On September 24, both the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Health Canada issued simultaneous recall notices for INMO's AIR3 smart glasses. The reason cited was the potential for the left temple of the glasses to overheat during extended use, prompting users to discontinue their use.

The CPSC revealed that INMO had received 10 reports of overheating incidents involving the AIR3. In some cases, users reported experiencing a burning sensation on their face and left ear. The recall affects approximately 1,643 units in the United States and around 120 units in Canada.

The official remedy does not involve direct returns; instead, users are advised to contact INMO for free repairs, during which the company will assist in updating the system to version V3.16. The recall notice and official response are currently accessible on INMO's overseas website.

This is not the first instance where the AIR3 has faced scrutiny for heating problems.

In September 2025, an overseas user of the AIR3 posted on Reddit, stating that the left temple of the glasses became noticeably hot after approximately 5 minutes of use. Prolonged wear resulted in an "unbearable heat sensation" on the ear. Discussions regarding heating issues during both charging and use of the AIR3 also persisted on Xiaohongshu, a popular Chinese social media platform.

Within INMO's product lineup, the AIR3 holds a significant position. Priced at around 4,000-5,000 yuan in the domestic market, the AIR3 is a key component in INMO's strategy for next-generation AR glasses. It emphasizes "integration," with the processor, storage, display, camera, and AI capabilities all seamlessly built into the glasses, enabling independent operation without the need for a smartphone connection.

INMO even refers to the AIR3 as a "wearable computer" in its official articles, acknowledging the balance between lightweight design, high performance, and heat dissipation as a fundamental challenge that standalone AR glasses must overcome.

The product has also been central to INMO's global expansion efforts. From October to December 2025, the AIR3 was crowdfunded on Kickstarter, ultimately securing support from 1,394 backers and raising approximately HK$10.296 million. Subsequently, the product was made available for purchase through Amazon, Kickstarter, and INMO's overseas website, with prices ranging from $900 to $1,300.

From its product positioning to its overseas sales, the AIR3 clearly embodies INMO's vision for "integrated AR glasses." However, less than a year later, the highly anticipated AIR3 became INMO's first product to be subject to a recall by U.S. and Canadian regulatory agencies.

The Disappearance of the AIR3

Chronologically, it appears that the AIR3 had already started to vanish from sales channels prior to the formal overseas recall.

Currently, when inquiring about the AIR3 on INMO's official Taobao store in China, customers are informed by customer service that the product has been out of stock for approximately 10 days, with only related accessories still available for purchase. JD.com also indicates that the product is currently unavailable, with customer service offering no further explanation. When asked if this was related to the recall, customer service stated that no relevant notice had been received.

Meanwhile, the normal sales page for the AIR3 is no longer visible on INMO's international website. Third-party tracking of INMO's overseas website pages also reveals that while the AIR3 international product page previously existed, it became inaccessible by late August. On August 29, users in overseas communities also observed that the AIR3 had disappeared from INMO's official website. All these events occurred before the recall.

Currently, there are separate versions of the AIR3 for the Chinese market and overseas markets. These two versions differ in terms of heat dissipation, body materials, and ecosystem. INMO made heat dissipation and material modifications for the overseas version, including adding superconducting copper heat dissipation in addition to graphene-based cooling and upgrading the body materials. The software ecosystem was also enhanced with GMS and Google Play support.

INMO had already recognized that heat dissipation is a critical issue that standalone AR glasses must address.

When previously introducing the AIR3, INMO referred to "performance, weight, and heat dissipation" as simultaneous challenges that standalone all-in-one devices must overcome. The company stated that the product adopted a multi-layer heat dissipation solution to ensure comfort during high-load operation. Indeed, the overseas version of the AIR3 underwent further heat dissipation upgrades compared to the domestic version, adding superconducting copper heat dissipation on top of graphene-based cooling.

However, it was precisely the overseas version of the AIR3 that was ultimately recalled by U.S. and Canadian regulatory agencies. An intriguing detail is that foreign media reports mentioned that the AIR3 came with a protective case to prevent direct contact of high temperatures with the face. These reports also noted that product reviews had mentioned overheating of the left temple and a burning sensation during use as early as about seven months prior.

This suggests that INMO was not entirely unaware of the AIR3's heating issues. However, if the overseas version had already undergone specialized heat dissipation optimizations, why did localized overheating severe enough to trigger a recall still occur? And do domestic AIR3 users face similar risks? These are the questions INMO most urgently needs to address.

What is currently certain is that overseas regulatory agencies have explicitly classified the issue as a "burn risk." The U.S. CPSC directly stated in its recall announcement that the left temple of the AIR3 may overheat during prolonged use, posing a risk of serious injury or even death from burns. Health Canada required consumers to immediately stop using the product and upgrade the firmware to version 3.16 before resuming use.

For ordinary electronic products, heating often first indicates issues with performance, battery life, or user experience. However, the unique aspect of smart glasses is that the heat source is in close proximity to the human body, and the device needs to be worn against the ear and face for extended periods. Once heating reaches a level that could cause a burning sensation or even burns, it transcends mere poor user experience.

INMO Aims to Enhance Glasses' Capabilities, But the Journey Is Challenging

From INMO's product roadmap, the AIR3 is actually a highly representative offering.

Founded in 2021, INMO is a young company with a clear goal: to advance the "all-in-one" approach in the AR glasses field since its inception. The company's official website positions the AIR series as light office and audio-visual entertainment products, the GO series for translation scenarios, and the X series for imaging, always emphasizing wireless, integrated, and lightweight designs. The AIR series has consistently been a major focus.

The AIR3 represents a significant escalation of this approach. On its Kickstarter page, INMO defines the AIR3 as "1080P All-in-One Full-Color Waveguide AR Glasses," with core selling points including a 1080P full-color waveguide display, standalone operation, a 16MP wide-angle camera, 3DoF interaction, a rich App ecosystem, and open APIs and SDKs.

It is clear that INMO is not satisfied with merely creating a display accessory for smartphones but instead aims to enable the glasses themselves to handle more computing tasks. Therefore, the AIR3 faces a set of difficult-to-satisfy requirements simultaneously: stronger computing power, better display effects, longer battery life, lighter weight, and lower heat generation.

INMO has been attempting to address this issue. Its AIR3 product roadmap has always emphasized standalone computing and integration, with the overseas version further adapting the product and system for the global market. However, from this recall, it is evident that at least in terms of thermal management during prolonged use, this complex product portfolio still has issues that require resolution through firmware updates.

Notably, INMO has not halted its overseas expansion due to the AIR3's challenges.

From October to December 2025, the AIR3 conducted a global crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, ultimately securing support from 1,394 backers and raising over HK$10 million. Subsequently, INMO continued to advance its product layout overseas. This September, the company's international website launched the MAGIC AI Glasses J, a product clearly positioned toward daily wear, AI assistance, first-person perspective shooting, translation, voice navigation, and open audio.

This means that INMO is not simply iterating on a single AIR3 model but is instead exploring the next stage of smart glasses product forms.

The AIR3 represents a more aggressive direction: packing as much computing and AR capability as possible into the glasses to make them a standalone wearable terminal. The GO3 and the newly launched MAGIC AI Glasses J, on the other hand, lean more toward daily AI glasses, using lighter hardware and more defined usage scenarios to make the glasses devices that users are willing to wear long-term.

Neither approach is absolutely right or wrong, but the AIR3's experience demonstrates that the real challenge for smart glasses may not simply be "how many more functions can be added to the glasses."

As computing power grows stronger and AI capabilities increase, the glasses must also remain light, thin, generate low heat, and offer long battery life. For a consumer electronic product worn on the face daily, performance and functionality must ultimately give way to the most fundamental condition: whether users are willing to wear it for extended periods.