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Evening Standard

Technology

Vicky Jessop

Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses are coming: Here’s our first look

Meta Instagram RayBan

It’s finally been confirmed: after months of speculation, Meta has finally launched the second generation of its smart glasses in partnership with Ray-Ban. Expected to drop on October 17, they follow on from the original Ray-Ban Stories, which launched to lukewarm reviews in 2021.

Let’s face it: smart glasses are not a huge part of the tech industry, and it’s important to stress that these are very much smart glasses as opposed to AR glasses, designed to be used in tandem with Instagram (and, ideally, for live streaming). But these come stuffed with more gadgets than ever — including a top-of-the-range camera, a new speaker system, and no fewer than five (5!) microphones.

Will they convince a new generation of tech users to adopt them day-to-day? We managed to test out a pair for ourselves — and the initial signs are looking promising.

Design

First things first: these glasses look gorgeous. Distinctly slimmer and lighter than previous iterations, these come in a combination of frame colours (both opaque and see-through) including Jeans (blue) and Caramel (orange-brown) and lens colours, with a total number of 150 variations. There are also two frame styles: Wayfarer and Headliner. Unlike the older glasses, I could actually see myself wearing these all day.

These can also be customised with prescription lenses (though only through Meta’s partners), and they’re slim enough to be used day-to-day as well as when you want to stream. When you do, check out the camera: it’s a 12MP model, better than most phones (certainly better than mine: the image was crystal clear), and unobtrusively tucked into the corner of the frame.

There’s an LED light installed on the opposite side of the frame to the camera, which lights up white when they’re in use. As Meta have explained, they’re also tamper-proof: anybody seeking to cover up that light to catch people unawares will find that their glasses stop working until the obstruction is removed.

Meta have also included a whopping five different microphones around the frame, tucked away in all sorts of ingenious places — such as inside the ‘R’ of the Ray-Ban logo or in the bridge. The result is crystal-clear audio that can easily be heard through the speakers included in the frames just above the ears (which also boast double the bass than older versions).

These, too, are surprisingly good: there’s little sound leakage, and the audio comes through surprisingly well, with the added bonus of surround sound. And did we mention the glasses case? Doubling up as a charging port, they’re based on the iconic Ray-Ban case, with a button that lights up green when they’re in use. All in all, a very good-looking bit of kit.

New features

The main reason these glasses exist, Meta told us in the preview session, was to make streaming easier and prettier than ever. And, on that remit, the glasses delivered spectacularly well: you do have to download the Meta app but, once you do, all the content you take will be downloaded directly to here via a BlueTooth connection.

The glasses also come with a basic touchpad located on the arm, which increases the volume of whatever you’re playing, or pauses it, as well as a button for taking photos and starting video. When they’re linked to Instagram, you can switch more or less seamlessly between the glasses camera and phone camera, which promises to make streaming fun (and easier, especially at things like gigs).

Even more intriguingly, the glasses also respond to basic voice commands — you can tell them to play music, stop streaming, take a picture and send it to a friend… given how small this bit of kit is, it’s impressive.

Visit the official site for further details.