Ray-Ban Meta Glasses review: AI-infused smart glasses for the masses

While there numerous augmented reality (AR) glasses like the Xreal One and RayNeo Air 2s available for enthusiasts looking for the next generation of eyewear, the Ray-Ban Meta glasses is a comparatively straightforward eyewear experience. While those AR glasses provide a big-screen viewing experience in a familiar form factor, the Ray-Ban Meta more closely resembles traditional specs without the bulky frames necessary to accommodate micro-LED displays and complex optics.

As a result, the Meta glasses are a less ambitious and fundamentally different product, but one that deserves your attention nonetheless. Whereas AR glasses are more adept at providing an immersive multimedia experience or expanding your workspace for productivity tasks, our Ray-Ban Meta review unit (in the "Headliner" style) can be thought of as a helpful digital assistant that can scan your environment to provide beneficial feedback/information, capture moments with the 12MP camera, respond to your voice controls, and even playback audio thanks to the built-in speakers.

With a price of $299, the Ray-Ban Meta glasses are a pricey extension of the capabilities already built-in to your smartphone, but it’s still an interesting product that could find an audience because it looks like glasses more than anything else.

Design of the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses

Unlike AR glasses, our Ray-Ban Meta “Headliner” review unit mostly resembles a pair of thick eyeglasses/sunglasses. The frames are made entirely of plastic with integrated nose pads and foldable arms. Our review unit is made of translucent brown plastic (or as Ray-Ban calls it, "Shiny Warm Stone"), allowing you to see the electronics incorporated in the arms. The translucent plastic reminds me of turn-of-the-century iMacs, and it’s not exactly my cup of tea. I would have preferred solid black or blue if I had chosen a pair of frames for myself (which you can find on Ray-Ban’s website).

Besides the clear view of the internals, there are other giveaways to the intent of these glasses. There is a 12MP camera (3024 x 4032 pixels) on the top left of the frame and a round LED indicator on the top right. Other giveaways are two pogo pins above the nose pads for charging the glasses with the smart case, two open-air speakers (one on each arm), a capture button on the top of the right arm, and a power switch on the inside of the left arm.

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There is a touch-sensitive area on the right arm, situated to the left of the Ray-Ban logo. You can swipe towards the front of the glasses to increase the volume and swipe in the opposite direction to lower the volume. You tap and hold to activate Meta AI.

The glasses are light without feeling cheap, and the metal hinge swings smoothly when you open them to affix them to your face.

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The Meta glasses come in a faux leather case with an integrated battery that provides enough power for 32 hours of use (eight total charges for the glasses). The case has a USB Type-C port on the bottom for charging, and the snap-button enclosure has an integrated LED light ring that glows green when charging. When you slide the Meta glasses into the case, two Pogo pins supply power to recharge them.

Using the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses

Setting up the glasses was relatively straightforward. They came pre-charged so I could get started quickly. I left the glasses in the included case and downloaded Meta View, the companion app for the glasses, to my iPhone. The app searched for and found my glasses. It then performed a firmware update to ensure that the glasses were running the latest version of the software provided by Meta.

After that, I was on my own to explore the Meta glasses' many uses. My first step was to turn them on and place them on my face. After a little sound prompt to acknowledge that I was wearing the glasses, a male voice called out the percentage of charge for the glasses (in this case, 89%).

My review unit didn’t have a prescription or tinted lenses in place. Instead, it had clear lenses, allowing me to wear them around the house without impacting my vision (I wear contacts daily). Pressing the silver capture button on the top of the right arm snaps a picture. In my opinion, the images come out a tad underexposed, but they’re perfectly fine for a quick post on social media. Press and hold the capture button for about a second, and it will begin capturing video (1080p at 30 fps). However, due to space and battery constraints, video footage is limited to one minute in length by default, but you can extend that to up to 3 minutes. The Meta View app does warn that setting the time limit to 3 minutes will drain your battery faster. You can also select lower thresholds of 30 seconds and 15 seconds.

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The round LED notification light is activated when taking photos or videos. When you snap a picture, the notification light flashes. Likewise, it blinks when you record a video. Meta implemented this feature to let those around you know that you’re recording, perhaps to reduce the “creep” factor. You cannot disable this notification light in the app.

Meta crammed five microphones into the glasses, so voices and ambient sounds are picked up well in video recordings with the glasses. Also, the captured video was surprisingly clear and crisp.

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Watch On

Once you’ve loaded the glasses with photos and videos, how do you offload them for future use? Well, you’ll need to fire up the Meta View app on your phone. On the app’s homepage, there’s a Gallery feature. Open the gallery, select the media you want to transfer to your phone and tap the Import button.

At that point, the glasses will create a Wi-Fi network to transfer the images to your smartphone. The time it takes to create the network and transfer the media files depends on how much data you’re trying to move (the glasses have 32GB of storage capacity). Of course, if your assortment is video-heavy, it will take longer. But to give you an idea of how long you’ll be waiting, I transferred 15 images and a minute-long video, and it took 15 seconds from the time I hit import until the last files were transferred to my iPhone. That included the time it took to establish the Wi-Fi connection between the two devices.

While you can transfer media whenever you want, you can also have the glasses perform this task automatically. The Meta View app can auto-import media when the glasses are turned on and charging within the case.

Meta AI Assistant

Besides the usual photo and video-taking tasks, the glasses also have a built-in Meta AI assistant. The assistant is invoked by saying “Hey Meta,” which responds with a sound prompt. You can then ask it questions as you would with Siri or the Google Assistant. I first asked it something simple, like, “What’s the weather?” However, the assistant told me that I needed to specify my location. So, I asked, “What’s the weather in Garner, NC,” and it told me: “In Garner, North Carolina, it's currently snowing at 27 degrees Fahrenheit. Today's forecast is a high of 29 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of 23 degrees Fahrenheit.”

That’s simple stuff, but Meta AI can also use the onboard camera to identify objects within your line of sight. For example, I looked at my dog and said, “Hey, Meta. What kind of dog is this?” It responded correctly, stating, “This appears to be a small, white dog with wiry fur. It may be a Schnauzer or Terrier mix breed.” I do in fact have a Miniature Schnauzer.

Meta AI correctly identified all sorts of objects, including food, plants, and household objects. Again, I can already do this by snapping a picture with my iPhone. However, the Meta glasses are a more low-impact way of identifying objects without needing to point-and-shoot with your phone.

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You can even use Meta AI to perform more mundane tasks. You can ask it to take a picture or a video without pressing the capture button. For calls and messaging, you can give the Meta View app permission to access your phone’s contacts, WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook, and Instagram. You can then make and receive calls or send messages using those respective apps using Meta AI. The onboard microphones and speakers are perfect for outgoing and incoming calls. Speech processing was impeccable, and callers on the other end said my voice was loud and clear.

Because the Meta glasses identify as a standard Bluetooth audio device, they can also be used to stream audio from your phone. I listened to tunes from YouTube Music and watched plenty of videos on YouTube and from my Plex Media library on my phone, using the glasses for audio. While lacking in bass, the audio clarity was excellent and distortion-free. There was none of the tinniness that I often find with cheap AR glasses. I’d liken the quality of the open-air speakers to the Bose-tuned speakers on the Xreal One.

The Meta View app has many settings to tailor your Meta AI experience. For example, there’s app integration with Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, Calm, and Shazam accounts. So, you can play music hands-free with Spotify and Apple Music or ask Meta AI to identify a song playing in the background with Shazam.

As I mentioned earlier in the review, the default voice for Meta AI was a synthetic male voice, which Meta calls Sage. There’s also another male voice, Indigo, and a female voice, Aspen. However, four celebrity voices that use AI to produce speech are available: Awkwafina, John Cena, Kristen Bell, and Keegan-Michael Key. I find Keegan-Michael Key to be hilarious, so I settled on his voice for Meta AI.

Battery Life

Battery life isn’t the glasses' strong suit. Meta says that with normal use, they will last up to four hours per charge, but your mileage will vary. That figure largely depends on what you’re using the glasses for. If you’re taking a lot of pictures and videos, expect to use up the battery in an hour or less.

Starting with a full battery (just 154 mAh), I used the glasses to take a couple dozen photos and one 30-second video. I also performed about a dozen Meta AI requests, including two that required taking a snapshot to identify objects. I also played some YouTube Music at a moderate volume with the glasses. After an hour, the battery dropped from 100% to 75%, which matches Meta’s estimates. However, when capturing a copious number of 3-minute videos, I saw 50% battery erosion in just an hour.

If you intend to go heavy on video capture, bring the camera case with you. Meta says the case will take your glasses from empty to 50% in around 20 minutes. A full charge from empty takes around 75 minutes with the charging case. The charging case provides 32 hours’ worth of juice, enough to recharge the glasses from empty to full eight times.

Bottom Line

I’ve enjoyed using the Ray-Ban Meta glasses. They’re very low-impact, mostly resembling a pair of glasses with no obstructions blocking your field of view (unlike AR glasses). The images and videos taken with the glasses also look good, although not as good as on a modern iPhone or Galaxy smartphone. However, they’re good enough for social media or sharing with family.

In addition, Meta AI is generally useful. It provides quick answers to questions without needing to check your phone for help. It also answers calls, allows hands-free access to popular music streaming services, and has good audio quality, allowing you to better enjoy those glorious tunes.

But best of all, the glasses allow you to capture moments without getting in the way. Whipping my phone out to take a picture can waste precious seconds to capture something happening before my eyes versus just clicking the capture button on the glasses. If I’m at a school performance for one of my kids, I’d feel a bit out of place with a smartphone outstretched in front of me, which gets in the way of me enjoying the performance rather than just looking at the stage like a normal human being.

In moments like these, I can appreciate what Meta is trying to accomplish with these glasses. Whether it’s worth spending at least $299 is up to you.