Vuzix M400 — specification and verdict
The M400 is the device most people mean when they say industrial smart glasses: a monocular micro-OLED panel on a swing arm, above 2000 nits so it stays readable outdoors, a 13 MP camera with barcode scanning, and hot-swappable batteries for a continuous shift. It carries IP67 plus medical-equipment and clean-room certifications, which is why it also turns up in hospitals and laboratories.
A plain Android device, upgraded to Android 13, with device management available from several partners — an ordinary application package installs and is managed exactly as on a phone. Of everything in this comparison, this is the smallest gap between having an Android application and having the crew wear it — for whoever builds that application, which for our training courses is not us.
Still the reference point for assisted reality in industry, six years after launch, because the platform has been kept current rather than replaced. It is not spatial AR — a 16.8° monocular panel and rotation-only tracking — so treat it as a screen you wear, not as a machine that understands the room.
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 13 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: 480 min, from 11 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: 2000 nits, from 7 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: $1550, from 8 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.
- Vuzix
- 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.
- 2019-03-21
- ReleasedYear the model went on sale. Older is not automatically worse in this category.
- 2019
- AvailabilityWhether you can still order it new today.
- On sale
- Support endsThe date the manufacturer stops supporting it. Decisive for a fleet you are about to buy.
- Support ends: not published by the manufacturer
- DisplayHow the image is produced. "No display" is a real answer in this category, not a gap.
- Micro-OLED, 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.
- ≈640x360*VR Expert review
- Refresh rateImages per second. Higher feels smoother and helps people prone to motion discomfort.
- Refresh rate: not published by the manufacturer
- Field of viewHow much of your view the image covers. Bigger is more immersive, not automatically better for work.
- 16.8°
- 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: not published by the manufacturer
- BrightnessIn a plant or outdoors, brightness decides legibility more than resolution does.
- 2000 nits
- WeightThe device alone. Anything above roughly 150 g is felt within an hour.
- ≈182 g*VR Expert review
- Visible field of viewWhat the eye actually sees through the optics, by axis.
- Visible field of view: not published by the manufacturer
- Rendered field of viewWhat the device draws. Never smaller than what you see.
- Rendered field of view: not published by the manufacturer
- Binocular overlapWhere both eyes see the same thing — this is where depth happens.
- Binocular overlap: not published by the manufacturer
- Average pixel densityPixels per degree across the image. More is sharper.
- Average pixel density: not published by the manufacturer
- Peak pixel densityThe sharpest point, usually the centre of the lens.
- Peak pixel density: not published by the manufacturer
- Subpixel layoutHow the coloured dots sit in a pixel. A stripe looks cleaner on text than PenTile.
- Subpixel layout: not published by the manufacturer
- Foveated renderingWhether detail is dropped outside where you look, to save performance.
- Foveated rendering: not published by the manufacturer
- Vision correctionHow somebody who wears glasses uses it, and in what dioptre range.
- Vision correction: not published by the manufacturer
- DimensionsWidth, height and depth of the device itself.
- Dimensions: not published by the manufacturer
- Weight with strapWith the strap it ships with — the weight you actually wear.
- Weight with strap: not published by the manufacturer
- Head strapSoft band or a rigid one. Decides how the weight sits over an hour.
- Glasses frame
- 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.
- No
- TrackingWhether content stays put in the room (6DoF), follows head rotation (3DoF) or is simply fixed.
- 3DoF (rotation only)
- Tracking camerasHow many cameras it uses to know where it is.
- Tracking cameras: not published by the manufacturer
- Tracking rateHow often position is recalculated. Higher is steadier.
- Tracking rate: not published by the manufacturer
- Depth sensorA dedicated sensor for distance, on top of the cameras.
- Depth sensor: not published by the manufacturer
- 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.
- Controllers included: not published by the manufacturer
- Controller tracking6DoF controllers track position and rotation, so a hand reaches in space; 3DoF only point. “None” means hands only.
- Controller tracking: not published by the manufacturer
- Other input methodsWays in beyond controllers and bare hands.
- Voice · Touchpad on the temple
- 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 XR1
- CPUCores and clocks, where the manufacturer publishes them.
- Octa-core Kryo (2 x 2.52 GHz, 6 x 1.7 GHz)
- GPUThe graphics part of the chip.
- Adreno 615
- MemoryRAM on the device. Together with the chipset it sets how complex a scene can be.
- 6 GB
- PlatformThe platform an application is built against — and what an MDM has to speak.
- Android 13
- StorageOn-board space for downloaded courses. More matters for an offline library in several languages.
- Storage: not published by the manufacturer
- SD card slotWhether storage can be added with a card.
- No
- BatteryRuntime as the manufacturer states it. A hot-swappable pack matters more than the figure.
- 120 min
- Battery capacity (Wh)Energy in the cell. Bigger is longer, given the same power draw.
- Battery capacity (Wh): not published by the manufacturer
- Battery capacity (mAh)The same fact in the other unit vendors use. We never convert between the two.
- 135 mAh
- Charge timeFrom empty to full. Rarely stated by the manufacturer, so it usually comes from whoever timed it.
- Charge time: not published by the manufacturer
- ChargerPower of the supplied charger — it decides the charge time above.
- Charger: not published by the manufacturer
- External batteryBattery on a cable or a puck instead of on the head.
- Yes
- Charging caseExtra runtime carried in the case the glasses ship with.
- Charging case: not published by the manufacturer
- 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.
- Suitable for training: not published by the manufacturer
- Kiosk mode / MDMVendor tooling to enrol devices, push an app and lock the headset to it. Practically required above ten devices.
- Yes
- Business tierAn official business tier, so devices belong to the company rather than to employees’ personal accounts.
- Business tier: not published by the manufacturer
- CertificationsIndustrial certifications stated on the manufacturer's own page. Empty means unconfirmed, never "probably fine".
- IP67 · IEC 60601-1-2 · ISO 14644-1 Class 2
- PortsPhysical sockets and charging contacts.
- USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C
- Wi-FiThe Wi-Fi generation — it decides how well wireless streaming holds up.
- 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
- BluetoothFor controllers, headphones and accessories.
- 5.0 BR/EDR/LE
- Video from a computerWhether a computer can drive it, over a cable or wirelessly.
- Video from a computer: not published by the manufacturer
- AudioBuilt-in sound. Matters most where somebody has to hear a remote expert while working.
- Built-in speakers
- 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.
- 3
- 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.
- $1800
- Price by configurationWhat each configuration cost at launch.
- Price by configuration: not published by the manufacturer
- 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.
- $1499.99
Who this device is for
The M400 is the workhorse of hands-free industrial AR: a bright monocular display on an Android device that takes ordinary APKs, with IP67 sealing and medical and cleanroom certifications that open doors most wearables cannot. It is used for picking, inspection and remote assistance — not for training, and our courses do not run on it.
How it differs from its predecessor
Against the M4000 it has the brighter display at 2000 nits and micro-OLED optics rather than a waveguide, and a narrower 16.8-degree field of view. The M4000 is the see-through one; the M400 puts a small bright screen at the edge of your vision, which many users find easier to ignore when they need to look at the work.
What is missing, and what the manufacturer does not publish
Two hours of battery is the practical limit and the reason hot-swap batteries exist for it, the field of view is small by design, and there is no 6DoF tracking. Our applications do not run on it. It is also a 2019 device still being sold, which is a compliment to its build and a caution about its processor.
Vuzix M400 in independent reviews
Reviews we consider worth your time, each with a note on what the reviewer actually tested and why it matters for a training rollout. We do not own this hardware, so the tests are theirs — the reading of them is ours.
- The New Warehouse2025
A warehouse-floor demonstration from a logistics channel, which is the environment this device is actually sold into. Useful for seeing what a monocular display does for a picker's hands-free workflow rather than for the specification.
Watch on YouTube - boxxe Tech Solutions2021vendor material
A reseller's walkthrough across several working environments, so read it as vendor-side material. It earns its place by showing the glasses in use in more than one setting, which independent coverage of this category almost never does.
Watch on YouTube
Nothing is sent to YouTube until you press play. Once you do, Google receives your IP address and device data and may process them outside the EEA — see our privacy policy for the details.
Vuzix M400 — frequently asked questions
- Can the Vuzix M400 run ordinary Android applications?
- Yes — it runs Android and accepts standard APKs, which is exactly why it is common in industry: an internal tool can be built with ordinary Android skills. That is not the same as running our VR courses, which need a 6DoF headset and a stereoscopic display.
- How long does the Vuzix M400 last on a shift?
- About two hours on the internal battery, which is why it is normally deployed with hot-swap battery packs or a tethered battery. Plan the charging logistics with the device — for an eight-hour shift, the batteries are part of the purchase, not an accessory.
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 2026-08-04. Manufacturer's specification
Product and company names used here are the trademarks of their respective owners and appear only to identify the hardware being compared. We are not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any of these manufacturers. Illustrations are our own.