RealWear HMT-1 — specification and verdict
The HMT-1 is not a display you learn in; it is a display you glance at. One LCD panel at 854x480 sits below the line of sight and covers 20 degrees, which RealWear describes as glancing at a tablet screen held at arm's length. There is no positional tracking and no depth sensor, so nothing renders in the world and nothing reacts to where the wearer stands. Everything is driven by voice through four noise-cancelling microphones, with an on-board camera feeding the remote expert on the other end. For training that means checklists, work instructions and a live video call over the shoulder — not a simulated task a trainee performs.
The HMT-1 was built for the plant floor: IP66, MIL-STD-810G, a 380 g body that clips to a bump cap or hard hat, and a swappable 3250 mAh battery RealWear rates at a full 9-hour shift. It ran Android 10 on a Snapdragon 626 with 3 GB of RAM and a microSD slot, so in-house APKs and integrator apps were possible. All of that is historical: RealWear stopped the line in September 2022 and there is no firmware past v12.6, so nothing on it will be patched again. Units still turn up at distributors around 1655 USD against a 2100 USD launch price, usually refurbished and with limited availability.
Do not buy an HMT-1 in 2026. It is discontinued, unpatched since firmware v12.6, and on a Snapdragon 626 with Android 10 that no longer meets most IT security baselines. If the remote-assist and voice-driven work-instruction use case is the real need, buy RealWear's current generation instead; if the need is VR training, this device was never a candidate.
How it compares within its class
The axis runs from the lowest to the highest published figure among the AR — industrial devices in this catalogue. The grey tick is the median of that class.
Median for this class: 24°, from 11 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: 175 g, from 11 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: 480 min, from 10 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: $1800, from 7 models that publish the figure.
Full specification
An em dash means the manufacturer does not publish that figure.
- ManufacturerWho makes it — and who you buy support from.
- RealWear
- CategoryWhich kind of product this is. It decides which rows below make sense at all.
- AR — industrial
- Device typeWhere the computing happens, and therefore what you need to run it.
- Standalone AR
- AnnouncedThe day it was shown, which is not the day it shipped.
- 2017-02-07
- ReleasedYear the model went on sale. Older is not automatically worse in this category.
- 2017
- AvailabilityWhether you can still order it new today.
- Discontinued in 2022
- Support endsThe date the manufacturer stops supporting it. Decisive for a fleet you are about to buy.
- 2022-09-30
- DisplayHow the image is produced. "No display" is a real answer in this category, not a gap.
- LCD, one eye
- Eyes coveredOne eye or both. Over a full shift this is a real difference in fatigue.
- One eye
- Resolution per eyePixels delivered to each eye. Higher means small text and labels stay readable.
- 854x480
- Refresh rateImages per second. Higher feels smoother and helps people prone to motion discomfort.
- Refresh rate: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Field of viewHow much of your view the image covers. Bigger is more immersive, not automatically better for work.
- 20° horizontal
- Pixel densityPixels per degree of view — the honest way to compare sharpness between a headset and a pair of glasses. Higher is sharper. Only shown where somebody published it; we never compute it ourselves.
- Pixel density: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- BrightnessIn a plant or outdoors, brightness decides legibility more than resolution does.
- Brightness: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- WeightThe device alone. Anything above roughly 150 g is felt within an hour.
- 380 g
- Visible field of viewWhat the eye actually sees through the optics, by axis.
- Visible field of view: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Rendered field of viewWhat the device draws. Never smaller than what you see.
- Rendered field of view: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Binocular overlapWhere both eyes see the same thing — this is where depth happens.
- Binocular overlap: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Average pixel densityPixels per degree across the image. More is sharper.
- Average pixel density: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Peak pixel densityThe sharpest point, usually the centre of the lens.
- Peak pixel density: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Subpixel layoutHow the coloured dots sit in a pixel. A stripe looks cleaner on text than PenTile.
- RGB stripe · 3 subpixels per pixel
- Foveated renderingWhether detail is dropped outside where you look, to save performance.
- Foveated rendering: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Vision correctionHow somebody who wears glasses uses it, and in what dioptre range.
- Vision correction: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- DimensionsWidth, height and depth of the device itself.
- Dimensions: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Weight with strapWith the strap it ships with — the weight you actually wear.
- Weight with strap: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Head strapSoft band or a rigid one. Decides how the weight sits over an hour.
- Head strap: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- MaterialsShell and facial interface, in the vendor’s words.
- plastic
- ColoursColours the manufacturer sells it in.
- Black
- Haptics in the headsetVibration in the headset itself, not in the controllers.
- Haptics in the headset: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- TrackingWhether content stays put in the room (6DoF), follows head rotation (3DoF) or is simply fixed.
- None
- Tracking camerasHow many cameras it uses to know where it is.
- Tracking cameras: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Tracking rateHow often position is recalculated. Higher is steadier.
- Tracking rate: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Depth sensorA dedicated sensor for distance, on top of the cameras.
- No
- Hand trackingWhether bare hands can operate the interface, without a controller or the phone.
- No
- Face trackingTracks facial expression — for avatars, not for training scenarios.
- No
- Body trackingHow much of the body the device knows about. Estimated legs are not tracked legs.
- None
- Controllers includedWhether motion controllers come in the box, or are bought separately — or the device is hands-only.
- No
- Controller modelThe manufacturer's own name for the controller.
- Controller model: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Controller tracking6DoF controllers track position and rotation, so a hand reaches in space; 3DoF only point. “None” means hands only.
- None (hands only)
- Finger tracking on the controllerWhether the controller senses individual fingers, and how.
- Finger tracking on the controller: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Controller inputsButtons, sticks and triggers the controller offers.
- Controller inputs: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Controller hapticsVibration feedback in the hand.
- Controller haptics: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Controller powerDisposable cells or a built-in rechargeable — a fleet question.
- Controller power: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Controller weightOne controller, as the vendor weighs it.
- Controller weight: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Other input methodsWays in beyond controllers and bare hands.
- Voice
- Where it computesWhether the device computes on its own or depends on a phone, PC or belt-worn puck.
- Standalone (own computer)
- ProcessorThe processor and memory inside. This is what the performance grade above is derived from.
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 626
- CPUCores and clocks, where the manufacturer publishes them.
- Octa-core Cortex-A53 (8 x 2.0 GHz)
- GPUThe graphics part of the chip.
- Adreno 506
- MemoryRAM on the device. Together with the chipset it sets how complex a scene can be.
- 3 GB
- PlatformThe platform an application is built against — and what an MDM has to speak.
- Android 10
- SD card slotWhether storage can be added with a card.
- Yes
- BatteryRuntime as the manufacturer states it. A hot-swappable pack matters more than the figure.
- 540 min
- Battery capacity (Wh)Energy in the cell. Bigger is longer, given the same power draw.
- Battery capacity (Wh): Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Battery capacity (mAh)The same fact in the other unit vendors use. We never convert between the two.
- 3250 mAh
- Charge timeFrom empty to full. Rarely stated by the manufacturer, so it usually comes from whoever timed it.
- Charge time: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- ChargerPower of the supplied charger — it decides the charge time above.
- Charger: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- External batteryBattery on a cable or a puck instead of on the head.
- External battery: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Charging caseExtra runtime carried in the case the glasses ship with.
- Charging case: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Hot-swap batteryWhether a charged battery can replace the empty one without ending the session. This is what decides if a headset can hold an all-day training station.
- Yes
- Third-party appsHow a third party's application reaches the device: an ordinary Android package, a vendor-only SDK, or not at all.
- Ordinary Android app (APK)
- Runs Skillsive appsOur own statement about whether Skillsive training applications run on it today.
- No
- Suitable for trainingOur judgement on whether it survives real deployment: comfort, hygiene, fleet management.
- No
- Kiosk mode / MDMVendor tooling to enrol devices, push an app and lock the headset to it. Practically required above ten devices.
- No
- Business tierAn official business tier, so devices belong to the company rather than to employees’ personal accounts.
- No
- CertificationsIndustrial certifications stated on the manufacturer's own page. Empty means unconfirmed, never "probably fine".
- IP66 · MIL-STD-810G
- PortsPhysical sockets and charging contacts.
- USB Type-C · headphone jack
- Wi-FiThe Wi-Fi generation — it decides how well wireless streaming holds up.
- 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
- BluetoothFor controllers, headphones and accessories.
- 4.1 LE
- Video from a computerWhether a computer can drive it, over a cable or wirelessly.
- Video from a computer: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- AudioBuilt-in sound. Matters most where somebody has to hear a remote expert while working.
- Built-in speakers · Headphone jack
- MicrophoneBuilt-in microphone — the other half of talking to a remote expert.
- Yes
- MicrophonesHow many. An array picks a voice out of a noisy hall; one does not.
- 4
- CameraA camera is what makes a remote expert call and photo documentation possible.
- Yes
- Price bandThe band it sits in, rather than a price that goes stale.
- Enterprise
- Launch priceThe manufacturer's launch price. Fixed history, so it never goes stale.
- $2100
- Price by configurationWhat each configuration cost at launch.
- Price by configuration: Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08.
- Price todayApproximate current net price in USD — a general figure, since these barely differ between regions once tax is stripped out. A snapshot from the date shown, not an offer.
- $1655
Who this device is for
This suits an existing HMT-1 fleet being kept alive — utilities, oil and gas, manufacturing maintenance teams already tied to a RealWear-based remote-assist workflow with a documented no-updates risk accepted. For a new deployment in 2026 there is no case for it; anyone starting now should be looking at a currently supported model, and anyone looking for headset-based safety training should be looking at VR instead.
What is missing, and what the manufacturer does not publish
RealWear never published the HMT-1's dimensions, screen brightness in nits or exact microphone noise-cancellation figures, and it gives battery life as a range (9-10 hours) rather than a number, where VRcompare lists a flat 8 hours; we recorded the manufacturer's 9. There is also no stated end date for RealWear Cloud device management on the HMT-1 — only that firmware stops at v12.6 — so we could not confirm whether a new customer can still enrol one, and we record it as unmanaged.
RealWear HMT-1 — frequently asked questions
- Does the RealWear HMT-1 still get firmware updates in 2026?
- No. RealWear declared the HMT-1 end of life on 30 September 2022 and states it receives no firmware updates beyond v12.6. The device is stuck on Android 10 with no security patches, which is the main reason to retire remaining units rather than redeploy them.
- Can Skillsive VR training courses run on the HMT-1's 854x480 monocular display?
- No. Our courses are 6DoF VR applications and the HMT-1 has a single 854x480 screen covering 20 degrees, no positional tracking and no controllers. It is a hands-free viewer for documents, checklists and remote video assistance, not a device a trainee can perform a simulated task on.
- Is a refurbished RealWear HMT-1 at around 1655 USD worth it instead of a current model?
- Rarely. That price is close to what a supported current-generation industrial wearable costs, and the HMT-1 brings a 2017 Snapdragon 626, 3 GB of RAM and no update path. It only makes sense as a spare for a fleet that already standardised on the HMT-1 and cannot re-certify its workflows yet.
Compare this device
Consider these too
The nearest devices in the same class, ranked by availability and launch price — not by our opinion of them.
Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-08. Manufacturer's specification
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