These new smart glasses from former OnePlus engineers have a hidden cost

Lots of smart The glasses have AI bots inside them now. The lens in the L’Atitude 52°N sunglasses is called Goya, named after Francisco Goya, the famous Spanish artist who painted famous romantic masterpieces.

CEO and founder Gary Chen, who has worked on wearables for companies like Oppo, OnePlus, and HTC, says his company’s glasses are focused on travelers, with AI features that act as tour guides and talk about all the paintings in famous museums.

“Basically, you can say, ‘Hey, Goya, what’s with the Mona Lisa?'” Chen says. “You can ask anything, and with your permission, they will take a photo to analyze what is in front of you.”

I ask you if you could ask a question about Goya’s most famous painting, the terrifying, gothic image of Saturn devouring his son.

“Yes, yes, and he can also give you some restaurant recommendations,” Chen says.

Berlin-based L’Atitude 52°N is a new player in the smart glasses space, having sold its first pairs on Kickstarter in September 2025, with the campaign exceeding its funding goal and raising more than $400,000. There have been some hurdles since then, as shipments were delayed from the originally announced release date of February 2026, and one model in development was canceled altogether. Now, L’Atitude 52°N has announced the official release date of its smart glasses.

Pre-orders for one model, called the Berlin, begin May 19. The glasses will go on sale physically on May 26. This may be disappointing for Kickstarter backers, as the last official update from the campaign came in March, and said shipping would begin on April 15 for the Berlin units and June 7 for the second model, called the Milan. L’Atitude 52°N has not set an official Milan launch date, other than to say it will “arrive in the second quarter of 2026.”

Berlin Glasses cost $399. Add another $50 for photochromatic lenses. There’s a very big catch: The AI ​​features enabled on the device will only work for 12 months, which L’Atitude 52°N calls an “AI trial.” Customers then have to pay for a subscription service, or they’ll be limited to basic features, like music playback and media capture.

How much will this subscription service cost? Chen says he doesn’t know.