Rekkie Smart Snow Goggles – The Hottest New Ski Goggle Tech of 2023

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Updated April 9th, 2024

We were really geeked when Rekkie contacted us recently to try out their new smart ski goggles. No one has tried to sell a smart ski goggle since 2013 when Zeal, Oakley, and Smith all failed with the MOD smart goggle system. I like high tech gadgets so I have been anxiously waiting for someone to produce some cool augmented reality ski goggles. The Rekkie takes a new approach to smart snow goggles with a HUD that projects on your goggle lens. They provide information that is focused and useful for the average skier, ski family, and groups. Let’s get into the details of the Rekkie Smart Snow Goggles.

About Rekkie

Rekkie was started by a couple of avid skiers from Ohio. They decided there had to be a better way to keep track of your ski friends and do simple things like tell what time it is. They developed a new take on the augmented reality ski goggle to help solve these problems. The Rekkie snow goggle is what they came up with.

Features of the Rekkie Smart Snow Goggles – High Tech Mountain Communication

The Rekkie smart ski goggles have a HUD or Heads Up Display inside that projects onto the goggle lens. You don’t have to look at a tiny screen in the bottom corner like past smart goggles. The next most obvious thing about them is the electronics box on the goggle strap. This houses the circuitry, controls, and battery. The goggles are paired with a very good and useful iPhone app that I recommend everyone get whether you have the goggles or not.

Price

The Rekkie Snow Goggles are only available directly from Rekkie. They retail for $349. They are currently only available with a black lens and black frames. More colors will be available in the future. They sell an optional clear and yellow lens for flat light and night skiing also for $29 each.

Heads Up Display

The Heads Up Display or HUD is the coolest and most interesting feature of these goggles. The goggle lenses have a reflective surface on the inside that covers the top 1/3rd of the lens. There is a small projector on the inside of the goggle frame that projects onto this part of the goggle lens.

It is easy to see the HUD while wearing the goggles. The projection is clear and bright enough. It’s extremely difficult to get a camera to focus on the projection. Below is the clearest I could get so you get an idea of how it looks when viewed out the goggles.

The reflective top of the lens and bottom of the lens have different tints. It gives you the feeling of a car windshield where you have blackout along the top. You may need to experiment with the goggle fit to get the transition to sit where you like it.

The HUD information is at a closer focal point than the outside skiing terrain. If you are looking out at what you are skiing you won’t see the HUD information. It’s kind of there above your view out of focus. If you want to see the HUD you have to focus closer in on it and then it’s easy to see. This keeps the HUD from being too much of a distraction while you are skiing or snowboarding.

HUD Projector

The projector is snapped on behind the ski goggle frames. It looks like a clean integration into the goggles.

HUD Screens

The HUD can display a few different screens.

• Dashboard Screen – It shows you your compass direction, speed, and altitude. It will display the direction and distance to people in your group on the Rekkie App as well. No need to grab your phone out of your pocket to find people.
• Stat Screen – It shows you your total vertical and maximum speed for the day.
• Music Screen – It can control your music apps on your phone. You use the goggle control button to play, pause and advance tracks. It shows you the song name as well.
• Text Message Screen – The text message screen lets you read messages.
• Menu Screen – The menu is easy to navigate. You hold down the control button to get the menu. Then you move your head up, down, left, or right to make a selection and release the button.

Below are a few of the screens that Rekkie can project onto the goggle lens I took off the Rekkie website.

Phone App

Rekkie has a companion app that works with their smart goggles. Currently, it is only available for iPhone but an Android version is in the works. To use the goggles you need to pair them with the app and turn the app on. The pairing process is easy and self explanatory. Turn the goggles on and then turn the app on and it will guide you through the process.

The goggles get GPS and group information from the app. They can’t display anything when not paired.

This app has a great group feature to it that is going to be really useful for anyone skiing in a group. You can create a group and then add people by texting them an invitation. The app is free so everyone can load the Rekkie app up and join the group.

The group function will show you on a map where you and everyone is on the map. You do not have to wonder where on the hill everyone is at. We run a skiing meetup and at almost every event we have a challenge of gathering everyone together. People show up at different times. They take breaks and you have to find them again.

It turns into a game of constantly digging out your phone to read texts and answer calls to find everyone. You can just use the Rekkie app and see exactly where on the mountain everyone is. We love the Rekkie App and were going to make a ton of use of it this winter.

The Rekkie goggles will display the direction and distance to each person in your group. You can see what direction on the mountain they are and how far away they are. People have to be at least 10 yards away before the goggles will start to show them. The group function of the app and goggles is really well thought out and gives you everything you need in the goggles and app for finding your family and friends without being overly complicated.

Electronics Module

The Rekkie goggles have an electronics and battery module attached to the goggle straps. It’s the only feature of the goggles that really stands out from a normal looking set of ski goggles from the outside. I have skied with the Rekkie goggles and don’t find the weight of the box noticeable while skiing. It feels heavy when I pick the goggles up and put them on. I forget it’s there by the time I walk from my car to the first lift.

The box is manufactured using 3D printing. It allows a more intricate shape and details at a much lower cost for small volume production. The projector mount inside the goggles is also 3D printed.

I am told that the electronics box and projector will hold up to use in heavy snowfall, heavy rain, or a good faceplant into deep powder.

The box contains a rechargeable battery, an on off switch, and a micro USB port for charging. The On/Off switch is tiny and you can’t turn it off while wearing gloves. Many ski helmet speakers use the large button held down for 3 seconds for power on and off which left me wondering why they used the tiny power switch.

I spoke with Henry Pease at Rekkie and they gave me some insight on the decision for this power switch. Holding down the large button already lets you control the menu. Holding it down for 15 seconds will reset the Bluetooth connection. Using a 3 second or 5 second hold down for power off would mean a lot of people turning it off by accident while using the menu.

Using a dedicated power switch improves battery life. Using a button with timer means that the goggles would always have to be on with a slight battery drain. This means that the battery can drain too low over summer and reduce the battery capacity. To have a long battery life that doesn’t lose capacity over time they chose the separate power switch.

Swappable Lenses

The Rekkie ski goggles have swappable lenses. They do it old style with a few notches in the lens that snap into the plastic frame. They do not use a more modern magnetic or latch based design. For the $349 price, I would expect a better lens swap system that you can swap while wearing the goggles.

I spoke with David Pease again regarding this aspect of the goggle design. The electronics box and projector could both malfunction due to magnetic interference. A lens popping off in a fall could mean snow getting into the projector. They chose to not use a goggle with magnetic swapping lenses for these reasons.

Right now, the Rekkie goggles only come with a black lens. They have an optional yellow flat light lens and clear night skiing lens. There are more lens colors coming this winter.

OTG Compatible

I have tried wearing Rekkie goggles over my glasses and they worked okay. The glasses fit inside the frame and I was still able to focus on the HUD display. I haven’t tried skiing with them with glasses to know how well they defog with glasses inside. Fit and focus seem to work fine.

Anti-fog performance

The Rekkie goggles have all the normal anti-fog features. These include triple layer face foam, anti-fog coating, dual pane lenses and a solid amount of ventilation. The projector is inboard of the vents and should not interfere with airflow inside the goggles. We haven’t had any issues with fogging while skiing with the Rekkie’s so far.

The Verdict

The Rekkie Smart Snow Goggles are a cool bit of new skiing tech. The HUD is easy to read, gives you useful information, and doesn’t get too in the way while you are skiing. The companion Rekkie App is a great resource for families or ski groups trying to find each other or stick together on the mountain. I recommend everyone try out the app whether they get the goggles or not. The Rekkie goggles are a big step up from any past smart goggles and definitely worth checking out.

Read our Guide to Smart Ski Goggles to learn more about Smart Goggles

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