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Such as Google, Samsung, Warby Parker, Gentle Monster, and Xreal Equipping their first smart glasses In the fall, Meta is launching a new line of its own Smart glasses To get a head start on the competition. And Instagram star Kylie Jenner is part of it.
I saw the new-look glasses for myself at the Mita event in New York on Monday, and they’re mostly a subtle design inspired by looks that were already out there. However, this time, the glasses are only Meta-branded (called Meta Glasses), without any Ray-Ban or Oakley branding at all. They’re still made by Essilor Luxottica and sold through the same retail channels, but they start at a lower price than the Ray-Ban and Oakley models: $299 and up, versus $379 for the other models. Ray-Ban sunglasses second generation Or $499 for the Ray-Ban Scriber and Blazer Optics sunglasses Launched this spring.
Meta is by far the leader when it comes to consumer adoption of smart glasses. In the first quarter of this year, the Ray-Ban assortment accounted for 69% of shipments, which jumped 167% year over year, according to market research IDC. But in his country a reportreleased last week, IDC Research Director Jitesh Ubrani wrote that “the challengers rallying against it are formidable.”
Watch this: New Prescription Glasses Hands-On: New Designs Start at $299, and Is There a Kylie Jenner Model?
Lower price, more comfortable fit?
The price drop is likely to be welcome, especially since these glasses otherwise appear to have the same comfort and feature sets found in Ray-Ban and Oakley models. All of the glasses are ergonomically designed like the new Scriber/Blazer models, which I wear as my regular glasses now, and feature adjustable nose pads and flexible temples with customizable temple tips. These have the same battery life and camera quality as the second generation and newer models launched last fall, and the dual camera and AI rocker button at the top that the Scriber/Blazer models added.
I tried the “Fury”, a pair of Meta Glasses with a chunky frame that looks very similar Meta Ray Ban offer Glasses, minus the displays. I actually like the look, but I’m a fan of thick glasses. (The nose pad was not as comfortable as the pair of Blazer Optics I was wearing.)
Another frame design, the “Adventurer”, is very similar to Ray-Ban, but without the Ray-Ban logo or official branding, and is more compact than the Fury.
The Kylie Edition Meta sunglasses come with a little sparkle in one lens and a mirrored charging case.
Kylie Jenner?
There’s also a new frame design created in collaboration with pop culture powerhouse Kylie Jenner, which has a somewhat similar look to Cute Google Monster Glasses It was announced at Google I/O in May. Jenner’s design (Meta Starfire Kylie Edition) includes horizontal oval lenses, a small sparkly gem embedded in one of the lenses, a shipping case with its own vanity mirror and a small note inside from Jenner. These glasses are expensive, but Meta did not share the exact price with us.
Meta Fury’s glasses are thick, similar to Ray-Ban screens. These don’t include my recipe here in the demo, but they can accommodate my scope.
Support for prescriptions, but no real changes to AI or privacy
Meta is clearly going after an expanded lineup of designs in time for summer, as CTO Andrew Bosworth discussed in a Q&A at the event. But what interests me most is Meta’s supposedly more prescription-friendly lens service: It can fit lenses from -12 to +2.5, and can be added to glasses after purchase more easily.
If only Meta’s approach to AI and privacy had been improved. There are some AI upgrades arriving alongside these new glasses: additional languages for translation (14 now) and turn-by-turn navigation. But Meta’s AI services lack much of a connection to mobile apps and other AI services, Bosworth acknowledged, hinting at “agent” AI plans that may be announced at Meta’s Connect conference in September.
And while Meta was recently beaten AI privacy concerns over its glasses and Concerns about camera-equipped glasses Due to their use of the recording without consent, Bosworth doesn’t seem to be budging on any design or privacy changes to the glasses going forward.
More glasses on the horizon?
Spring and summer are a hot time for glasses, so the timing of Monday’s event made sense for these new models, Alex Hymel, head of wearables at Meta, told me. But there are more Meta glasses on the horizon, as Himmel hinted.
I asked whether future Meta glasses will be able to offer more professional cameras or do without a camera. In a Q&A session, Bosworth acknowledged interest in a less expensive cameraless audio pair of Meta glasses, while Himel said more software tools for camera post-processing are interesting.
“We want to be as good as the state of the art in 2024,” Himmel said of the level of camera in the Meta glasses compared to those in phones, but he acknowledged that camera quality has always been a big focus for the Meta.
The Meta will need to continue to be aggressive Eyeglass plansEspecially with Google, Samsung and Apple models coming soon She is expected to have her own glasses Next year. But new designs and lower prices are only one part of the challenge. Meta needs to improve its AI features and prove that it is more serious about privacy as well.
