My experience with wearable tech has evolved a lot over the past year or so. From testing out top-tier smartwatches like the Galaxy Watch Ultra (review) that got me hooked on fitness tracking, to the latest and greatest Vision Pro that took me to the edge of Mixed Reality, it has been a fulfilling journey. However, Meta’s Ray-Ban Smart Glasses have always been on my bucket list. And well, I can finally tick it off, folks!
Now, your friendly neighborhood to-be wearable expert has got his hands on these very Smart Glasses. Moreover, I have with me the transparent Wayfarer design variant (which is also my favorite) that went official only recently at the Meta Connect 2024.
Going in, I knew that these weren’t anything revolutionary like the Meta Orion prototype we saw at the event. But, I knew that this was something I had to explore. Well, bad idea, because, now I can’t seem to put these bad boys down.
Barely Takes Any Getting Used To
One of the best things about the Ray-Ban smart glasses is how lightweight they are. Imagine the Meta Orion packing all that tech in a form factor like this. Gosh. Anyway, I simply put on my contacts and wore them like a normal pair of spectacles. It’s also very satisfying to take it out of the case.
Anyway, even after wearing them throughout the day, I didn’t feel like anything was uncomfortably sitting on my face. The new transition lenses are also pretty cool and smoothly go from clear to a violet-ish tint outdoors.
The setup process is actually super easy. Once you download the Meta View app (Android, iOS), the on-screen instructions will sort you right up. A 5/5 setup process, if you ask me. The app is great too, for everything is nicely compartmentalized and laid out for you to go through.
I also like the fact that the Ray-Ban smart glasses don’t overwhelm you with a lot of physical controls. There’s just that one button and a gesture + tap-compatible panel on the right side of the frame, which supports five or so inputs. These gestures came in handy mostly when I was listening to music.
Using a single tap on the panel lets me pause and play music instantly. Meanwhile, double-tapping skips forward to the next track, while triple-tapping takes you to the previous one. The volume up and down gestures are quite cool (at least in my head, I looked cool). It lets me swipe sideways to control it. It was the music quality though that had me in a trance, and I’m not exaggerating.
Unexpectedly Good Sound and Call Quality!
These temple-tip speakers are deceptively loud and exceptionally awesome! However, what surprised me more was how pronounced the mids, highs and even the bass were. Of course, the open design has its disadvantages, and the music gets lost in the urban cacophony outside.
Indoors, though, it’s an absolute monster, and I never thought of reaching for my earbuds. But, yes, my Beebom peers did nudge me a couple of times about the leaking audio. So, turns out that keeping the volume at 50% or less sees no leakage, and anything beyond that starts leaking.
Upon saying, “Hey Meta, play music“, it plays a recommendation from Amazon Music. Meanwhile, for Spotify, you will need to set up Spotify Tap. This function lets you long-press the touch panel to play a track from your listening history.
You can also ask Meta AI to play music, but it only works with Amazon Music recommendations. It’s a bummer that you can’t ask Meta AI to play specific tracks. However, you can use the smart glasses as a Bluetooth device to manually play any track.
It’s not just music listening that is a delight on the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. While we do have earbuds, I got the true taste of going hands-free only with these glasses. There’s a different kind of satisfaction in not having anything sticking inside your ears at all times.
Besides, the microphone quality is absolutely insane. I tested it out on the road during peak traffic hours, and here’s how one of those calls turned out:
Everyone on the other side of the call rated it a solid 9 and above. Neither did I have to scream and lose my voice to be audible. I intentionally spoke softly, and my voice turned out to be as clear as day. My colleague, Upanishad Sharma, even talked about it being much better than the microphone quality of his AirPods Pro 2nd Gen. I think he might steal these from me soon.
The problem lies with the open design not being able to convey the other person’s voice to me in all that noise. You just have to pay an extra bit of attention there, but it’s understandable. Also, although I wasn’t screaming, my voice came off as quite pitchy, or maybe it’s just a “me” problem. And yes, you can always take to Meta AI to make calls. The Ray-Ben Meta smart glass just makes the entire process so darn convenient.
Meta AI’s So Good That It Made Me Lazier
Meta gave the Ray-Ban smart glasses some new AI powers this year, and I tested them out a bit. My favorite has to be the ability to ask Meta AI what it sees and then ask it follow-up questions on that basis. Now, while it did not seem like much at first, as I started trying it out, it totally threw me for a loop!
For example, I asked Meta AI to translate a page from a Spanish book I had, and it did so in a matter of mere seconds. Not to mention that it did so accurately. I wasn’t even in a well light room and the camera could pick up all the print from the page.
Thanks to the new Reminders feature, I could also ask Meta AI to remind me to get this cool desk fan that one of my colleagues had. Similarly, you can use it to remind you of meetings or important tasks and use it as an AI to-do list. Later this year, we will also get the ability to have proper conversations with the chatbot, and I’m really looking forward to that.
Additionally, if you’re someone who loves to vlog or post on social media on the go, the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses will further win you over. You can easily capture a photo or video and ask Meta AI to post it on Instagram or Facebook. The process is rather instant. Umm, where’s my phone?
Solid Set of Cameras
As for the photo and video quality, it’s top-notch and surpassed my expectations. Be it during the day or at night, shots turn out crystal clear with little to no noise in them, thanks to the 12MP ultra-wide on the right arm. Details are nicely retained for the most part, and you also get to see natural colors that don’t need much fine-tuning.
Videos are extremely stable and post-worthy, giving you some nice POV shots if you’re into those. You can capture up to 3-minute 1080p videos, and it’s surprisingly easy to capture and post on social media with these. Since the microphone quality is solid, even against the wind and in the middle of all that traffic, the glasses isolate your voice really well.
You can simply ask Meta AI to capture a photo or start recording a video and once done, you can simply ask it to “post the last video/photo to Instagram/Facebook story”. Moreover, photos and videos are automatically confined to the portrait format.
However, do note that while the right arm sports the camera, the left arm is a flash. I have been this close to being beaten up by strangers, and side-eyed by countless.
Wish It Had Lasted Forever
The only problem I had with the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses was with its battery life. If I charged it up fully in the morning at around 10 AM and headed to work, with some music listening, taking calls, and using Meta AI, it would completely drain by 3 PM. Meanwhile, in some light usage, the backup extended to around 4:42 PM, or around a maximum of 6.5 hours.
If you’re traveling long distances, you will just need to charge it a lot of times. Well, the good thing is that it charges fairly quickly, taking around 45 to 50 minutes to go from 0 to 100%. If you top off the charging case, it can fully charge these glasses around 7 times, which is amazing. But yes, can’t help but wish it had lasted longer without having to put it in the case.
The Most Meta Pair of AI Glasses
While the Apple Vision Pro showed me what the future could be looking like, the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses gave me the true taste of convenience on the go. For $329 (the transparent ones, we have, cost $429), not only is it a travel vlogger’s dream come true, but also a solid pair of Stark glasses for the regular user.
From being able to summon your personal Jarvis anytime, anywhere, to being able to translate things on the go, it made both the kid and adult in me all kinds of happy! Not to mention that I looked good while doing all of that and more with these smart glasses.
In fact, a lot of us at the Beebom office gave the glasses a try, and the design is such that it suits almost everyone. Needless to say, the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are the coolest and most convenient pair of wearables I have ever adorned my face with.
Well, that’s my hot take on the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses! What do you think about it? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
