Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses Review: Fine Audio and Video, Privacy Issues

Launching a brand new era of good glasses along side one of many world’s best-known sun shades producers proper because the northern hemisphere heads into winter is the sort of pondering that might solely come out of a Golden State firm like Meta.

Half a world away, although, I’m testing out the brand new Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses in a grey and dismal UK. It is decidedly not sun shades season, so strolling round with a pair on my head in early November, the solar a distant reminiscence, makes me really feel (to make use of that the majority British of idioms) a little bit of a pillock.

Of course, these new Ray-Bans aren’t about blocking out harsh daylight, though they’re good at that anyway, rated to worldwide security requirements for the US, UK, EU, and Australia. And they don’t seem to be solely obtainable as sun shades—Ray-Ban affords a alternative of two body kinds, its traditional Wayfarer and the brand new Headliner, in a number of colours and with lenses in opacities starting from clear “common” specs to transitions to darkish shades. Prescription lenses are additionally obtainable—and sure important, as I’ll get to—for a further payment.

Whatever mixture you may go for, although, the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are concerning the tech crammed inside the frames, with a collection of cameras, audio system, and communication instruments aimed toward letting wearers seize and share their lives with ease.

Following within the footsteps of 2021’s Ray-Ban Stories, the brand new mannequin offers a number of notable upgrades to the {hardware}, making for a product that Meta now feels assured sufficient about to immediately slap its identify on. The built-in digital camera will get the largest on-paper bump, leaping from 5 MP to 12 MP. That interprets to a rise in picture decision, up from 2592 x 1944 to 3024 x 4032. Video will get an identical improve, from 1184 x 1184 to 1376 x 1824, however stays at 30 fps.

On the sound entrance, the frames now characteristic 5 extremely well-hidden mics that improve the audio high quality of your movies, and improved directional audio system that sit simply in entrance of your ears, providing—Meta says—a 50 % improve in quantity and twice the bass of their predecessors.

Improved comms options imply assist for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 requirements. Best of all for the snap-happy, onboard storage will get a whopping 8X improve, from 4 GB to 32 GB. Across the board enhancements, then—however how are they to make use of?

Surprisingly Stylish

As glasses, they’re surprisingly comfy. The Wayfarer pair I’ve been testing—a “shiny black” mannequin body with darkish green-tinged shades—felt barely tight at first, however that was probably in distinction to my common spectacles. Once accustomed to the totally different heft and grip—my regular glasses are 22 grams, whereas Meta’s Wayfarers weigh in at 50 grams, however that is solely 5 grams greater than commonplace Wayfarers—they had been cozy sufficient for longer intervals of damage.