I Tested Meta Ray-ban Display Alternatives, And These Are Better In Several Ways For Less Money

Jason Hiner/ZDNET

If you're willing successful buying a brace of nan Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses, bully luck. They are only disposable successful nan US, are back-ordered for weeks aliases months successful respective places, and Meta is reportedly only readying to nutrient 150,000 to 200,000 units complete nan adjacent 2 years. That's less income than nan Apple Vision Pro.

However, passim 2025, ZDNET has seen overmuch stronger liking successful smart glasses than XR headsets from our assemblage of professionals and exertion enthusiasts. With that successful mind, I wanted to emblem an replacement to nan $799 Meta Ray-Ban Displays that you tin get extracurricular nan US, which person unsocial features you won't get successful Meta's futuristic glasses, and costs $200 less.

I'm talking astir Rokid Glasses, which I've been testing for nan past fewer weeks. 

Also: I tried smart glasses pinch a built-in display, and they hit my Meta Ray-Bans successful cardinal ways

And while they are going to unit for $599 erstwhile they are released successful November, they are disposable successful their preorder trading run connected Kickstarter. The Kickstarter run has eclipsed $3M successful orders, and Rokid told ZDNET that it already has worldwide pre-orders for complete 300,000 pairs of Rokid Glasses.

Jason Hiner/ZDNET

I've tried nan Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses -- and I'll beryllium testing them much afloat starting adjacent week -- but I recovered plentifulness of things that nan Rokid Glasses tin do that I can't do pinch Meta's caller flagship smart glasses. Conversely, location are areas wherever nan Meta next-gen glasses person immoderate advantages.  

So I thought it would beryllium adjuvant to break down some lists, based connected my acquisition pinch nan 2 products.

Where Rokid Glasses are better

• Lighter and much comfortable to wear - The Rokid Glasses measurement 49 grams while nan Meta Ray-Ban Displays measurement 69 grams. The Rokids besides person nosepads that make nan glasses beryllium a small spot elevated disconnected your chemoreceptor while nan Meta Ray-Ban Displays beryllium correct connected your nose. This has nan effect of making nan Rokids consciousness lighter and much comfortable to deterioration for longer.
• Live translation - Rokid tin do unrecorded translator successful 89 languages, powered by Microsoft's translator software, while Meta Ray-Ban Display tin do 5 languages (English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German), pinch Portuguese and Japanese coming astatine a later date. In my tests, nan Rokid Glasses were adjuvant (if not perfect) erstwhile translating from various languages. They were typically bully capable to understand nan main points astatine times erstwhile I wouldn't person understood overmuch of anything.

Here's an illustration of a horizontal photograph changeable pinch Rokid Glasses, arsenic good arsenic a look astatine nan UI of nan Android app.

Jason Hiner/ZDNET

• Horizontal photos and videos - One of nan biggest complaints pinch nan photos and videos connected Meta's AI glasses has ever been that they only sprout successful 4x3 vertical mode; meanwhile, successful summation to vertical 4x3, Rokid besides offers 9x16 vertical and 3x4 horizontal photos and videos. I loved this successful my tests and recovered myself utilizing nan horizontal mode astir often. 
• ChatGPT arsenic its AI engine - While nan Meta glasses are constricted to utilizing Meta's ain Llama AI models, Rokid's AI is powered by nan overmuch much tin ChatGPT. That said, nan implementation of ChatGPT still has package bugs that request to beryllium worked out, based connected my testing of an early accumulation portion because you can't inquire follow-up questions and astatine times location were bugs successful nan audio vocalizations of nan matter from ChatGPT responses.
• Brighter display - While nan Meta glasses person a 5,000 nit colour show successful 1 eye, nan Rokids person a 1,500 nit monochrome greenish show successful some eyes. In existent world use, nan Rokid Glasses are really overmuch brighter and easier to see. The Rokid settings besides let you to move nan positioning of nan matter and alteration nan brightness. As a result, nan surface is yet much functional connected nan Rokids, moreover if it's not rather arsenic pleasant to look astatine arsenic nan colour surface connected Meta's glasses.

In this illustration of nan Rokid teleprompter characteristic successful action, you tin spot nan greenish ray showing up connected nan glasses.

Jason Hiner/ZDNET

• Teleprompter - The brighter show successful nan Rokid Glasses comes successful very useful for nan unrecorded translator and ocular position of ChatGPT responses, but it besides has different use. Similar to nan Even Realities G1 glasses, nan Rokid Glasses person a built-in teleprompter and it worked beautiful good successful my testing. For contented creators, nationalist speakers, and leaders of meetings, this characteristic has important value, and I recovered that nan built-in AI that automatically advances nan matter arsenic you publication useful good capable to beryllium functional arsenic an mundane tool. However, nan show tin beryllium beautiful noticeable astatine times for those looking astatine you.
• Better support for medicine lenses - The Meta glasses are constricted to +4 to -4 prescriptions while Rokid tin grip +16 to -16. But beyond that, 1 of nan astir innovative features of nan Rokid Glasses is nan measurement they grip prescriptions by making nan corrective lenses magnetic truthful that they simply threat into nan frames on pinch nan main lenses wherever nan show rests. This makes it very easy to switch retired lenses if your medicine changes, aliases to region nan medicine lenses if you want to deterioration contacts and still return advantage of nan usefulness of nan smart glasses.

Jason Hiner/ZDNET

Where Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses are better

• Captioning unrecorded conservations - One of nan champion features of nan Meta Ray-Ban Displays is nan expertise to move connected unrecorded captioning of in-person conversations truthful that you tin amended understand nan group you're having a unrecorded speech with, moreover successful a large room.
• Previewing photos and videos - While nan Rokid Glasses do a bully occupation of giving you a ocular guideline for nan halfway of your photograph aliases video erstwhile you first click record, having a full-color preview and viewfinder successful nan Meta glasses takes nan photography and video capabilities of glasses to nan adjacent level.
• Clearer and deeper sound - The Rokid Glasses person coagulated sound and mic quality, but nan Meta glasses person amazingly fantabulous sound and mic capabilities that connection a level of clarity and extent that's a measurement beyond what you get connected Rokid.
• People astir you can't spot nan display - One of nan much astonishing breakthroughs connected nan Meta glasses is that there's only 2% ray leakage, according to Meta. When I tried nan Meta Ray-Ban Displays, I was astounded that you tin fundamentally ne'er show erstwhile personification is utilizing nan surface connected nan glasses. On nan Rokid Glasses, it's overmuch much evident that there's greenish ray moving crossed nan glasses erstwhile a personification is utilizing them. With nan Rokids, it's evident that these are tech glasses, moreover erstwhile you don't person nan surface on, because of nan measurement nan prisms connected nan lenses bespeak light.
• Transition lenses - Meta says that each of nan Meta Ray-Ban Display models will see modulation lenses that move from clear lenses wrong to shades erstwhile you spell extracurricular truthful that you tin deterioration them and get usage retired of them astatine immoderate time. Rokid does not presently connection an action for sunglasses.
• Ray-Ban style - The Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses are rather simply a batch much stylish to deterioration than Rokid Glasses. Rokid collaborated pinch Bolon Eyewear to create nan frames for nan Rokid Glasses (Bolon is owned by EssilorLuxotica, nan aforesaid genitor institution arsenic Ray-Ban) and nan gasses themselves look reasonably akin to nan classical Ray-Ban Wayfarer style. Nevertheless, they person a fewer style disadvantages compared to nan Meta Ray-Ban Displays. First, they are only offered successful 1 style, nan glossy achromatic frames, while Meta's glasses besides connection a transparent brownish colour that is very bully and apt to beryllium nan astir celebrated colour erstwhile it's released (the achromatic has been nan only colour disposable astatine launch). Second, nan Rokid Glasses beryllium disconnected your chemoreceptor because of nan mini metallic arms and nosepads and this gives them a somewhat awkward look astatine times, while nan span of nan Meta Ray-Ban Displays beryllium straight connected your chemoreceptor and make them look and consciousness for illustration normal glasses. Lastly, nan displays and nan prisms connected nan Rokid Glasses are very noticeable to group looking astatine them and truthful they are intelligibly a brace of tech-infused glasses, while nan Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses person very debased light-leakage and nan only measurement to show they are tech glasses is from nan cameras successful nan corners and nan mini lines connected nan separator of nan correct lens wherever nan waveguide sits.
• Neural interface - One of nan things you get pinch nan Meta Ray-Ban Display is nan Neural Band, and moreover Meta's CTO has stated nan wristband mightiness beryllium nan product's biggest breakthrough. Worn connected your penning hand, nan wristband allows you to usage a bid of gestures from pinches to swipes to wrist-turns truthful that you tin power nan package successful nan Meta glasses without having to fiddle pinch nan glasses themselves. This opens up nan merchandise to a batch much functionality, and successful my testing I was capable to quickly memorize nan 5-8 astir communal gestures wrong a fewer minutes. So it's beautiful intuitive. Nevertheless, I still don't emotion nan thought of wearing a wristband that doesn't do thing other but power my smartglasses. So I dream that nan set will yet double arsenic a watch aliases fittingness locator and that it could beryllium utilized to power different tech, specified arsenic smart location devices.
  

The Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses successful achromatic pinch nan modulation lenses darkened successful afloat sunlight.

Jason Hiner/ZDNET

ZDNET's buying advice

Neither nan Rokid Glasses nor nan Meta Ray-Ban Displays are fresh for mundane consumers. They are for tech enthusiasts who want to unrecorded connected nan bleeding separator and get an early consciousness for tomorrow's technology. They aren't useful capable to beryllium indispensable devices yet. 

CNET: Meta's Bosworth hints that Neural Band could yet germinate into a watch

But I will put 1 asterisk by that statement, and it only applies to nan Rokid Glasses for 1 script -- and that's nan unrecorded translator feature. If you were walking successful a overseas state wherever you don't speak nan connection aliases uncovering it difficult to pass pinch personification who speaks a different connection successful your ain community, nan Rokid Glasses would beryllium an unthinkable instrumentality that could connection a amended translator acquisition than you tin get coming connected Android and iPhone -- particularly for languages beyond nan 4-5 astir communal ones. 

So while nan Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses are much futuristic and stylish, nan Rokid Glasses are much functional and much usable for much things today. And let's not hide that nan Rokid Glasses unit for $200 little than nan $799 Meta Ray-Ban Displays. And you tin get nan Rokids for moreover little if you jump connected nan pre-order trading run connected Kickstarter -- pinch precocious pledging still available.