For the past three years, the names Meta and Ray-Ban have been practically inseparable in the smart glasses market. That era has come to an end. Meta has unveiled a new line of smart glasses called simply "Meta Glasses" that drop the Ray-Ban branding entirely. Available in three distinct styles and seven colors, these glasses start at $299, which is approximately $80 less than the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 series. The move is a strategic effort by Meta to make its wearable technology more affordable and accessible to a broader audience, without the added cost of a premium brand name.
The new collection includes the Meta Fury, Meta Adventurer, and Meta Glasses by Kylie, a collaboration with reality TV star and socialite Kylie Jenner. Despite lacking the iconic Ray-Ban logo, the glasses are still manufactured in partnership with EssilorLuxottica, the eyewear giant that has long produced Meta's smart frames. Their name is engraved discreetly on the inner temple of each pair. According to Alex Himel, Meta's vice president of wearables, removing Ray-Ban was driven entirely by price. "We just feel like we need to have a pair of glasses at a lower price point, and we were trying to figure out what could work there," Himel explained. EssilorLuxottica does offer budget-friendly brands, but they lack the mass recognition that Ray-Ban provides, making an unbranded Meta product a more logical path.
The decision to go solo on branding is a calculated risk. Ray-Ban lent Meta's earlier smart glasses cultural legitimacy and a stylish edge that previous wearable attempts by companies like Google Glass never achieved. The Ray-Ban collaboration helped normalise the idea of wearing connected spectacles in public. However, Meta's own reputation—particularly after repeated privacy scandals and recent reports about developing facial recognition features—has become a significant liability. Some speculate that EssilorLuxottica might be trying to distance itself from Meta, but the continued partnership and the inside stamp suggests otherwise. Instead, Meta is betting that lower price points and better design can win over consumers who may be hesitant.
Styles and Specifications
In terms of technology, the new Meta Glasses are nearly identical to the Ray-Ban Meta Optics Styles released earlier this year. They feature the same internal components, with the main hardware upgrade being slightly longer battery life. The styles, however, differ in appearance. The Adventurer model sports slim, square rims, offering a more understated look. The Fury has a bolder, chunkier frame that resembles the earlier Ray-Ban Meta Display models. The Kylie Jenner collaboration introduces a distinctly Y2K aesthetic, with a frame designed to sit lower on the nose for a relaxed, almost "unamused Gen Z librarian" vibe. A small gem embedded in the upper corner of the left lens adds a personal touch.
Fit and comfort have also been improved. The glasses now come with adjustable nose pads that can be clicked into three different positions, accommodating a wider range of nose bridges. The temple tips contain a bendable wire, allowing users to customise the fit around their ears. Overextension hinges, a feature from previous models, remain, making the frames more comfortable for broader faces. Prescription support is extensive, ranging from -12 to +2.25, though users with prescriptions stronger than -6 will need to visit an optician for custom lenses. These adjustments are aimed squarely at making the glasses more inclusive and reducing the physical discomfort that has plagued earlier smart glasses.
Privacy Concerns and Promised Updates
Privacy remains the elephant in the room. Recent investigations by The New York Times and Wired revealed that Meta is actively building a facial recognition feature for its smart glasses, sparking renewed backlash. At the same time, reports of "glassholes" using the devices to harass women have only intensified scrutiny. During a hands-on event, Himel acknowledged the issue. "We know that there's tampering today, and there are a handful of ways that people are doing it," he said. "If people aren't comfortable with you wearing the glasses, not only do we personally think that's bad, but we wouldn't have a business anymore." He promised that Meta would announce specific privacy updates "really soon" to address the problem directly.
Himel did not reveal details, but indicated that Meta is having aggressive internal discussions about how best to tackle privacy. He also expressed a desire for industry-wide consistency, noting that a patchwork of state and local regulations would be difficult for both consumers and the company. "We're trying to be part of these conversations and try to steer them to a place where, ideally, policies are consistent," he said. The challenge is not only about preventing misuse but also about building trust with the public. Himel drew a parallel to the early days of smartphones, which also raised societal concerns before eventually becoming ubiquitous. However, the flaw in that analogy is that smartphones had obvious killer apps that justified privacy tradeoffs; smart glasses, by contrast, are still searching for a compelling enough reason for people to wear them in public.
AI as a Killer Use Case
Meta is betting heavily on artificial intelligence to bridge that gap. The new glasses will launch with Muse Spark, the first model from Meta's Superintelligence Labs. (It will also roll out as a software update to older Ray-Ban and Oakley models in the US and Canada.) The AI promises more natural conversations, smarter recommendations, and support for 14 additional languages including Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin, Hindi, and Korean. Pedestrian turn-by-turn navigation is being added to the displayless glasses, and a new "dynamic photo" feature will automatically capture multiple frames and recommend the best one.
During a live demo, the AI's Mandarin translation was smooth but had a slight latency in a noisy environment. In a recommendation test, Meta AI—voiced by Kylie Jenner—asked for more context before suggesting a purple grape charm or a lavender donut keychain, and added that these could be found on Etsy or Instagram. The system also estimated the calorie count of a plate of canapés, though it hesitated on one prosciutto and fig item. While these capabilities are improvements over earlier attempts, they still feel generic. The real test will be whether Muse Spark can deliver seamless, intuitive interactions that make the glasses indispensable in daily life.
Meta's hardware has rarely been the problem. The Ray-Ban Meta glasses were well-received for their design and build quality. The new models continue that tradition: they are affordable, well-made, and offered in the widest variety of colors and prescriptions to date. Yet hardware alone cannot overcome the trust deficit that Meta faces. The company must deliver on its privacy promises swiftly and transparently—and prove that it can be a responsible steward of this new form of wearable computing. If it succeeds, the Meta Glasses could be the device that finally pushes smart glasses into the mainstream. But if the underlying concerns about surveillance and harassment remain unaddressed, even the best design and price won't be enough to win over the public.
The Meta Glasses are now available for pre-order starting at $299. The Kylie Jenner edition is priced slightly higher at $349. All models come standard with the same camera, speaker, and AI capabilities. The first shipments are expected to begin in July.
Source: The Verge News