Meta has released the AI glasses that Apple failed to develop. I was quite surprised after experiencing them on-site.
A Glimpse into the Future
In 2025, the trendiest tech products are undoubtedly smart glasses that can take photos, record videos, and are equipped with AI capabilities.
As a pioneer in reviving the smart glasses category, Meta (formerly Facebook) has proven one thing to us with the sales of one million Meta Ray-Ban glasses in two years:
Wearing a camera on your face is gradually becoming a necessity for people to record their lives.
At the just - concluded Meta Connect 2025 conference, Meta introduced three new products. Among them, there is not only the third - generation upgrade of Meta Ray - Ban smart glasses but also a long - rumored new gadget -
The product version of Hyper Nova with a color waveguide display function: Meta Ray - Ban Display.
Key points:
Meta Ray - Ban Display: Meta's first smart glasses with a display. Through the color waveguide HUD and the Neural Band wristband, it turns the concept of "AI on the face" into reality, priced at $799.
Ray - Ban Meta (Gen 2): A minor upgrade, the main model for the general public. It has a more fashionable appearance, and significant improvements in battery life and shooting capabilities, priced at $379.
Oakley Meta Vanguard: Targeted at sports and tech - savvy users. It has the shape of goggles, a central wide - angle camera, long battery life, and integrates sports data. It even comes with a training reminder light, priced at $499.
Hyperscape: "Moves" the real space into the virtual space. Quest users can scan a room to generate a realistic VR copy, but it is currently in the Beta version.
Meta Launches Its First Smart Glasses with a Display! Experience "AI on the Face" for $799
Undoubtedly, the most anticipated new product this year will be Meta's first smart glasses with a display.
Consistent with the earliest leaks, Meta has launched a pair of smart glasses with a small HUD (Head - Up Display) on the right eye: Meta Ray - Ban Display.
Although the name may seem a bit dull, for the smart glasses (or in Zuckerberg's words: AI glasses) industry, Ray - Ban Display is undoubtedly a breakthrough product.
Different from the gesture control purely based on image recognition, these glasses are equipped with the Meta Neural Band electromyographic neural interface wristband that Meta has been developing for a long time. By recognizing the electromyographic signals on the wrist and the movement of the wrist, it enables very precise contactless control.
Image | Meta
It's worth noting that Meta Ray - Ban Display is not a full - fledged AR glasses but a monocular HUD device that focuses on presenting key information in the field of vision - its screen only covers a small part of the right - hand field of vision.
This is a color waveguide screen with a variable refresh rate of 30 - 90Hz, with an overall size of 600x600p, a pixel density of 42p/degree, and a maximum brightness of over 5000 nits. It maintains good readability in strong sunlight and outdoor environments.
Image | Meta
According to the hands - on experience of @Myra Mengya, a colleague from ifanr at the Meta Connect event, the waveguide screen of Ray - Ban Display is excellent in both brightness and concealment. When looking at it from the front, only the wires on the side can be seen:
@Myra Mengya, a colleague from ifanr at the event
The recognition sensitivity of the Meta Neural Band wristband is also very high. The success rate of gesture control has been significantly improved compared to the Orion test device at last year's Connect conference. There should be no operational difficulties in daily use, and you can even operate it easily with your hand behind your back.
@Myra Mengya, a colleague from ifanr at the event
Different from the HUD that always displays information as imagined, Ray - Ban Display only lights up the screen when called. It supports displaying content such as a music player, camera viewfinder preview, and real - time subtitle translation, and can project the responses of Live AI onto the lens in text form, not just in voice output.
Perhaps due to the addition of a display and additional electronic components, the Ray - Ban Display glasses weigh about 70 grams, slightly heavier than the 50 - gram regular version. In mixed usage scenarios, the battery life of Ray - Ban Display is about 6 hours, and it can be extended to about 30 hours with the charging case.
In addition, Live AI also supports a function similar to Google's Magic Cue demonstrated at the Pixel event. It can automatically display various relevant information and operations (such as creating a schedule) during a natural conversation between the user and others without the user having to say any command keywords.
The Meta Neural Band wristband that comes with the glasses is another hardware highlight.
This wristband reads the electromyographic signals of the wrist muscles and uses the gyroscope to assist in recognizing movement, allowing users to control the glasses interface with subtle finger movements. At the Connect 2024 conference last year, Meta demonstrated a prototype wristband that could type by pinching fingers, which attracted industry attention.
This year's demonstration takes it a step further. Zuckerberg even demonstrated a process of wearing the Display glasses and editing and sending messages by writing letters on the table through the wristband recognition. According to the conference, the handwriting recognition speed of the wristband is at least 30 words per minute.
The foreign media The Verge gave the following evaluation after the experience:
The best smart glasses I've ever tried.
As Meta's first smart glasses with a real digital display function, Ray - Ban Display embodies Zuckerberg's vision of "AI on the face" - integrating ubiquitous AI assistants and information into real - life scenarios without disturbing the user's daily life.
Zuckerberg once said that 2025 is a crucial year to determine whether AI glasses can reach hundreds of millions of users, indicating that the company has high hopes for these glasses. Of course, it should also be noted that at this stage, its functions are closer to those of "enhanced information - prompting" smart glasses rather than a full - fledged mixed - reality device.
According to the conference introduction, the starting price of Ray - Ban Display is $799 (approximately 5,700 RMB). This price is much higher than all of Meta's current smart glasses products, but considering the rich functions and actual effects demonstrated at the event, it is undoubtedly worth it.
Ray - Ban Meta (Gen 2): A Minor Upgrade but More Stylish
In addition to the high - end HUD glasses, Meta also launched the Ray - Ban Meta (Gen 2) for the mass market.
As a pair of glasses, the new - generation Meta Ray - Ban offers more styles and types of frames, including a brand - new transparent frame, and two lens options: brown reflective gold or ruby.
Image | Meta
The battery life of Ray - Ban Meta (Gen 2) is directly doubled compared to the previous generation. The smart glasses charging case can charge the glasses to 50% in 20 minutes - a slight improvement from the previous 22 - minute charge to 50%.
In addition, the charging case can provide an additional 48 hours of battery life, an increase from the previous 32 hours.
The recording specification has also been upgraded to 3K resolution, including recording 3K 30fps, 1440p 30fps, and 1200p 60fps videos, with a maximum duration of three minutes. It is reported that later this year, Meta will also add the function of capturing high - speed and slow - motion videos - this function will be applied to all of its AI glasses.
Ray - Ban Meta (Gen 2) supports a new function called Conversation Focus. Its working mode is similar to the enhancement mode of headphones. It actively identifies and enhances the voice frequency of the person you're talking to, making it easier to hear what the other person is saying in a noisy environment.
More importantly, this function will be provided as a software update for all existing Ray - Ban glasses.
Meta's Live AI model has also been enhanced accordingly. It not only supports visual recognition but also allows users to actively interrupt the conversation. Unfortunately, the on - site demonstration at the conference failed. The Live AI assistant got stuck in a loop of dialogue and couldn't complete a full conversation session.
Compared with the previous generation's price of $299, the slightly upgraded Ray - Ban Meta (Gen 2) is priced at $379.
Oakley Meta Vanguard: Combining Fashion and Sports
Meta's cooperation with EssilorLuxottica is not limited to Ray - Ban but also extends to the group's Oakley brand. In June this year, they launched a sports - oriented smart glasses, Oakley Meta HSTN, which features longer battery life and higher video recording specifications:
The biggest difference between the Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses launched today and Ray - Ban is that Vanguard has the shape of sports goggles, and its camera is placed in the center of the nose bridge instead of on both sides of the frame:
