Ray Ban Meta Smart Glasses: The Review

I have to admit that I have admired the Ray Ban smart-glasses range since they were first introduced in 2020. They represent at least three things that I like; Ray Ban sunglasses, Meta products, and wearable technology. What’s not to like?

Of course, with us nearly being out of the first quarter of the 21st Century, wearable tech – and smart glasses in particular – are now fairly commonplace, and I had my choice of Smart eye-wear. I could have gone for some Lenovo Legion smart glasses or XREAL Air 2’s and experienced hyper-real gaming and AR/VR experiences right in front of my eyes, but I could also do that with my Meta Quest 3 or my Apple Vision Pro.  No, I wanted my smart glasses to be less smart and more integrated. They needed to be capable of streaming music, and taking photos and videos on the go. If they made and received calls via WhatsApp, then all the better.  I also didn’t want to be tethered to any kind of handset or controller. Once you throw quality of build and great looks into the mix – essential for a man about town such as I – then the Ray Bans were the obvious choice.

First launched as Ray Ban Stories at the turn of the decade, the original collaboration between Ray Ban, Meta, and Italian ophthalmic specialist Essilor Luxottica, was conceived as being another brick in the Metaverse wall. The key element was streaming – streaming video and streaming music – with the ability to effortlessly make hands-free calls.  All in a classic package. ‘Stories’ were launched with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and dual 5MP cameras mounted in the shoulders of the frames. Photo capture was at 2592×1944 pixels, and video came down at 1184×1184 at 30fps. Internal flash memory was a paltry 4Gb. Plainly, these weren’t up to mobile phone standards, but at least they were wearable and always ready.

Now, we have the Ray Ban Metas, and a huge upgrade on the Stories glasses. The new Metas come with a much-needed Qualcomm AR1 Gen 1 chip, a single 12MP camera over the right lens and a video camera recording 1080p at 30fps – (1440×1920 resolution), 32Gb of flash memory onboard, and a five-point smart speaker and microphone setup. Make no mistake, these are pretty big features for a piece of stylish, wearable tech, and they project the Ray Bans from quirky nice-to-haves to powerful must-haves. And then there is music on the go, streamed straight from your smart glasses.

The all-new bespoke speakers on the Meta-designed glasses offer a greater maximum volume, expanded bass, and improved directional audio that reduces audio leakage for better calls, music, and podcasts—even in windy or noisy surroundings – and without being a burden on those around you. Additionally, the newly built five-microphone array offers immersive audio recording, allowing you to capture sounds in front of you, from the sides, from the back, and even above, exactly as you experienced them when you were filming. The glasses now have a fairly formidable IPX4 rating, meaning that they can repel splashed water from any angle. It means that they are protected against light rain, but who the hell wears sunglasses in the rain anyway? Well, from now on, I do.

The Metas allow you to capture video clips of up to 3 minutes in length, but will support hands-free live streaming to Instagram for up to 30 minutes at a time at 720p. Of course, live streaming will take it out of the little 154mAh battery, as will lots of video calling via WhatsApp, but the glasses charge very quickly when put into their charging case – which looks not unlike a slightly swollen normal Ray Ban Wayfarers case – with 50% reached in 22 minutes and a full charge in 4 hours. The case itself holds sufficient charge for 36 hours of glasses-related fun. So, the spec on the new specs (you see what I did there) is pretty impressive, but what are they actually like and are they worth shelling out the thick end of 300 quid for?

I have to admit that my first Meta Wayfarers came courtesy of my girlfriend who bought us both a pair on a whim during a day trip to London, and I was hooked from the start. We spent the afternoon skirting the National Gallery, swapping views of our favourite paintings in different rooms in a two-way WhatsApp video call. A bad day for togetherness, but a great day for technology.

The Metas have two physical controls and respond to voice instructions. The main controls are a smart button on the top of the right-hand arm, and a sub-surface multifunction touchpad on the outer surface of the right-hand arm. The button can be programmed to take a photo by pressing once, or press and hold for a couple of seconds to record video. Recording is stopped by pressing the button once again, or by the recording time reaching a pre-set limit. The settable video limits are 15, 30, or 60 seconds or three minutes, all selectable within the bespoke Meta View app.

The touchpad is also multi-functional and can be programmed to either play music or operate the camera. Since I chose to use the smart button for the camera, I set mine to music operation. In this mode, a single tap starts/stops your chosen music, a double-tap advances by one track, and a quick triple-tap moves the music forward by one track. A gentle swipe along the outside surface of the right-hand arm pumps up the volume going towards the glasses, and diminishes it by swiping back. These controls are very responsive and I’ve never had a miss-hit.

But then comes the cherry on top; the glasses respond to spoken commands. Saying either ‘Hey Meta’ or ‘Ok Meta’ opens the onboard microphone array, ready for an AI-driven command. By using these, you can play music, take a photo or video via voice input, or get your glasses to call your contacts.   While it ends there in the European market, US customers have advanced AI features that are currently prototype, but will eventually be rolled out internationally. The most exciting of these is the ‘look and tell me’ feature. By using the command ‘Hey Meta, look and tell me…what car that is (for example)’ the AI opens the camera, examines what you are looking at (car, bottle, of wine, air fryer in Curry’s Electricals etc) and will use its formidable power to tell you what it is. Make no mistake, this is very smart and a game changer.

While there are phone Apps that do similar, the fact that you have the apparatus on your face and ready to go at a second’s notice is a whole new ball game, and one that will only get better as AI becomes more powerful. Some have wondered about the legitimacy of this kind of power, particularly as AI gets tied into facial recognition. Will my Metas finally be able to identify people, under the command of ‘Hey Meta, look and tell me who that is’? It certainly is no longer the stuff of science fiction. With a good quality camera always available, the weird and wonderful is always available for your YouTube channel.

So, these are plainly powerful and stylish, but what are they like to live with? One thing is certain, no one bar affected celebrities wants to wear sunglasses on dull days or at night, so you could suppose that these are great all the time when it is sunny, but not so much when it isn’t. Wearing the Metas after dusk in a supermarket certainly elicits some strange looks from fellow shoppers – I should know; I have the photos and videos to prove it. Luckily Meta, Ray Ban, and Essilor Luxottica have come to the rescue and there are three different types of lenses available. You can buy these off the shelf with G15 sunglass lenses, completely clear eye-glass types, and transitions lenses. You can also have any of these in your prescription strength.

This led me to my second pair of Meta’s.  As well as G15’s, I also have a set of Wayfarers with transition lenses, which are polarised, change very quickly, and can confidently be worn in the supermarket/bar etc without getting funny looks – well, no funnier than I would normally get anyway. The one problem is that I wear moderate strength glasses to write, and have to swap my transitions for standard glasses when on the hunt for my favourite marinated artichoke hearts at the supermarket. As I write this, I am planning to swap out my G15’s for prescription transitions, giving me the ability to wear my new favourite glasses at all times. I only hope that the batteries can cope.

I like much of the tech that I have and report on, but I love my Metas. These, more than anything, are how I want my tech to be, and give me more joy than much of the gaming AR/VR that I have. Would I recommend them? Yes, every time, and the fact that Meta are always tinkering with the software and eliciting more from the package means that these will just get better and better.