Alibaba's Qwen Glasses N1 lead Ray-Ban Meta on paper at no lower price

Pricing the N1 for a purchase order means choosing a source. Bloomberg reported 2,999 yuan before discounts ^[1]. Several Chinese outlets put the starting price at 2,899 yuan ^[2]. Yahoo Finance Hong Kong said buyers can pay as little as 2,218 yuan after state subsidies and launch offers ^[7]. That is 781 yuan, or 26%, under Bloomberg's figure ^[19].

The tier matters as much as the source. Gizmodo calls the $490 (3,499 RMB) glasses the Qwen Glasses N1 and credits them with a 1.7mm eye-tracking camera ^[5]. TNW lists 3,499 yuan as the price of the N1 Pro, the version with eye tracking, which is 500 yuan above the N1's starting price ^[4][17]. On TNW's terms, Gizmodo's price and feature list describe the Pro.

Neither tier undercuts Meta. Bloomberg noted that the N1 is no cheaper than Meta's Ray-Ban glasses, which lead the market ^[9]. TNW did not report Meta's price.

On the camera, 50 megapixels is 4.2 times the 12 on the Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 3) ^[20]. Gizmodo itself says megapixels aren't everything ^[11], and its writer has not tested the glasses ^[18].

Battery is where the comparison slips. Alibaba says the N1 lasts nine hours on music and 25 on standby ^[12]. Gizmodo sets the music figure against a nine-hour maximum for the newest Ray-Ban, a rating that covers more mixed use ^[13]. Under continuous music, Gizmodo's writer got about six hours from the Ray-Ban ^[14], a third short of the rating ^[21]. That is the only measured battery figure in either report, and it belongs to Meta. TNW passes along Chinese reports that the battery can be swapped ^[15].

Gizmodo's own framing cuts against a single race. It says Alibaba and Meta aren't really in direct competition, given their closed markets ^[22]. The eye-tracking module is among the features Gizmodo says Meta does not have, and the glasses can reportedly scan an iris to confirm a payment through Alipay ^[8][6]. The N1 is sold through Taobao, Tmall, JD.com and Douyin ^[3]. We think it is built for people who already shop and pay inside Alibaba's apps. Bloomberg noted that, like Meta, Alibaba wants glasses to become a way into its AI tools ^[16].

For Monday's comparison table, sort every spec on two tests: whether anyone other than the maker measured it, and whether the rival's figure was taken under the same conditions. That gives four boxes. A spec that passes both goes into the decision. One that is measured but not like-for-like, such as the six hours on the Ray-Ban, is context. One that is like-for-like but unmeasured, such as the megapixel counts, becomes a question for the first demo unit. One that fails both, such as the two nine-hour ratings or the eye tracking, stays off the table. In these two reports, no figure for the N1 reaches the first box.