Pros & Cons
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- Stylish design
- 3K video capture
- Helpful AI assistant
- Clear audio quality
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- Difficult to frame shots
- Limited bass and lots of audio leakage
- AI assistant can make errors
Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 Specs
| Connection | Wireless |
| Field of View | 100 |
| Glasses Features | Camera |
| Glasses Features | Microphone |
| Glasses Features | Speakers |
| Input Controls | Voice |
| Voice Assistant Compatibility | Meta |
The Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) smart glasses blend discreet technology with a classic, fashion-forward design. With a tap, you can capture photos or record videos from your point of view, making it easy to document moments from your life. Open-ear speakers provide surprisingly clear audio for music, podcasts, or phone calls, and a built-in AI assistant is available to run simple searches or interpret what you're seeing in real time. Although the glasses start at a higher price of $379 than their predecessors ($299), they deliver meaningful upgrades, including a sharper 3K camera and a larger battery. Meta has also promised additional improvements, such as slow-motion video, in future software updates. Ultimately, the glasses are functionally the same as the Oakley Meta HSTN ($399). Given the similarities, you can safely pick your brand and style of choice, as both make for an appealing fashion accessory for capturing hands-free social content.
Features: 3K Video Capture, Meta AI, and Useful Third-Party Integrations
The Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 sits alongside the Oakley Meta HSTN and the Oakley Meta Vanguard ($499) in Meta’s lineup of smart glasses. The trio all have similar functionality with improved 3K video resolution and bigger batteries compared with Meta's first-gen Ray-Ban collab.
Between the three current models, the differences mostly boil down to price and style. The Vanguard is the sportiest and most expensive. They let you capture hyperlapse and slow-motion footage, and customize your video stabilization settings. Meta says those functions will be added to the other two models via an update.
The Vanguard also has an IP67 durability rating, while the other two only promise IPX4 protection, meaning they have no rating for dust and can only withstand light splashes. The Vanguard camera also has a wider 122-degree field of view, compared with 100 degrees on the others.
The Ray-Bans and the HSTN have a look better suited to everyday use, whereas the Vanguard's design is meant for outdoor sporting activities. The two less expensive models also share similar features, both equipped with a 12MP fixed-focus camera lens that captures images at a resolution of 3,024 by 4,032 pixels. The camera can shoot video at up to 3K resolution at 30 frames per second (fps) or 1080p at 30 or 60fps. The first-gen model only supports 1080p video capture.
For audio, both the Ray-Bans and the HSTN have five microphones and a pair of custom, open-ear speakers. They have 32GB of flash storage, enough to hold more than 500 photos or 100 30-second videos.
Captured content can be uploaded directly to your phone or live-streamed to social platforms like Facebook or Instagram. The glasses pair with your phone via Bluetooth 5.3 and have Wi-Fi 6 connectivity for media transfer and updates. They’re compatible with Android 10 or iOS 15.2 and later via the Meta AI app.
Meta AI is at the ready, triggered by the wake words “Hey Meta.” You can ask basic search queries, have Meta snap pics, play or pause your music, or even interpret your surroundings. If you ask, the glasses can snap a photo and then translate a sign in a foreign language or identify the type of flower you’re holding. They also offer accessibility options: The AI can describe what you’re seeing in detail or connect you to a volunteer service, allowing someone to use “Be My Eyes” if you need live guidance.
The glasses are compatible with music apps, including Amazon Music, Spotify, and iHeartRadio, as well as messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Messenger. Garmin and Strava integrations are also on board, allowing you to check stats from your compatible fitness tracker via voice command while working out, automatically snap photos at certain milestones, and overlay exercise stats on your social media posts.
Note that none of the aforementioned models have an in-lens display, although Meta does offer one pair with that feature. The Meta Ray-Ban Display is available for $799, but you must book an in-store demo in order to make a purchase.
Design: Elegant Enough for Everyday Wear
The Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 smart glasses are available in three different styles: Wayfarer (with six color options), Skyler (seven colors), or Headliner (six colors). There are different lens types and colors as well, including prescription and Transitions lenses. The Wayfarer comes in two sizes, with the standard model measuring 5.16 inches from hinge to hinge and 1.79 ounces, and the large one measuring 5.39 inches from hinge to hinge and weighing 1.86 ounces. The Headliner and Skyler weigh the same as the large Wayfarer and measure nearly the same hinge to hinge (5.28 inches and 5.24 inches, respectively).
I tested a pair of Wayfarers in the standard size with black frames and Transitions lenses. They fit comfortably, and I like the way the frames look on me. The thick, simple black rims made me feel like Clark Kent. Unlike the sporty Vanguard, I’d be willing to wear them on a daily basis.
They appear to be ordinary glasses at first glance, with the telltale signs of built-in smarts—the camera lens and the video capture indicator light—visible upon close examination. The camera lens is positioned in the upper corner by your left eye, and on the right side, you'll find the indicator light, which flashes when you snap a photo and blinks when you record.
Inside the left temple is a power switch that you won’t need unless you have to perform a hard reboot on the glasses. Otherwise, a button on the top of the front right temple takes a picture with a press, or you can hold it to start recording, then hit it again to stop.
An invisible touchpad lines the outer right temple. Swipe forward or back to adjust the playback volume, and tap the area to play or pause music. You can also customize a press-and-hold setting for this touchpad to launch Meta AI by default or trigger a connected music service. All of these smart elements are unobtrusive, and the pinhole mics and speakers on the temples don’t draw attention, either.
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The glasses come with a brown leather charging case. When you put the frames in the holder, they securely snap in place. The back of the case features a small sync button, the bottom has a USB-C port for charging, and the front has an indicator light that blinks when the device is first booting up. Otherwise, this light blinks green or orange based on the charge level when you open it to grab your glasses.
Setup and App Controls: Simple and Seamless
Getting started with the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 only takes a couple of minutes. Download the Meta AI app and log in or create a Meta account. Then, open the case with the glasses still inside and pull out the plastic tab from the front to put them into sync mode (press the sync button on the back of the case if this doesn’t work or if you need to repeat the process after a reset).
The app will connect to the glasses and guide you through the pairing process with your phone. It will then ask you to put on the glasses and provide a tutorial on the controls, before asking if you want to enable Meta AI and allow it to store voice recordings to help improve the feature. Next, you can connect your preferred health, messaging, and music apps. Finally, Meta shows you a boilerplate message about respecting the privacy of others when using the glasses, and then the process is complete.
Visit the glasses tab of the app to configure settings and see your gallery of captured media. Under the device settings menu, you can enable automatic photo and video backup to your cloud service of choice, select a voice for the AI, adjust the brightness of the LED indicator, turn on wear detection to automatically pause media when you remove the glasses, configure video settings such as capture resolution and video length, and more. By default, video records at 1080p at 30fps, so you’ll need to use this menu to access the 3K option. Videos also cut themselves off after 3 minutes by default. You can optionally trim that to one minute, and switching to 3K does that automatically.
While the setup process couldn’t be simpler and the Meta AI app is easy to use, I do find it a bit bloated with AI content. I would have preferred the app gallery housed in its own tab, and device controls to be more centrally featured. The other tabs in the app are simply a feed of AI-generated content and an additional way to interact with Meta AI.
Battery Life: Passable, But Underwhelming
According to Meta, the glasses should last eight hours on a single charge with mixed use, with the case providing an additional five charges. That’s the same as what's listed for the Oakley Meta HSTN, but the Ray-Bans didn’t last quite as long in my rundown test.
During a test to simulate heavy usage, I played streaming music constantly on the Ray-Bans with the volume set at 75% until they needed a charge. They hit the 15% warning level after 3 hours and 20 minutes, compared with a little over 4 hours on the HSTN. Both beat the first-gen pair, which only lasted 3.5 hours with lighter use before hitting the same battery level.
The Vanguard lasted a similar 3.5 hours under the heavy use conditions, so overall, battery life isn’t a strong suit for the Meta smart glasses. The Amazon Echo Frames ($269.99) allow for six hours of music playback, while the Nautica Smart Eyewear ($159) lasted for 13 hours of usage. Neither of those models has a camera, however.
Performance: Fun and Multifunctional
Taking pictures and videos with the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 is as fun as ever, with the same limitations inherent to the form factor. You can’t precisely frame your shot or shoot horizontal pics, and those with bangs will need to be careful that their hair doesn't droop in front of the lens. They also lack some settings that photography enthusiasts may look for, such as exposure or focus controls. The glasses shoot with a simple fixed focus and capture everything in front of you.
That said, they make it delightfully easy to shoot social-ready pics and vids from your own point of view. When my cats strike a cute pose or get goofy during playtime, I can quickly capture the moment without interrupting the action. The resulting pictures and videos aren’t masterpieces of composition, but they’re not meant to be. They show the moment clearly enough and fit well on a social feed. The improved video quality over the first-gen model may not make a huge difference to those viewing your content on social media, but I appreciate the option to capture a bit more detail in my cat videos.
In terms of audio quality, music sounds clear and precise, especially the mids and highs, and the speakers do a good job of creating stereo separation. The sound is accurate and loud enough to provide a thoroughly enjoyable experience for casual listening.
Again, though, they’re somewhat limited by the form factor. Open-ear speakers uniformly lack bass, and these are no exception. Our bass test track, “Silent Shout” by the Knife, which leans heavily on a driving kick drum, sounded a little flat through the glasses. But when I played “The Boxer” by Simon & Garfunkel through the glasses, the detailed instrumentation engrossed me. Sound from the glasses can be drowned out by loud background noise, like an approaching subway, but the speakers are powerful enough to be heard over some medium-level noise, such as a nearby highway.
The speakers aren’t as effective at limiting sound leakage as the Oakley HSTN. At 75% volume on the Ray-Bans, a friend readily identified the track I was playing and noted that it sounded loud enough to be annoying to those nearby. In my testing, the HSTN sounded quieter, and music was less identifiable to others at 75% volume. These Ray-Bans are still an improvement from the first-gen model in terms of sound leakage; music was easily identifiable even at 50% volume on the original pair. The Vanguard is the best of the bunch in terms of sound isolation, as audio playing through that pair is mostly private even at 75% volume.
When testing the second-gen Meta Ray-Bans, I mostly stuck to my neighborhood and apartment (it’s too cold in Chicago for prolonged outdoor adventures). At home, Meta AI identified my cat as either a domestic shorthair or possibly a mix of breeds (its first guess was right). I asked how much food I should feed her daily, and Meta became confused, needing a refresher on the topic. I then asked if she was overweight, and Meta quickly responded “Yes” and noted that I should talk to a vet about a diet plan. Apparently, I need to look into low-fat kitty kibble.
During my testing of the HSTN, Vanguard, and Ray-Bans, Meta AI has successfully identified plants, buildings, and landmarks. It guesses a bit when it comes to recognizing specific cars or images on a TV screen, such as those in a video game. It usually retains information from one question to the next, so you can build on previous queries, but you might need to remind it of the topic every few questions. It’s also worth verifying any specific details you hear before you enter any kind of trivia contest.