Host-Powered vs Tethered vs Standalone
The most important usability difference many buyers miss.
The quick definition
- Standalone: compute and battery are mostly in the glasses.
- Host-powered: depends on an external device for power and/or compute.
- Tethered host device: physically connected (often USB-C) during use.
- Paired smartphone: wireless dependency on phone for core features.
Why this changes your buying decision
Runtime numbers are not apples-to-apples across these models. A host-powered device may show no onboard battery value, because its real runtime depends on your phone or laptop.
User use cases
- Flight/movie use: host-powered can still be great if you already carry a power bank.
- Walking/navigation use: fully tethered setups may feel restrictive.
- Desk productivity: tethered can be fine and sometimes delivers better performance.
- Minimal carry setup: prefer standalone or phone-paired models.
How we display this on product pages
We show dependency and compute locus separately from raw battery hours, so users can understand true portability and daily friction.