Meta’s back with Oakley, and if you’ve peeked through their Ray-Ban smart glasses, you know the drill. Think Oakley cool meets just enough tech to liberate your pockets from your phone. It’s the same winning formula, different frames.
Oakley Meta glasses mark a fresh chapter: Meta’s first partnership beyond the Ray-Ban umbrella, albeit still within the EssilorLuxottica family. While the design echoes familiar Meta strategies, these frames subtly telegraph the company’s grand vision for the future of wearable tech.
Meta’s new Oakley frames are being touted as “performance glasses,” leveraging Oakley’s strong athletic pedigree. But peel back the marketing, and you’ll find the enhancements over the Ray-Ban models are subtle, yet significant. Think endurance: these Oakleys boast a noticeably extended battery life, keeping you powered up longer, both in the frames and the charging case. Plus, they capture video with a sharpness that puts previous models to shame, letting you record your adventures in stunning clarity.
With a starting price of nearly $400, though, I’m not sure those upgrades are worth an extra $100 – $200.
Oakley/Meta
Oakley Meta glasses
While elite athletes and demanding pros will appreciate the performance boosts, the price jump feels like clearing a high bar with lead weights strapped to your ankles.
Pros
- Five hours of continuous music playback
- 3K video recording
- Meta AI is finally getting useful
Cons
- Awkwardly thick frames
- Bulky charging case
- (At least) $100 more than Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses
$399 at Meta
Why do they look like that?
Meta’s bold entrance into eyewear arrives via a collaboration with Oakley, reimagining the brand’s HSTN frames. Subtlety? Not on the menu. Leading the charge is a limited edition spectacle: gleaming gold lenses encased in a stark white frame – a color Meta playfully dubs “warm grey,” adding a touch of ironic flair.
The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses avoid the stereotypical tech look, but the design still missed the mark for me. They felt too big for my face, and the bright white frame with gold lenses gave off a distracting, insect-like vibe. The color combination also highlighted the frames’ chunky thickness, especially the ungainly wide nosepiece.
Karissa Bell for Engadget
My Instagram Story selfie sparked a minor eyewear crisis. I polled my friends about my new shades, and the response was…mixed. A few bravely declared I was “pulling them off,” bless their hearts. But the consensus? Overwhelmingly too big. A few brutal souls even went with “weird.” One friend nailed it: “Something’s off.”
Style, as they say, is a fickle beast. Maybe with a different face shape, a bolder color palette,someonecould rock these. Me? Not so much. I’m holding out hope for the upcoming HSTN collection this summer. Fingers crossed for colors that actually flatter.
Forget the face; it’s what’sinsidethat counts. These glasses are near twins to Meta’s 2023 Ray-Ban collaboration. A discreet 12MP camera peeks from above the left lens, while a subtle indicator light dances to life on the right when you unleash your inner photographer or videographer. Open-ear audio pipes music and alerts directly to you, cleverly contained at lower volumes, though crank it up, and you’ll be sharing your soundtrack. A swipe and tap on the right-side touchpad puts you in command of your soundscape.
“Performance” upgrades
Oakley’s killer app? The battery life. Meta boasts “all-day” power (eight hours with intermittent use, 19 on standby), but real-world tests sing a different tune. I cranked tunes non-stop for over five hours straight a solid hour longer than the Ray-Ban competitor. And the charging case? Meta promises a whopping 48 hours of extra juice. I’m a week in and haven’t even thought about plugging the case in. Power for days.
However, the charging case is a hefty chunk compared to the Ray-Ban’s svelte design. While not a deal-breaker, its considerable size makes it a pocket-busting behemoth, barely squeezing into my small sling bag. And echoing my frustration with the Ray-Ban case, the charging case offers frustratingly vague battery level indicators. A tiny LED on the front cycles through green, yellow, and red, offering a cryptic, rather than clear, read on the case’s remaining power.
Karissa Bell for Engadget
Beyond the sleek design, the upgraded 12MP camera is a game-changer. Forget standard HD; these glasses now capture immersive 3K video. While it’s not the out-of-the-box setting, unlocking that higher resolution felt like discovering a secret level. Imagine POV shots bursting with detail – a dream for content creators! Personally, I’m still hooked on snapping photos, but that 3K option? It’s a powerful tool waiting to be unleashed.
San Francisco’s experiencing a summer chill unlike any other, cloaking my testing grounds in perpetual gray. Perhaps it’s the gloomy ambiance, but the glasses’ photos lean towards an oversaturated palette, a tad too vibrant for my liking. Ironically, they pop beautifully on Instagram Stories. The wide 100-degree field of view presents a framing challenge; mastering the art of composition with these lenses requires a deliberate touch.
The sneaky hat (or rogue strand of hair) strikes again! One of the most frustrating things about camera glasses? Uninvited guests photobombing your memories. I learned this the hard way. Memories of a glorious bike ride are now slightly marred by the persistent appearance of my helmet visor. It’s in every. Single. Shot. But hope is on the horizon! A buried “media quality” setting hints at a future fix a built-in alert to warn you when your own headwear is staging a hostile takeover of your photos. Think of it as a tiny, digital photo assistant. Alas, it’s still in beta and MIA, but Meta promises reinforcements are coming: a “Media Quality Check” to banish blurry images and unwanted objects from your masterpieces. Consider it a future shield against photographic faux pas.
Oakley Meta
Meta describes this color as “warm grey.”
Meta AI isn’t just a name change; it’s your pocket-sized photo and video wizard. Forget crooked pics with its “smart crop” feature, which magically straightens even the most disastrous head tilts. But the real enchantment lies in its AI-powered edits, letting you completely reimagine your footage directly within the app. Suddenly, everyday clips become canvases for your creativity. The best part? You don’t need glasses to play. Though, pairing it with glasses-shot footage unlocks a world of effortless post-production possibilities, transforming mundane moments into share-worthy stories. The clock’s ticking though. The video restyling feature is only free for a “limited time”, says Meta AI, so get editing before the magic fades!
Meta AI
Meta’s smart glasses are getting smarter, or at least, that’s the narrative. Remember Ray-Ban Stories? Meta’s rebranded them as “AI glasses,” a clear pivot from metaverse hype to the current AI obsession. This name change isn’t just semantics; it signals a strategic shift, reflecting Zuckerberg’s all-in bet on AI permeating every facet of Meta’s empire – even your eyewear.
But hold on, Meta’s been tinkering under the hood of those Oakleys. While the AI features aren’t exclusive to these frames, a couple of recent upgrades are worth a shout. Imagine this: real-time, on-the-fly translation. Activate it in the Meta AI app, and suddenly, your glasses become a personal Babel fish, translating conversations as you hear them. Picture two people, each sporting a pair of these Meta-powered specs, effortlessly chatting away despite speaking different tongues. Currently, you can bridge the gap between English, Spanish, French, and Italian.
Karissa Bell for Engadget
“My husband, a native Spaniard sporting his own pair of Meta glasses, became my guinea pig. I spoke in English, and like magic, the AI whispered a Spanish translation into his ear. He replied in his mother tongue, and instantly, English words filled my own ears – a seamless, almost unbelievable exchange.”
While not exactly a conversational ballet, the near-real-time translations mostly hit their mark, despite a few hiccups. The biggest snag? Meta AI occasionally eavesdropped on the translated whispers emanating from my companion’s glasses, re-translating the audio back to me. The result? A surreal game of telephone, technology twisting our words into a strangely distorted echo.
Meta AI stumbled more than once during our chat, either blanking completely or catching only the tail end of sentences. It also fumbled with slang and regional quirks. Flawless? No. But picturing myself lost in translation overseas, its smoother performance gives Google Translate a run for its money. Plus, hearing Judi Dench’s AI voice parrot my husband’s ramblings? Endlessly hilarious. Meta’s celebrity AI voices might just be the killer app.
Parking lot drab to desert fab! Watch Meta AI conjure a mirage of neon dreams from an ordinary stroll. Left: Reality bites. Right: “Desert Rave” ignites.
Option 2 (Slightly More Descriptive):
Witness the digital alchemy! A mundane parking lot morphs into a psychedelic oasis with Meta AI’s “Desert Rave” effect. See the before (left) and after (right) – where asphalt meets afterparty.
Option 3 (Focus on the Transformation):
From concrete jungle to desert disco: Meta AI’s “Desert Rave” transforms the mundane. A simple parking lot stroll (left) erupts into a vibrant, otherworldly experience (right). The future of filters is here.
(Screenshots (Meta AI))
Imagine a world where your glasses aren’t just for seeing, but understanding. Meet “Live AI,” the always-on, real-time brain for your smart specs. Forget the constant “Hey Meta.” Now, just look and ask. Point your gaze at an unfamiliar bloom and instantly know its name. Wander through a new city and unlock its secrets with a simple glance. Live AI turns your everyday view into an interactive encyclopedia, making the world an explorable, knowable place.
Meta AI feels like a party trick that sometimes misfires. It’s great at recognizing the Golden Gate Bridge, but don’t ask it for directions. During a recent bike ride, it completely blanked when I asked for navigation help at an intersection. It also struggled with some of the more unusual flora at San Francisco’s botanical gardens. On the bright side, it did wisely advise me to avoid a gaggle of geese blocking the path, proving it hassomesense of self-preservation, even if its navigational skills are still a work in progress.
These multimodal features – the exact problems they tackle remain a bit of a mystery. However, they hint at something bigger: Meta’s strategy to brand its smart glasses as an AI powerhouse. This gets really exciting when you imagine a future version with a display, whispered to be arriving as soon as this year. Then, the possibilities explode.
Wrap-up
Oakley’s Meta HSTN frames might not win any style awards, but Meta’s track record for refining its smart glasses is undeniable. This new iteration boasts subtle yet significant enhancements to core functionalities. The real question? Whether those incremental upgrades warrant the price tag a decision hinging entirely on your intended use.
The HSTN special editions ring up at $499, with standard models landing later this year starting at $399. But here’s the rub: Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses start at just $299. Are the HSTN upgrades really worth the premium? For most, probably not. It feels like Meta knows this, smartly pitching these as “performance” eyewear – gear tailored for hardcore athletes and die-hard Oakley fans who demand the best, regardless of price.
While the current Meta smart glasses offer a glimpse into the future, they also paint a clearer picture of the company’s ambitions. Meta’s roadmap includes integrated displays and, ultimately, a full-fledged augmented reality experience – advancements fueled by enhanced battery life and superior camera technology. Of course, these leaps forward will come at a premium. Impatient for the future? The Oakley Meta glasses offer the closest experience available today.
Thanks for reading Oakley Meta glasses review: A familiar formula with some upgrades
