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RealWear Navigator 520 vs Vuzix M400
Both devices below are described from their manufacturers’ own specification pages. Where a row does not apply to one of them, it says so rather than showing a dash — that is a different statement from “the maker does not publish it”.
RealWear · Enterprise
This device is not sold in consumer stores — the price comes with an offer.
Vuzix · Enterprise
This device is not sold in consumer stores — the price comes with an offer.
Differences you can see
Pictures first, table second. Every chart is computed from the same published fields you can read below it — nothing here is an illustration.
- RealWear Navigator 520
- Vuzix M400
Resolution per eye
Panels at true pixel scale, one inside the other.
The sharpest panel here has 300% more pixels per eye than the softest — that is what you gain on small text inside a scene.
Field of view
Seen from above. The grey area is roughly the human binocular field (~200°).
- RealWear Navigator 52024° (axis not stated)
- Vuzix M40016.8° (axis not stated)
One of these manufacturers publishes an angle without saying which axis it is measured on. Reviewers usually read those figures as diagonal, which would make the real horizontal field narrower than the wedge suggests — so treat the shapes as an impression, not as a ranking.
These angles are NOT measured the same way, so the wedges cannot be read as “this one is wider”. A pair of human eyes covers about 200° for reference.
Weight
On the whole catalogue’s scale, from 30 g to 830 g.
RealWear Navigator 520274 g
Vuzix M400182 g*
30 g830 g
Battery
On the whole catalogue’s scale, from 45 min to 540 min; a handful of outliers, up to 2880 min, sit beyond it.
RealWear Navigator 520480 min
Vuzix M400120 min
45 min540 min
On sale, and supported
Two different questions: how long you can still buy it new, and how long the manufacturer keeps updating it. The dashed line is the end of a three-year training programme (2029).
RealWear Navigator 520 on sale since 2023 · no published end of support
Vuzix M400 on sale since 2019 · no published end of support
20182030
Sold and supported are not the same thing. A model can leave the shelves while its maker keeps shipping software to the units you already own — and it can stay on the shelves with no published support commitment at all.
What actually differs
Computed from the two records, most decisive first.
Launch price
- RealWear Navigator 520
- —
- Vuzix M400
- $1800
Resolution per eye
- RealWear Navigator 520
- 1280x720
- Vuzix M400
- 640x360
Field of view
- RealWear Navigator 520
- 24°
- Vuzix M400
- 16.8°
Brightness
- RealWear Navigator 520
- —
- Vuzix M400
- 2000 nits
Weight
- RealWear Navigator 520
- 274 g
- Vuzix M400
- 182 g
Battery
- RealWear Navigator 520
- 480 min
- Vuzix M400
- 120 min
Manufacturer
- RealWear Navigator 520
- RealWear
- Vuzix M400
- Vuzix
Announced
- RealWear Navigator 520
- 2023-01-03
- Vuzix M400
- 2019-03-21
Released
- RealWear Navigator 520
- 2023
- Vuzix M400
- 2019
Certifications
- RealWear Navigator 520
- IP66 · MIL-STD-810H
- Vuzix M400
- IP67 · IEC 60601-1-2 · ISO 14644-1 Class 2
Processor
- RealWear Navigator 520
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 662
- Vuzix M400
- Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1
CPU
- RealWear Navigator 520
- Octa-core Kryo 260 (4 x 2 GHz, 4 x 1.8 GHz)
- Vuzix M400
- Octa-core Kryo (2 x 2.52 GHz, 6 x 1.7 GHz)
They match on 18 further specifications.
Full specification, row by row
31 of 73 rows differ.
| Specification | RealWear Navigator 520 RealWear | Vuzix M400 Vuzix |
|---|---|---|
| ManufacturerWho makes it — and who you buy support from. | RealWear | Vuzix |
| CategoryWhich kind of product this is. It decides which rows below make sense at all. | AR — industrial | AR — industrial |
| Device typeWhere the computing happens, and therefore what you need to run it. | Standalone AR | Standalone AR |
| AnnouncedThe day it was shown, which is not the day it shipped. | 2023-01-03 | 2019-03-21 |
| ReleasedYear the model went on sale. Older is not automatically worse in this category. | 2023 | 2019 |
| AvailabilityWhether you can still order it new today. | On sale | 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 | Support ends: not published by the manufacturer |
| DisplayHow the image is produced. "No display" is a real answer in this category, not a gap. | LCD, one eye | Micro-OLED, one eye |
| Eyes coveredOne eye or both. Over a full shift this is a real difference in fatigue. | One eye | One eye |
| Resolution per eyePixels delivered to each eye. Higher means small text and labels stay readable. | 1280x720 | ≈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 | 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. | 24° | 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 | Pixel density: not published by the manufacturer |
| BrightnessIn a plant or outdoors, brightness decides legibility more than resolution does. | Brightness: not published by the manufacturer | 2000 nits |
| WeightThe device alone. Anything above roughly 150 g is felt within an hour. | 274 g | ≈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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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. | RGB stripe · 3 subpixels per pixel | 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 | Foveated rendering: not published by the manufacturer |
| Vision correctionHow somebody who wears glasses uses it, and in what dioptre range. | Fits over glasses | Vision correction: not published by the manufacturer |
| DimensionsWidth, height and depth of the device itself. | Dimensions: not published by the manufacturer | 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 | Weight with strap: not published by the manufacturer |
| Head strapSoft band or a rigid one. Decides how the weight sits over an hour. | Headband | Glasses frame |
| MaterialsShell and facial interface, in the vendor’s words. | Plastic · | Plastic |
| ColoursColours the manufacturer sells it in. | Black | Black |
| Haptics in the headsetVibration in the headset itself, not in the controllers. | No | No |
| TrackingWhether content stays put in the room (6DoF), follows head rotation (3DoF) or is simply fixed. | 3DoF (rotation only) | 3DoF (rotation only) |
| Tracking camerasHow many cameras it uses to know where it is. | Tracking cameras: not published by the manufacturer | Tracking cameras: not published by the manufacturer |
| Tracking rateHow often position is recalculated. Higher is steadier. | Tracking rate: not published by the manufacturer | 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 | Depth sensor: not published by the manufacturer |
| Hand trackingWhether bare hands can operate the interface, without a controller or the phone. | No | No |
| Face trackingTracks facial expression — for avatars, not for training scenarios. | No | No |
| Body trackingHow much of the body the device knows about. Estimated legs are not tracked legs. | None | 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 | 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 | Controller tracking: not published by the manufacturer |
| Other input methodsWays in beyond controllers and bare hands. | Voice | 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) | Standalone (own computer) |
| ProcessorThe processor and memory inside. This is what the performance grade above is derived from. | Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 | Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 |
| CPUCores and clocks, where the manufacturer publishes them. | Octa-core Kryo 260 (4 x 2 GHz, 4 x 1.8 GHz) | Octa-core Kryo (2 x 2.52 GHz, 6 x 1.7 GHz) |
| GPUThe graphics part of the chip. | Adreno 610 | Adreno 615 |
| MemoryRAM on the device. Together with the chipset it sets how complex a scene can be. | 4 GB | 6 GB |
| PlatformThe platform an application is built against — and what an MDM has to speak. | Android AOSP + WearHF 11 | Android 13 |
| StorageOn-board space for downloaded courses. More matters for an offline library in several languages. | Storage: not published by the manufacturer | Storage: not published by the manufacturer |
| SD card slotWhether storage can be added with a card. | Yes | No |
| BatteryRuntime as the manufacturer states it. A hot-swappable pack matters more than the figure. | 480 min | 120 min |
| Battery capacity (Wh)Energy in the cell. Bigger is longer, given the same power draw. | 10 Wh | 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. | 2600 mAh | 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 | Charge time: not published by the manufacturer |
| ChargerPower of the supplied charger — it decides the charge time above. | Charger: not published by the manufacturer | Charger: not published by the manufacturer |
| External batteryBattery on a cable or a puck instead of on the head. | External battery: not published by the manufacturer | Yes |
| Charging caseExtra runtime carried in the case the glasses ship with. | Charging case: not published by the manufacturer | 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 | 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) | Ordinary Android app (APK) |
| Runs Skillsive appsOur own statement about whether Skillsive training applications run on it today. | No | No |
| Suitable for trainingOur judgement on whether it survives real deployment: comfort, hygiene, fleet management. | Suitable for training: not published by the manufacturer | 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 | 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 | Business tier: not published by the manufacturer |
| CertificationsIndustrial certifications stated on the manufacturer's own page. Empty means unconfirmed, never "probably fine". | IP66 · MIL-STD-810H | IP67 · IEC 60601-1-2 · ISO 14644-1 Class 2 |
| PortsPhysical sockets and charging contacts. | USB Type-C | USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C |
| Wi-FiThe Wi-Fi generation — it decides how well wireless streaming holds up. | Wi-Fi | 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) |
| BluetoothFor controllers, headphones and accessories. | 5.1 | 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 | 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 · Headphone jack | Built-in speakers |
| MicrophoneBuilt-in microphone — the other half of talking to a remote expert. | Yes | Yes |
| MicrophonesHow many. An array picks a voice out of a noisy hall; one does not. | 4 | 3 |
| CameraA camera is what makes a remote expert call and photo documentation possible. | Yes | Yes |
| Price bandThe band it sits in, rather than a price that goes stale. | Enterprise | Enterprise |
| Launch priceThe manufacturer's launch price. Fixed history, so it never goes stale. | Launch price: not published by the manufacturer | $1800 |
| Price by configurationWhat each configuration cost at launch. | Price by configuration: not published by the manufacturer | 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. | $3150 | $1499.99 |
“—” means the manufacturer does not publish that figure. “≈” with an asterisk means it was measured by somebody else — follow the asterisk for who. Prices are an indicative net figure in USD, a snapshot from the date on each model page, not an offer.
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.