Like Google, Samsung, Warby Parker, Gentle Monster and Xreal prepare their first smart glasses In the fall, Meta presents its new line smart glasses to get a head start on the race. And Instagram star Kylie Jenner is part of it.
I got a first-hand look at the new-looking glasses at the Meta event in New York on Monday, and for the most part they’re subtle designs on existing looks. However, this time, the glasses are only branded with Meta (called Meta Glasses), without any Ray-Ban or Oakley branding at all. They are made by Essilor Luxottica and sold through the same retail channels, but they start at a lower price than the Ray-Ban and Oakley brands: $299 and up, compared to $379. Ray-Ban Gen 2 glasses or $499 for Ray-Ban Scriber sunglasses and Blazer Optics that is launched this spring.
Meta is leading the way when it comes to consumer adoption of smart glasses. In the first quarter of this year, its Ray-Ban system accounted for 69% of sales, a 167% year-over-year jump, according to market researcher IDC. But in his report, which was released last week, IDC research manager Jitesh Ubrani wrote that “the opposition involved is amazing.”
Watch this: Meta Glasses Open Hands: New Designs Start at $299, and Is There a Kylie Jenner Model?
Lower price, comfier fit?
The price drop will probably be welcome, especially since these glasses look like the same luxury and feature sets of the existing Ray-Ban Oakley models. All of the glasses are designed to fit just like the new Scriber/Blazer models, which I’m wearing as my regular glasses right now, and feature adjustable nose pads and extendable arms with customized temple ends. They have the same battery life and camera quality as the Gen 2 and later models introduced last fall, as well as the dual camera button and AI rocker top added by the Scriber/Blazer models.
I tried the “Fury,” a chunkier-frame pair of Meta Glasses that are very similar Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, remove the reflectors. I actually like the way he looks, but I’m a glasses guy. (The nose pad wasn’t as comfortable as the pair of Blazer Optics I was wearing, however.)
Another frame design, the “Adventurer,” is very similar to Ray-Bans, but without the Ray-Ban logo or official brand, and is more compact than the Fury model.
The Kylie Edition Meta Sunglasses come with a slight glare on one lens and a charging case with a mirror.
Kylie Jenner?
There is also a new frame design made by pop music powerhouse Kylie Jenner, which has a similar look Gentle Monster Google Glasses announced at Google I/O in May. The Jenner design (Meta Starfire Kylie Edition) features horizontal oval-shaped lenses, a sparkling gemstone embedded in one of the lenses, a charging case with its own vanity mirror and a small note inside from Jenner. These glasses are quite expensive, but Meta did not share their exact price with us.
The Meta Fury glasses are thick, similar to Ray-Ban Displays. These do not have my prescription here in the demo experience, but they can accept my grade.
Prescription support, but no real AI or privacy changes
Apparently the Meta is following an extended set of designs seen during the summer, as CTO Andrew Bosworth discussed in a Q&A at the event. But what interests me the most is the use of Meta lenses that are supposed to be compatible with prescriptions: The lenses can fit from -12 to +2.5, and can be added to the glasses after purchase easily.
If only Meta’s approach to AI and privacy had been improved. There are a few AI improvements that come alongside these new glasses: additional translation languages (14 now) and turn-by-turn navigation. But Meta’s AI services don’t have many hook-ins to phone apps and other AI services, something Bosworth acknowledged, hinting at “agent” AI systems that could be announced at Meta’s Connect conference in September.
And while the Meta has been hammered lately The privacy of AI is about its mirrors and concerns about camera-equipped glasses being used to record without permission, Bosworth has not moved on any design or privacy changes for the glasses going forward.
More glasses on the horizon?
Meta’s head of wearables, Alex Himel, told me that spring and summer are hot seasons for glasses, so the timing of Monday’s event made sense for these new models. But there are more Meta mirrors on the horizon, noted Himel.
I asked if future Meta glasses would be able to offer more focused cameras for work or not using a camera. In the Q&A session, Bosworth praised the interest in Meta’s low-cost cameraless audio pair, while Himel said additional camera processing software tools are essential.
“We want to be like the state of the art in 2024,” Himel said of the camera quality of the Meta glasses compared to those on phones, but he admitted that camera quality remains the focus of the Meta.
The Meta will need to continue to be aggressive glasses systemsespecially with Google and Samsung models coming soon and Apple it is expected to have its own glasses next year. But innovative designs and low prices are only one part of the challenge. Meta needs to improve its AI features and prove it’s more serious about privacy, too.
