DEPLOY

Buying guide

Omi vs Spectacles 5 in 2026

Comparing 2 humanoid robots across availability, pricing, capabilities, and verified deployments. Current as of 2026.

Key differences

On DEPLOY's record, Omi is further along: at the commercial stage versus Spectacles 5 at the pilot stage, as of 2026.

  • Omi has the lower recorded price.
  • Omi is at the commercial stage; Spectacles 5 at the pilot stage.
Attribute
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OmiView full model page →
No image on file
Spectacles 5View full model page →
ManufacturerBased HardwareSnap Inc
Form factorwearablewearable
Maturitycommercialpilot
Autonomy——
Availabilityshipping-nowshippinginternal-onlyenterprise
Price$17-$19/month subscription or $89 (actual sale price)$99/month subscription (actual sale price)
Capability claims——
Brain——
Verified deployments1Based Hardware1Snap Inc
Privacy practices5third-party-sharing, on-device-processing, capture-indicator, data-deletion-control, cloud-upload10training-data-use, biometric-storage, capture-indicator, location-tracking, data-retention, cloud-upload, third-party-sharing, data-deletion-control, bystander-recording, on-device-processing
Sources on file69

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Omi

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Spectacles 5

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Editorial summaries

Omi

Omi, by Based Hardware (founder Nik Shevchenko, San Francisco), is a shipping AI necklace in the ambient-recording 'second brain' category: a small circular orb on a neck lanyard that captures conversations and runs them through GPT-4o for ambient transcription in 25+ languages, auto-summaries and tasks, a searchable memory database, daily recaps, and a 'Brain Map'. It sells for $89 as a consumer unit (about $70 dev) one-time, with a free tier (unlimited on-device transcription plus 1,200 cloud minutes a month) and an optional Omi Unlimited plan from $16 a month; the user owns the device.

It is one of the few genuinely open-hardware entries in the cohort: an MIT-licensed GitHub repo of about 12,700 stars with firmware, apps, and open hardware designs, maintained into 2026. The AI is genuine cloud functionality, not veneer. One significant cap-flag: the aspirational brain-interface and EEG 'reads-your-mind' marketing is not the shipping product, which is audio-only; the BCI module is roadmap with no code, and TechCrunch could not verify it. (Omi is distinct from Friend, Avi Schiffmann's pendant; Shevchenko's device was originally also named Friend and was renamed Omi.)

Spectacles 5

Snap's Spectacles 5 are standalone AR glasses (Snap OS, dual see-through waveguide displays, hand-tracking and voice, four cameras, ~46-degree field of view, ~45-minute runtime) and the AR-first corner of the wearable-AI cohort, distinct from the capture-first recorders (Plaud, Omi) and the assistant-first camera glasses (Meta Ray-Ban, Rokid). The AI is genuine: multimodal Lenses and a 'My AI' assistant powered by OpenAI and Google's Gemini (read signs, translate menus, identify objects).

DEPLOY records it at pilot maturity, because it is not a consumer product: distribution is developer-only, a $99-per-month subscription with a one-year commitment, US-only, not retail. There is therefore no consumer purchase price. A next-generation consumer device, 'Specs', is targeted for 2026 but has not shipped.

Common questions

How do Omi and Spectacles 5 differ?
On DEPLOY's record, Omi is further along: at the commercial stage versus Spectacles 5 at the pilot stage, as of 2026. Omi has the lower recorded price. Omi is at the commercial stage; Spectacles 5 at the pilot stage.
What is the difference between Omi and Spectacles 5?
Omi and Spectacles 5 are both wearable robots on the DEPLOY registry. They differ in maker, maturity, price, verified deployments, and how much of their autonomy is independently verified. See the table above for the full head-to-head; each figure is sourced.
Which is cheaper, Omi or Spectacles 5?
Omi has the lower recorded price on the DEPLOY registry than Spectacles 5. Prices are sourced; see each record for whether the figure is a manufacturer target, an estimate, or an actual sale price.
Which has more verified deployments, Omi or Spectacles 5?
Omi and Spectacles 5 each have 1 verified deployment on the DEPLOY registry (confirmed at named sites with primary sources).

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AI wearable prices: every verified figureAnswer The verified list.All wearable aiRegistry Every verified record in the category.OmiModel The full model page.Spectacles 5Model The full model page.Based HardwareRecord The maker's verified record.Snap IncRecord The maker's verified record.

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