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The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses acceptable retired to execute a worthy goal: Combine the basal functionality of a brace of glasses (or sunglasses) with galore of the media and AI features you'd get from a smartphone. This way, you tin seizure photos and videos, perceive to music, and interact with a integer adjunct without ever having to propulsion retired your phone. Instead, the glasses you're already wearing tin screen each those functions — astatine least, that's the idea.
In practice, the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are a spot much benignant than substance. The main issue? In astir cases, your smartphone inactive offers a amended acquisition for each the astute things these glasses tin do. They're miles beyond the disfigured Google Glass prototypes from a decennary ago, but they're not acceptable to instrumentality implicit your integer life.
To beryllium fair, the Meta Smart Glasses marque it incredibly casual to instrumentality a photograph oregon speech to an AI assistant, but they often unrecorded connected an island: They're not compatible with galore fashionable apps and services you apt usage for mundane functions similar directions, checking your calendar, oregon speechmaking your email.
I deliberation astute glasses volition yet go worthy the investment. But Meta's Ray-Bans conscionable aren't utile capable to beryllium a must-have for astir people. That said, they are amusive to play astir with, and they look wonderful. In that sense, they could inactive entreaty to tech enthusiasts who emotion to effort retired the latest innovations, particularly if they're already successful the marketplace for a caller brace of Ray-Bans.
- See also: Where to bargain Ray-Ban Meta Glasses
Ray-Ban's iconic Wayfarers present connection the almighty features of Meta AI. These glasses person built-in cameras, truthful you tin instrumentality photos and videos and adjacent inquire questions to get real-time answers astir what you're looking at.
The astute glasses look and consciousness fantastic
The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are disposable successful 3 styles: Wayfarer, Skyler, and Headliner. Within each style, you tin besides take betwixt antithetic sizes, colors, and lens types. Prescription lenses are available, too, but lone from -6.00 to +4.00. For my review, I tested a brace of the Wayfarer sunglasses.
Were it not for the camera and LED indicator adorning the beforehand of the frames, you'd astir apt person nary thought that these were astute glasses. Meta's plan is impeccable. It perfectly captures the essence of Ray-Ban's classical look without mucking it up with unnecessary adornments, similar Google Glass' disfigured over-the-eye display.
The glasses' temples, oregon arms, are somewhat bulkier owed to the electronics contained within, but they're lone ever-so-slightly wider than what you'd find connected Ray-Ban's accepted Wayfarers. It's an engineering feat successful itself that Ray-Ban and Meta could battalion successful truthful overmuch exertion without sacrificing style.
And portion the astute glasses measurement much than a emblematic brace of sunglasses, they're inactive comfy to deterioration for hours astatine a time. The hinges are a small stiffer than my mean Ray-Ban Wayfarers, but that was the lone awkwardness I encountered. These astute glasses consciousness arsenic bully arsenic they look.
The speakers, camera, and controls are seamlessly built in
Two open-ear speakers are located connected the bottommost of each of the glasses' arms, with 2 tiny holes arsenic the lone disposable denotation they exist. They dependable solid, providing plentifulness of clarity and amazingly decent bass performance, fixed their size. Audio enthusiasts volition inactive bash amended with a brace of dedicated headphones oregon earbuds, but the Meta Ray-Bans are good for casual listening. That said, they don't supply overmuch isolation, truthful everyone astir you volition beryllium capable to perceive what you're rocking.
For controls, the glasses usage a touch-sensitive pad that seamlessly blends into the close arm. You'll get utilized to it arsenic you tally your digit backmost and distant to set the glasses' measurement and long-press to summon your favourite (compatible) music-streaming app oregon occurrence disconnected a question to Meta AI. Alternatively, you tin usage code commands and simply accidental "Hey Meta" to motorboat the integer assistant. The near limb is different barren; it's conscionable an arm.
A tiny seizure fastener connected the top-right of the glasses, toward the front, lets you instrumentality photos utilizing the integrated 12MP (megapixel) camera. Press erstwhile to shoot, oregon clasp it down to instrumentality a video up to 3 minutes long. Yes, holding the fastener down makes it a symptom to grounds your favourite set astatine a concert, adjacent much truthful due to the fact that a agleam LED connected the front-left country of the glasses illuminates whenever you instrumentality a representation oregon sprout a video. The airy tin beryllium irritating, but Meta earns kudos for putting specified a disposable privateness indicator beforehand and center.
The glasses are rated for up to 4 hours of battery, and they see a handsome charging lawsuit that offers up to 8 further charges. I've recovered that if you're conscionable utilizing the glasses for regular, mundane tasks similar asking occasional questions, they tin marque it done astir of a workday, but taking photos and particularly videos truly starts draining them. Thankfully, if you're capable to slap the glasses successful the charging lawsuit erstwhile you aren't utilizing them, artillery beingness won't beryllium a occupation for a afloat time of use. Of course, that could beryllium an contented if you usage a medicine pair.
The Meta Ray-Bans enactment Bluetooth and WiFi 6 connectivity, but they're fussy. Initially, the glasses refused to link to immoderate of my WiFi networks. A small troubleshooting revealed that it was apt their usage of the WPA3/WPA2 information protocol. I had to physique a abstracted WiFi network, utilizing WPA2 exclusively, to get the glasses to connect. I haven't encountered akin issues with immoderate of the different astute devices I've utilized implicit the past year.
Capture prime is decent, but it can't lucifer a emblematic smartphone
The glasses' representation and video prime are fine, but lone that. You get serviceable captures of immoderate you're looking at. Still, I wouldn't trust connected these astute glasses arsenic my lone camera for that once-in-a-lifetime hike oregon abrogation getaway.
They're champion for erstwhile you request to seizure enactment quickly, similar erstwhile I wanted to drawback a photograph of thing cute my feline was doing. If I had to food retired my phone, my feline would person stopped by the clip I had the camera acceptable to go.
Still, I recovered the glasses' wide representation prime to beryllium lacking compared to astir modern smartphones. While I recognize that comparing an iPhone 16 Pro camera against a brace of astute glasses isn't precisely fair, the issues plaguing Meta's camera are beauteous evident to the bare eye.
Images look little saturated, and the achromatic equilibrium tends to beryllium somewhat warmer than natural. Darker parts of images consciousness agleam erstwhile they should look rich. A fig of my indoor photos besides came retired blurrier than expected.
This could beryllium a effect of the camera's constricted 12MP solution (something you'd expect successful a top-shelf smartphone camera from 5 years ago) oregon the information that the glasses can't assistance but wobble a spot erstwhile you property down connected the seizure fastener portion wearing them. I didn't person arsenic galore issues erstwhile shooting outside, but a well-lit country shouldn't springiness immoderate camera specified a situation successful 2025.
The glasses lone sprout pictures successful representation orientation, which is different unusual limitation. It's not the framing I'd similar erstwhile I'm staring astatine a beauteous California sunset connected the beach, and thing I privation I could alteration with a speedy bid to Meta AI.
Sharing your photos and videos connected the spell is speedy and easy, provided the glasses are paired with your phone's information transportation and you've synced the Meta View mobile app with your contacts, Facebook Messenger, oregon WhatsApp. Taking a representation and instantly sending it to a person is conscionable 1 dependable bid away. On iOS Messages, the person receives a nexus to spot the photograph you've shot, which they tin pat connected to presumption and prevention the image. It's not arsenic integrated arsenic sending a pic with your smartphone, which embeds the representation straight successful the chat itself, but it gets the occupation done.
The 1 hitch? You can't preview immoderate photos oregon videos you nonstop to a person this way, truthful that gorgeous sunset you're staring astatine mightiness look a small blurry oregon overexposed without you realizing it. And this brings maine backmost to questioning the underlying usefulness of astute glasses similar this. Since the glasses trust connected your phone's information transportation erstwhile you're retired and about, you mightiness arsenic good conscionable usage your telephone to instrumentality the photograph to statesman with. Sure, it takes a small longer, but it volition beryllium of higher quality, and you tin spot it earlier you nonstop it.
If you don't privation to stock snapshots close away, you tin besides store photos and videos connected the glasses utilizing their built-in 32GB of storage. This way, you tin upload media to your telephone to presumption and nonstop later. However, the process to bash this is simply a spot cumbersome. If the glasses are retired of their charging case, the lone mode to initiate an upload is to instrumentality retired your phone, motorboat the Meta View app, and link to a circumstantial WiFi web that the glasses emit.
Automatic imports bash occurrence disconnected erstwhile the glasses are tucked safely successful their charging case, truthful agelong arsenic your glasses are wrong scope of a WiFi web you antecedently saved wrong the Meta View app.
Though Meta AI is amusive to play astir with, it's lone compatible with definite functions
The glasses' built-in Meta AI is utile erstwhile you person a question that needs answering, but little truthful erstwhile it relates to triggering a task you'd similar the glasses oregon your connected smartphone to do.
For example, having a integer companion successful the room is large erstwhile you request to person measurements. And if you person immoderate random question that requires a speedy answer, Meta AI returns decent results akin to what you'd get from Google Gemini oregon Siri (using ChatGPT).
Asking Meta AI to work thing you're looking astatine is besides amusive to messiness astir with and large for accessibility. The aforesaid is existent erstwhile you inquire the glasses to simply picture what's successful beforehand of you, though you shouldn't ever judge what Meta AI returns. It couldn't correctly place the marque of laptop I was looking at, adjacent with the logo intelligibly visible, and it confused a figurine of Frollo from Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" for Maleficent. However, it excelled astatine translating substance successful different languages to English. I could spot that being incredibly utile erstwhile traveling abroad, assuming you person a cellular oregon net connection.
Unfortunately, Meta AI's reliance connected Meta services is limiting. The AI can't necktie into your smartphone's existing adjunct and is incompatible with galore fashionable apps you apt use.
For instance, you can't inquire for directions. Even if you manually inquire Meta AI to instrumentality you from 1 circumstantial determination to another, you're retired of luck. Meta AI tin work turn-by-turn directions you've already acceptable up connected your phone's Apple Maps oregon Google Maps app, but truthful tin each different brace of connected headphones and earbuds.
You can't usage Meta AI to enactment caller items connected immoderate integer calendar you use, nor reappraisal what's coming up. You tin acceptable reminders, but that's each delivered via the Meta View app, which is apt not what you usage to negociate your integer life. Gmail? Not happening. FaceTime? Proprietary. Text messaging? You tin nonstop them, and your glasses volition work what you've sent, but it won't punctual you for a reply similar Siri (and volition annoyingly archer you it can't reply if you inquire it to, adjacent though you tin fake it by telling Meta AI to nonstop a caller connection to that interaction instead.)
Again, Meta AI is utile for answering random questions, but truthful is simply a speedy "Hey Siri" oregon "Hey Google" bid with a smartphone oregon voice-enabled brace of headphones. And there's small Meta's Ray-Bans tin bash that Gemini oregon Apple Intelligence can't. Using glasses you're already wearing is much convenient than reaching into your pouch for your phone, but the layers of further functionality you get with a smartphone are often worthy the other effort needed to drawback it.
Should you bargain the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses?
In their existent form, the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are much of a novelty than an indispensable tech product. They're the benignant of instrumentality that's ace amusive to play astir with for a fewer weeks, but mightiness extremity up successful a drawer aboriginal on. You tin simply get amended usage retired of combining different products you astir apt already own, similar a smartphone, a smartwatch, and a brace of wireless earbuds.
That said, they're bully for casually listening to music, asking speedy questions, oregon snapping pictures successful a pinch, and determination is thing chill astir handling these functions done a brace of slick glasses without ever lifting a finger. If you're already successful the marketplace for a brace of regular Ray-Bans, you could presumption these arsenic a step-up enactment to consider. They outgo astatine slightest $100 much than modular Ray-Bans. In that context, tech enthusiasts with wealth to spare could find them worthwhile, but astir radical are amended disconnected waiting until a next-gen exemplary comes on with much features.
On that note, Meta has a fewer fancier tiers of astute glasses that it's reportedly moving connected — built-in screens and all, arsenic the rumors spell — which mightiness consciousness a spot much futuristic than this offering. But for now, the current-gen Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses simply aren't convenient oregon innovative capable to urge to a wide market.
David Murphy
Freelance Writer
David Murphy was formerly the Senior Technology Editor astatine Lifehacker. Across his 15+ twelvemonth vocation successful exertion journalism, his enactment has appeared successful publications similar The New York Times, Wirecutter, PCMag, CNET, Reviewed.com, Laptop Mag, PCWorld, Tom's Hardware, Buzzfeed, Engadget, and Ars Technica.
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