; with both tests, I was impressed with its accuracy, though it’s to be expected with Google’s Gemini under the hood.
Should I buy the L’Atitude 52°N?
|
Attribute |
Comment |
Score |
|
Design |
A bold first stab at the smart glasses market with broadly well thought-out design features, but one with a few small quirks |
4/5 |
|
Performance |
Decent cameras, decent sound, and decent battery. These are pretty good all-rounders, but again, there are quirks. |
4/5 |
|
AI |
Not quite frictionless and not quite as additive as I’d hope with its travel-first features, but these glasses do stick the landing on a lot of standard smart glasses features |
3.5/5 |
|
Value |
A bit pricey as-is, and until there’s clarity on AI feature subscription costs, this score sticks. |
2.5/5 |
Buy them if…
Don’t buy them if…
How I tested the L’Atitude 52°N
- I took the glasses on my week-long vacation to Santorini, and tested them for around 10 hours in the UK
- I tried all of its advertised software and hardware features
- I used its AI to help enrich my vacation. Well, I tried.
As these are travel-focused smart specs, what better way to test them than to hit the road and take them on vacation? On my trip to Santorini, I tried their travel-focused software features, including the AI tour guide, asking for restaurant recommendations and questions about the island’s history, weather, and the like.
Having recently reviewed the second-generation Meta Ray-bans, I used those specs, which we rate as the best overall smart glasses pick for most people, as my main comparison point, but I’ve also sampled a range of other models at trade shows and in our offices over the past few years.
I ran the L’Atitude app from my iPhone 17 Pro.
- First reviewed: August 2026
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its unique location you’ll be able to go to the hyperlink bellow:
https://www.techradar.com/computing/virtual-reality-augmented-reality/i-wore-these-obnoxious-travel-focused-smart-glasses-for-a-week-on-vacation-and-learned-more-than-id-bargained-for-about-the-stony-steps-of-santorini
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