Launching a new generation of smart glasses in conjunction with one of the world's best-known sunglasses manufacturers right as the northern hemisphere heads into winter is the kind of thinking that could only come out of a Golden State company like Meta.
Half a world away, though, I'm testing out the new Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses in a gray and dismal UK. It is decidedly not sunglasses season, so walking around with a pair on my head in early November, the sun a distant memory, makes me feel (to use that most British of idioms) a bit of a pillock.
Of course, these new Ray-Bans aren't about blocking out harsh sunlight, although they're good at that anyway, rated to international safety standards for the US, UK, EU, and Australia. And they're not only available as sunglasses—Ray-Ban offers a choice of two frame styles, its classic Wayfarer and the new Headliner, in multiple colors and with lenses in opacities ranging from clear “regular” specs to transitions to dark shades. Prescription lenses are also available—and likely essential, as I'll get to—for an additional fee.
Whatever combination you might opt for, though, the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are about the tech crammed inside the frames, with a suite of cameras, speakers, and communication tools aimed at letting wearers capture and share their lives with ease.
Following in the footsteps of 2021's Ray-Ban Stories, the new model provides several notable upgrades to the hardware, making for a product that Meta now feels confident enough about to directly slap its name on. The integrated camera gets the biggest on-paper bump, leaping from 5 MP to 12 MP. That translates to an increase in photo resolution, up from 2592 x 1944 to 3024 x 4032. Video gets a similar increase, from 1184 x 1184 to 1376 x 1824, but remains at 30 fps.
On the sound front, the frames now feature five incredibly well-hidden mics that enhance the audio quality of your videos, and improved directional speakers that sit just in front of your ears, offering—Meta says—a 50 percent increase in volume and twice the bass of their predecessors.
Improved comms features mean support for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 standards. Best of all for the snap-happy, onboard storage gets a whopping 8X upgrade, from 4 GB to 32 GB. Across the board improvements, then—but how are they to use?
As glasses, they're surprisingly comfortable. The Wayfarer pair I've been testing—a "shiny black" model frame with dark green-tinged shades—felt slightly tight at first, but that was likely in contrast to my regular spectacles. Once accustomed to the different heft and grip—my usual glasses are 22 grams, while Meta's Wayfarers weigh in at 50 grams, but that's only 5 grams more than standard Wayfarers—they were cozy enough for longer periods of wear.