Legato launches AI hearing glasses starting at $999

Legato announced on Thursday, October 1, that its flagship AI hearing glasses are now available for purchase. The product, called Legato Frames, integrates the company's patented hearing-assistance technology into the arms of eyewear frames, starts at $999, and targets adults with up to moderate levels of hearing loss.

The startup frames the launch around accessibility. Traditional hearing aids carry three stubborn barriers — cost, comfort and stigma — and Legato says the glasses were built to attack those problems directly. Rather than relying on directional microphones, which focus on sound arriving from a particular direction and often struggle in noisy environments, Legato takes a different approach.

Its AI-powered system distinguishes voices from background noise, amplifying speech while reducing unwanted sound. The frames use an open-ear design, but sound is not broadcast to people around the wearer: a dual-speaker system directs audio toward the wearer while cancelling sound that escapes, reducing it by 99% just a few inches away from the ear.

All processing happens directly on the glasses, with no cameras and no recording, according to the company. The frames weigh 34 grams with lenses and offer 10 to 12 hours of battery life. They come in three styles, support prescription lenses, and can stream music and calls over Bluetooth.

The commercial launch lands only a few weeks after Legato emerged from stealth with $12 million in funding from Neotribe Ventures, Listen and Village Global.

Legato was founded in 2024 by Mehul Trivedi and Steve Romine, who bring deep wearables and hearing-care experience from Bose, where Trivedi led the creation of Bose Frames and Romine ran the hearing aids division. After Bose, Trivedi joined EssilorLuxottica to lead smart eyewear efforts and worked on the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses, while Romine served as COO of hearing care company Audicus. The pair then joined forces to explore the intersection of hearing technology and smart eyewear.

Legato Frames can be purchased on the startup's website or through select eye care providers in the U.S., where they are eligible for coverage by vision insurance.

What matters here is the positioning. Legato is not competing on feature count; it is pointing AI at a single, sharp need — pulling speech out of noise for people who need help hearing it. Watch whether a $999 price lets the glasses carve out a durable spot between medical hearing aids and consumer smart glasses, and whether a face-worn, all-day form factor can wear down the reluctance many people still feel about hearing devices.