TheRay - Ban Meta smart glassesare among the most interesting , unexpectedly fun , and astonishingly useful wearables I ’ve used in 2024 . However , as we go into 2025 , I ’m getting apprehensive about the smart glasses situation .
This is n’t the first time I ’ve felt like we ’re on the leaflet of a newfangled wave of cool smart eyewear products , only to be very disappointed by what fare next .
Why the Ray-Ban Meta are so good
I have used the Ray - Ban Meta smart glassesalongside my regular glassesfor the majority of the year after choosing to put my prescription medicine lens system in them and choose for the changeover reading , so they adjust to dissimilar lighting weather . It means I can wear them inside and out , and in all weather condition precondition — of the essence here in the normally dreary U.K.
It was n’t long beforeI’d fallen for the cameraand the way it can entrance first - person , custody - free stills and video . It ’s really originative , and I apply it right smart more than I expected . TheMeta AIfeatures took a while to arrive in the U.K. , and while I do n’t use them all that often — just like all wandering AI features — they sour really well when I need questions that rely on the camera . The audio functionality is fantastic , and even the battery lifespan is ripe , with the case hold plenty of extra charge .
The Ray - Ban partnership means the glasses are well design , look good on different face shape , and have a strong retail connection so you may essay them out before purchasing . find prescription lenses was the right move , but the transitions are n’t very good as they do n’t really get benighted when you ’re ram , which has something to do with the coating on car windscreens . They also take a while to switch back to clear . Without a better choice , I ’d still get them again , though . I really care the Ray - Ban Meta and have recommend them to everyone who inquire about them . I ’m delirious about them and , in turn , excited about the future they could inspire .
What has happened in the past
The Ray - Ban Meta have specify the stage for a revitalization in sake in smart glasses as more hoi polloi discover what they can do and how comfortable and convenient they are to own . The problem is , we ’ve been in this billet several times already , but due to various problems , overbold glass have fizzled out and depart nowhere until another company bulge out up with a decent yoke , only to start the cps over again .
Google Glasswas the first adult bright eyewear product , and although I loved it , others were not so stabbing . Whether it was the high price , the geeky look , or the controversial ( at the clock time ) tv camera , Google Glass attracted all thewrongkind of attention when it was released . Googlehastily distanced itself from Glass , withdraw it as a consumer product and focalise on business use of goods and services , just like competitor Vuzix and Epson . Snapchat ease up it a shot with theSnapchat Spectacles , but they were so limited in functionality that the initial cult around accessibility before long killed off enthusiasm .
It was several years before companies considered it good to have another go at smart glasses , and they all stay far aside from the television camera when doing so . Instead , we gotaudio - only bright glasses from Bose , Amazon , Razer , Huawei , anda host of other brandsjumping on the bandwagon . Soon , we were swim in freehanded , heavy , and usually wretched impertinent glasses with pitiful bombardment life that were taste to replace our headphones . The trouble was that lawful wireless earbuds were becoming vulgar , and they were a far better pick . presently , audio smart glasses faded away , and we were back to where we were before even Glass came along .
Trouble is brewing
Having seen what has happen before , I ’m acutely aware of what ’s happen to today ’s saucy looking glass , where copycats are already beginning to arrive . The Ray - Ban Meta enjoyment AI and its television camera to skilful core , and other brands are slow catch up . Solos recently free theAirGo Visionsmart glasses , which use AI and have a camera , and newcomerLooktechlaunched a duo of smart glasses with AI and a television camera on Kickstarter . Amazon has its tv camera - less Echo Frames to chat with Alexa , and Lucyd founder you hands - barren ChatGPT access . bright eyewear from Xreal and TCL do n’t number , as they ’re not designed to be worn alfresco in the real world .
The landscape is , unfortunately , evolving in the same way it did with sound recording - only smart glasses . This time , one marque has experience the current smart glasses formula exactly right , and everyone else is content to do something very interchangeable , just without the key backing of an eyewear giant — and the primed and design inevitably suffer . pattern cramp smartwatches for years as the technical school matured , but because overbold specs are front and center on on our expression , plan isfar moreimportant , and tech brands have no station in coming up with the shape and fit . Meta knew this , and signing up Ray - Ban ( owned by mega - corporation Luxottica ) to make the eyeglasses while it dealt with the tech was the perfect answer .
What we ’re already see is knockoff Ray - Ban Wayfarer shapes with the same feature set arriving , and I do n’t like that much . Solos is at least trying something novel with its modular design , but the smart glassesaren’t all that well-fixed to wear .
There areplenty of high - technical school alternativestoo , but none manage to nail the compounding of aim , fit , and functionality that appeals to normal masses like the Ray - Ban Meta . I recognize Ray - Ban Meta smart glasses are n’t probable to just fleet away as Glass did , and we know Meta hasan exciting sequel in the whole works , but an sea of subpar or geeky , feature - packed , yet ugly imitator offer nothing at all to the consumer , and sure as shooting wo n’t get innovation in style and appeal in a still - emerging merchandise space . That ’s what concerns me most .
The beginning, not the end
Is there nothing good on the celestial horizon ? I ’m somewhat buoyed by what Google is doing withProject Astra . Although the demos show a Ray - Ban Meta alternative , just with Gemini at its sum , the conversational AIreally does look impressiveand perfectly suits men - loose use . However , there ’s no release date for Google ’s Project Astra impudent Methedrine at all . Furthermore , the concept may take so long to reach output that it ’ll simply evolve intoan Android XR headsetthat vie more withApple ’s Vision Prorather than being a Ray - Ban Meta contender . It also appears Samsung willtake this direction in 2025 .
There are places for full headsets like the Vision Pro and Google ’s Android XR , but those places are usually in the home . We ’re never realistically going to wear theVision Pro or similar headset outsidewhere people can see us , and we ’ve seen practical reality headset fail to break out of gaming and into the rest home of normal citizenry several times already . Whatever they ’re called and regardless of what they show on sieve , these headset are n’t the same as smart glasses , and abandon development in their favor is n’t the right direction to take . Normal mass wear out , realise , and grease one’s palms glasses . They do n’t do that with headsets .
While it wo n’t be the conclusion of the world for vendee if the Ray - Ban Meta continue unquestioned because it ’s a truly great Cartesian product , but it ’ll be a ignominy for the industry . We ’re finally at the point where smart drinking glass with a camera are acceptable , tech has locomote on so they can be light and fairly normal looking , and AI is mistily useful for once . This should be used as a jumping - off peak for further innovation , not an opportunity to tediously make more of the same or to pass the opportunity by and seek to make us wear bulky full headsets again alternatively . account shows this is not a post we want repeated .
