Meta Unveils Ray-Ban Gen 2 Smart Glasses: A Leap Forward in AI Wearables

Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 AI glasses have more flair, battery life, and video power, and I think they look good on me

If it weren't for that brilliant Cosmic Blue finish and nearly all-day battery life, I might feel sorry for the Meta AI Ray-Ban Gen 2 smart glasses (a.k.a Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2) launching in the shadow of Meta Ray-Ban Display. But this is like comparing apples to oranges. The Meta Ray-Ban Displays are really a smartphone for your face, while Gen 2 glasses are a smart evolutionary leap that improves the smart glasses in most of the necessary spaces. I got to spend a little bit of time with the new frames and, yes, even got to choose my color. I selected Cosmic Blue (this and Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro give me dualing Asteroid Movie vibes) because it's one of three, limited-edition "seasonal colors" that include the blue, "headliner Music Violet", and "Skyler shines Asteroid Grape". This is in addition to like 27 new color options for the Meta smart glasses. The Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 arrives in packaging virtually unchanged from the last edition. Even the leather charge case looks the same. Inside, I found my dark-blue frames, charged and ready to go. Well, sort of, I needed a software update first. The frames work with the Meta AI app, and while they can do some on-board processing due to the on-board Qualcomm AR CPUs, a lot of the work still happens in the app. Aside from the color, the Gen 2 frames look very much like my last pair. Meta saved most of the upgrades for internal components like the batteries and cameras. On the photographic side, we still have the 12MP ultrawide camera, but now it can shoot up to 3K video, a nice doubling of resolution for all those creators who want to show you the details of the blueberry buckle recipe. The Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 frames will not shoot 3K by default. You have to dig into the settings to change it. Perhaps the biggest component change comes by way of the batteries which, thanks in part to a more battery-sipping camera, will last 8 hours of mixed use on a charge. Better yet, they charge to 50% in 20 minutes inside the case. It takes 75 minutes for a full charge. After 4 or so hours of use, I had 47% of battery left. There are still five microphones that, in my brief experience, can hear and respond to a whisper. The open-ear stereo speakers are pretty good, though they still can't compare to Bluetooth earbuds with ANC. Meta AI gets almost continuous improvements. I think that the latency from query to action or answer is lower than ever. I have yet to try the new Live Translation feature or Conversation Focus, which uses the microphones to help you hear the person in front of you more clearly. For translation, Meta plans to add German and Portuguese later this year. I wore the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 for most of the day, taking photos and videos with a push of the button or my voice and asking Meta about the world in front of me. It's a nice AI companion. I appreciate their polarized lenses, but without a prescription, the world looked pretty blurry (I occasionally tried to wear them on top of my real glasses). By the way, they're still $379 / AU$689 with 32GB of on-board storage. Will you be buying or upgrading to Gen 2? If so, what color? Let me know in the comments.

Meta's new Ray-Ban and Oakley glasses get fresh style and 2x battery life

More battery, better video capture, and improved audio relay are the highlight additions. Meta is adding new models to its AI smartglasses line-up, adding new styles and colors, alongside a bunch of new features, as well. The Ray-Ban variant also gets two new limited edition transparent trims, both of which now rock a matte surface finish. The new Oakley smart glasses, on the other hand, come with an IP67-tier protection for dust and water exposure. What's changing? The next-gen Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses double the battery efficiency. Compared to the previous generation, they nearly double the battery life to eight hours, while being able to charge up to 50% in nearly 20 minutes. With the charging case thrown into the mix, users are promised a per-charge mileage worth 48 hours. On the functional side of things, the Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) enables 3K Ultra HD video recording, alongside UHD video capture at 60 fps. They also add Hyperlapse and slow-motion video capture capability into the mix. Recommended Videos If you wear Garmin devices, the new Oakley-branded glasses will automatically start recording videos with certain stats, such as speed and distance, overlaid on the stitched video. A similar partnership is in place with Strava, as well. The more exciting parts One of the coolest features coming to Meta's new smart glasses is Conversation focus, which essentially puts the speaker's voice into focus while suppressing background noise. It will also be made available on Meta's older Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta HSTN glasses via a software update. Additionally, the live translation system is adding support for German and Portuguese. "Soon, you'll be able to have back-and-forth conversations between six languages -- even when you're in airplane mode," adds Meta. The Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) starts at $379 USD, while the performance-focused Oakley Meta Vanguard model will hit the shelves priced at $499. Both models are now up for pre-orders, while the latter will be up for grabs starting October 21.

Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 smart glasses are official - here are 5 key upgrades you need to know about

It's been a couple of years since the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses launched, and after much speculation, rumor, and official teasing, the 2nd-generation of these smart specs have landed, along with a bunch of appealing upgrades over their immediate predecessors. Maybe you're considering investing in these new glasses, or perhaps you're just wondering how far this lightweight form factor has progressed - but whatever the reason for your interest, we've got everything you need to know on the product, straight from Meta. The starting price for the new Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 smart glasses is $379 / £379 / AU$599 for standard lens options, and as before, there are multiple frame shapes, colors, and lens varieties to choose from. In fact, there are some 27 different configurations in all. In our Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses review, we described the battery life of the smart specs as being somewhere in the region of four hours, which matches the time between charges that Meta claimed users could expect. With the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2, that battery life is doubled, so you can look forward to eight hours of battery life. While Meta hasn't said how it's achieved these rather dramatic battery life improvements, we're all for them. Presumably, either the battery has been made bigger, or some significant power efficiency savings have been made. That's enough to spend a whole day out and about, and away from a power socket, without worrying about your smart specs dying on you - although of course, to some extent, battery life will depend on usage. You'll get five hours of continuous audio playback or voice calling, for example, according to Meta. While we're on the subject of batteries, the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 will charge up more quickly than the previous model as well. That can make a real difference when you need to head out and only have a few minutes to charge up your device. According to Meta, the latest version of the smart specs can charge from 0 to 50 percent in as little as 20 minutes. That's two minutes quicker than the figures we were quoted for the original Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses. As before, a charging case is also included, providing even more potential for on-the-go battery life. This time around, the case provides 48 hours of extra battery life (so six full cycles), up from 32 hours on the earlier model. One of the benefits of smart glasses like these is that you can capture photos and videos quickly and more naturally. Instead of having to dig into a pocket or a bag for your phone, you're able to capture shots of anything in front of you almost instantly. With the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2, the video resolution has been upped to what Meta is calling "3K Ultra HD", which is apparently 6.4 million pixels per frame - twice as many as with the first model. However, the megapixel rating stays the same at 12MP. That 3K resolution comes paired with a 30 frames-per-second record rate. You can also opt for a 1440p resolution at 30 fps, or a 1200p resolution at 60 fps, so you can pick the best mode for whatever shooting scenario you're dealing with. In the coming weeks, Meta says it's going to be rolling out two new video capture modes for you to play around with: hyperlapse (for squashing a long period of time into a shorter clip) and slow motion (for extending a short period of time). The new modes should give you more flexibility when it comes to what you can do with the smart specs on your face - though we'll have to wait and see exactly how the modes work and the sort of video quality you can expect. Strictly speaking, this upgrade isn't exclusive to the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2, as Meta says it's going to be appearing on all of its AI glasses. However, the latest model will give you those extra video resolution and frame rate options. There are other upgrades on the way, though again, they're not exclusive to the 2nd generation of these glasses. Meta says a new feature called conversation focus is "coming soon", which uses the open ear speakers on the glasses to amplify the voice of someone talking directly to you. That should make it easier to understand people in busy public places, and it'll all happen automatically - so you don't need to be fiddling with settings for it to work. You can do something similar with the Apple AirPods. More software upgrades are arriving with extra language packs for the live translation feature, and the supported languages are going to grow to six with the addition of German and Portuguese. They'll even work offline if they've been downloaded in advance.