Alibaba Starts Selling Qwen N1 AI Glasses in China

Alibaba began selling its Qwen Glasses N1 series in China on October 13, extending the company’s Qwen artificial-intelligence strategy into wearable devices and putting it in competition with Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses. The standard model starts at 2,999 yuan, or about $450, before discounts, while the Pro model is priced at 3,499 yuan. The glasses were unveiled at a launch event in Hangzhou. Alibaba says the N1 models combine its Qwen AI assistant with 50-megapixel cameras and bone-conduction microphones, allowing users to interact with the assistant by voice. The company lists up to 25 hours of standby time or nine hours of music playback on a charge. The products are intended to bring Qwen functions into everyday use, including shopping, payments and health tracking. The Pro version adds eye-tracking functions. Chinese reporting also describes iris-based payment confirmation and additional health measurements for the Pro, though those details were not part of the core specifications consistently reported at launch. Alibaba also began selling Qwen Clip AI earbuds, developed with Bose, for 1,299 yuan.