REVIEW – Cycling is one of my favorite ways to stay active, get outside, and enjoy nature – but lets face it, sharing the road with motor vehicles can make even the most seasoned riders anxious. I do my utmost to be vigilant and aware of my surroundings when on the bike, and the Guardian glasses by Cybersight make that easy by creating a HUD for my key riding data so I can stay focused on the road.
⬇︎ Jump to summary (pros/cons)
Price: $329 (pre-order) / $459 (retail)
Where to buy: IndieGoGo / Cybersight
What is it?
The Guardian glasses by Cybersight are waveguide AR glasses in a sport motif that bring your ride or activity data directly into your field of view. They’re intended to enable the wearer to maintain their focus on their current activity or their surroundings. In cycling terms, this means your cadence, heart rate, speed, navigation, or even radar alerts are displayed in a real time HUD view, rather than needing to look down at your bike computer or smart watch.
What’s included?
- Guardian HUD Glasses
- Glasses Case
- User Manual
- USB-C Charging Cable
- Cleaning Cloth
- Nosepads
Tech specs
| Size | 160×56.7×170.6mm |
| Weight | 39g |
| Bluetooth | 5.3 |
| Resolution | 640×480 |
| Display Color | Monochrome Green |
| HUD System | Waveguide |
| FOV | 30 degrees |
| Brightness | 10 – 1500 nits |
| Battery | Lithium |
| Battery Life | 8 hours |
| Battery Charge | 90 mins |
| Charge Port | USB-C |
| IP Rating | IP54 |
| Lens Material |
Tempered Glass |
Design and features
Thanks to the waveguide implementation for the displays, the Guardian glasses look like a typical pair of sport shades. The integrated screens are very small and unobtrusive, and sit above the nose bridge. The only thing that give these away as being more than just sunglasses are the slightly thicker-than-typical temples which house some of the electronics, though you wouldn’t really notice this unless looking at the glasses from the top.
Features of the Guardian HUD glasses include:
- Real-time HUD display: Shows metrics like speed and heart rate.
- Visual alerts: Notifies you of approaching vehicles.
- Smart helmet compatibility: Displays turn and brake signals.
- Data analysis: Provides timely reminders and warnings based on real-time data.
- Wide compatibility: Works with various sports devices and sensors.
- Customizable display: Allows for different HUD display modes.
- Smart navigation: Features an intuitive HUD navigation system.
- Lightweight and aerodynamic: Weighs only 39g with an aerodynamic design.
- Durable: IP54 rated for resistance to rain and sweat.
- Long battery life: Up to 8 hours of continuous use.
Assembly, Installation, Setup
There isn’t much to do out of the box – top off the charge on the glasses with the included USB-C, and get it connected to the app. I’m working from a beta app, so things may look different than what you see in my screenshots once the product formally launches.
Connecting to my Garmin Edge 830 was equally straight forward. There is a Cybersight HUD download in the Connect IQ store, which you create as a data page in your ride profile. With this installed, the glasses will automagically connect to the Garmin and display your stats and notifications in real time.
Performance
The Guardian glasses are a lot of fun. I immediately thought of the Pip-Boy from Fallout when I booted them up for the first time and saw the bright, monochrome green of the display. Green is however the only display color that is available, so those who may have red-green colorblindness should be aware. It was difficult to get photos or video of the display in the glasses, but I can say that the real-world demonstrations by Cybersight on their website are accurate.
These are my first waveguide AR glasses, and I am genuinely impressed with this implementation for what they do. The data fields are crisp, bright, and the FOV is solid. Unlike other AR glasses I don’t find myself faffing around trying to find the perfect position to see the whole display or mitigate edge blur. With the displays not in use, you have some awareness that there is something between your eyes and the lens of the glasses, but it is well obscured and doesn’t distract much.
My cycling sensors, lights and radar are all Garmin, with the Garmin Edge 830 bike computer running the show. Having the Guardian glasses connect to the Edge 830 is straight forward thanks to the Cybersight app in the Connect IQ store. The only annoyance I found in the process is that the glasses are only able to connect to one device at a time. In practice, this means that even if you disconnect the glasses from the Cybersight mobile app, you need to actually disconnect them entirely from your mobile phone’s Bluetooth for them to connect to the bike computer.
The Guardian glasses can display data for devices beyond cadence and speed sensors – such as the Lumos Ultra helmet with built in front, brake and turn lights. If you’re looking to increase your visibility on the road, the Cybersight has different bundles that include a Lumos Ultra helmet or a Magicshine SeeMee R300 radar taillight.
I’m hesitant to comment much on the Cybersight mobile app experience as I’ve been using test versions of the app over the past month. As it is now, there are some placeholders for things that haven’t been implemented yet, such as brightness controls. It does have the ability to act in place of a bike computer by connecting your various sensors and feeding their data to the glasses, while also tracking ride stats and sending ride data off to Strava. The app also gives you the ability to customize the various displays on the Guardian glasses. I can say that the app and glasses are receiving regular updates, and the experience has been steadily improving, and any time I’ve needed help from the Cybersight team, they have been very quick to respond with accurate and helpful advice. If you have a bike computer though, you probably won’t be spending much time in the Cybersight app.
From an interface perspective, there is only one button on the glasses which will turn the glasses on or off (long press) or hide the display when on (short press). The Indiegogo pre-orders include a wireless, handlebar mount button which can be used to toggle different views for the glasses; however, this button was not included in my review sample, so I can’t speak to how well it works. The wireless button is listed as an accessory for $80 on the Cybersight website, though it’s a shame this feature isn’t built into the glasses themselves. Possibly something we might see in a future firmware update for the glasses? At the time of this review, the glasses can only display metric units, but Cybersight has stated that imperial units will be coming soon in June 2025.
Shifting gears from the tech to the comfort of the glasses, these are pretty comfortable. The adjustable nose grip, and temple pads have good grip even when sweaty, but don’t dig in or cause discomfort on longer rides. The battery life is more than sufficient for a day on the road, and even if your battery dies, you still have a great pair of cycling shades.
Final thoughts
The Guardian HUD glasses by Cybersight are an overall great piece of cycling kit that will help any rider stay focused on their surroundings. The replaceable outer lenses with a photochromic lens option make these versatile in any lighting condition, but the IP54 rating means they should probably stay in your bag if rain is in the forecast. There are some open questions on the app experience as it’s still in active development, but the rapidity of updates inspires confidence that these will continue to improve. All in, these are a lot of fun, and are a boon to the feeling of safety and control when on the road – and I’m quite happy to have them along for the ride.
What I like about the Cybersight Guardian HUD glasses
- Lightweight, unassuming design with great lens coverage and eye protection
- Genuinely useful data displays that is quick to connect
- Helpful and friendly customer service
What needs to be improved?
- App experience is still missing some features
- Ability to change data pages should be a built-in feature of the glasses, not gated behind an accessory
- Waterproofing at IP65+ for all-weather condition riding
Price: $329 (pre-order) / $459 (retail)
Where to buy: IndieGoGo / Cybersight
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Cybersight. Cybersight did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
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