I Tried The Meta Ray-ban Display Glasses, And They Got Me Excited For The Post-smartphone Era

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

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I sewage to deterioration nan caller Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses astatine Meta Connect 2025 connected Wednesday. And while they are a agelong measurement from replacing your smartphone, they are bully capable to make it clear that smart glasses are a batch amended erstwhile they see a heads-up display. 

From what I knowledgeable connected Wednesday, we're decidedly taking a measurement toward a world wherever we walk little clip pinch our heads buried successful our smartphones.

Also: Meta Connect 2025 unrecorded updates: Ray-Ban Display, Oakley Vanguard smart glasses, more

In nan Meta Connect keynote connected Wednesday evening astatine nan company's headquarters, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said we've mislaid a small thing arsenic a nine pinch nan proliferation of smartphones. Meta's dream is that smart glasses tin thief reconstruct immoderate of what we've mislaid by allowing group to enactment successful nan infinitesimal much often.

Meta is attempting to do that by releasing its next-generation glasses pinch a bright, full-color show and a smart wristband that sounds subtle gestures from your manus and tin do respective caller things not imaginable successful a brace of smart glasses until now. 

Zuckerberg was intelligibly much giddy astir nan motorboat of nan Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses than thing other announced astatine Meta Connect 2025.

"We've been moving connected glasses for complete 10 years astatine Meta, and this is 1 of those typical moments," Zuckerberg said. "I'm really proud of this, and I'm really proud of our squad for achieving this." 

Mark Zuckerberg strode triumphantly onto nan Meta Connect 2025 shape wearing nan Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses.

Jason Hiner/ZDNET

Also: I tried nan Meta Oakley Vanguard smart glasses, and they're cooler than they look

The glasses will unit for $799, which includes some nan glasses and nan wristband. They travel successful 2 colors, shiny achromatic and and a transparent ray brown, and each pairs person modulation lenses. They will support medicine lenses betwixt +4.00 to -4.00, but it's unclear really overmuch medicine lenses will adhd to nan cost. In bid to bargain these, you'll request to spell into a shop to get fitted for nan wristband.

The glasses person 6 hours of mixed-use artillery life and nan wristband has 18 hours of artillery life, according to Meta. The glasses are water-resistant while nan wristband has an IPX7 standing for impermanent immersion successful water. The merchandise arrives successful stores connected September 30 and astatine that clip you'll beryllium capable to spell and get a demo astatine Best Buy, Sunglass Hut, LensCrafters, and Ray-Ban Stores. They will yet beryllium disposable astatine immoderate Verizon stores arsenic well.

What it's for illustration to deterioration nan Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses

These Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses measurement 69 grams, truthful they are a small larger than nan audio-only Meta Ray-Bans that measurement 49 grams. However, erstwhile wearing them I didn't find them to beryllium dense and I hardly noticed immoderate quality from nan regular Meta Ray-Bans, which I deterioration almost daily.
These Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses person a full-color surface successful nan correct oculus and nan show sits somewhat disconnected to nan broadside truthful that it doesn't distract you. It outputs up to 5,000 nits of brightness -- brighter than immoderate smartphone aliases moreover nan Apple Watch Ultra-- truthful that you tin spot nan show whether you're wrong aliases outside. Meta utilized a liquid crystal connected silicon (LCOS) show and 1 of nan astir singular things astir it is that nan personification you're looking astatine can't spot it erstwhile they are looking astatine you, truthful it doesn't go a distraction.

The EMG neural wristband connected nan Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses.

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

The glasses person a afloat operating strategy to return advantage of nan show by allowing you to seizure photos and videos, perceive to music, invoke unrecorded captions during a conversation, get ocular feedback for questions you inquire AI, prosecute successful WhatsApp messaging, and usage AI to seizure notes connected important conversations. 

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

The superior measurement you interact pinch nan caller smart glasses is by utilizing an EMG neural wristband that is arsenic overmuch of a breakthrough arsenic nan smart glasses display. Within 5-10 minutes of utilizing nan wristband, I was pinching pinch my thumb and mediate digit to spell back, swiping crossed screens pinch my thumb, pinching pinch my forefinger and thumb to prime things, and pinching pinch my forefinger and thumb and twisting my wrist to move a mounting up aliases down (such arsenic volume). 

Zuckerberg called nan wristband "the world's first mainstream neural interface."

The wristband itself is made of a sturdy cloth worldly and uses a operation of a metallic cinch and magnets to fresh snugly astir your wrist. I recovered it to beryllium beautiful comfortable, and wrong a fewer minutes I didn't deliberation astir being connected my wrist. 

Jason Hiner/ZDNET

The show itself is reasonably clear and easy to read, though astatine times I recovered myself closing my near oculus successful bid to spot nan surface much intelligibly done my correct eye. But I particularly loved being capable to framework photos and videos pinch nan surface earlier shooting aliases to set nan framing during a video recording. You tin moreover usage nan pinch-and-wrist-twist motion to zoom up to 3x. You tin past preview nan photos aliases videos connected nan glasses and matter them to personification aliases station them connected societal media without having to usage your phone.

Also: Meta Ray-Bans vs. Oakley: I tested some smart glasses, there's a clear winner

One of nan smartest things I saw nan glasses do successful my clip trying them was nan unrecorded captioning feature, wherever I identified nan personification opinionated correct successful beforehand of maine arsenic nan 1 I wanted it to attraction on, and it transcribed only their words while ignoring nan words successful conversations of different group successful nan aforesaid room. 

You could easy ideate being successful a noisy spot and having nan instrumentality only salary attraction to nan personification you were talking to and transcribing their words connected nan surface while drafting retired nan words of others astir you. In fact, this would beryllium ace adjuvant erstwhile having an important speech pinch personification successful a large room truthful that you could drawback everything they were saying. 

This is related to a caller characteristic called Conversation Focus, which is besides connected nan audio-only smart glasses. It amplifies nan audio of personification you're speaking pinch directly.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and CTO Andrew Bosworth demo nan Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses astatine Meta Connect 2025 connected September 17, 2025.

Jason Hiner/ZDNET

Similarly, nan Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses seemed to beryllium amended astatine acting only connected my sound erstwhile utilizing sound commands and not being distracted by nan voices of group astir maine who were besides talking. That is simply a overmuch smarter characteristic than nan modular Meta Ray-Bans and Meta Oakley glasses are presently tin of. 

Another 1 of nan smart things I saw nan glasses do came erstwhile prompting nan AI. I asked for a look of banana breadstuff and nan AI went retired to nan net and recovered 1 and past organized it into a bid of cards that one could swipe done to position step-by-step. This would person been a batch nicer to usage hands-free successful nan room alternatively than getting nutrient connected my phone, tablet, aliases laptop.

Something other that looked absorbing but I didn't get to effort was nan expertise to respond to a short matter connection by utilizing nan manus pinch nan wristband to constitute nan letters and past let nan instrumentality to move them into words successful a message. It's for illustration utilizing an invisible stylus -- decidedly looking guardant to testing that. Other things nan glasses tin do see video calling your friends to fto them spot what you spot and turn-by-turn stepping directions (in 28 cities to start, because Meta is doing its ain mapping). 

Also: Are smart glasses pinch built-in proceeding immunodeficiency viable? My verdict aft months of testing

Lastly, different 1 of nan features that Meta talked astir connected shape but I didn't get to effort was Live AI. The thought pinch this characteristic is that nan glasses tin spot what you spot and perceive what you hear. So you tin commencement a Live AI convention erstwhile personification is astir to springiness you immoderate important accusation that you request to remember, for illustration instructions, explanations, sharing an important idea, aliases a connection to springiness to personification else. Then, it tin return notes, make a summary, grounds steps to remember, and mostly make judge you get it correct without missing important details. 

I'm looking guardant to trying nan Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses successful nan weeks and months up and reporting backmost connected what I learn. You tin master to spot a batch much hands-on perspectives, reviews, and characteristic breakdowns present connected ZDNET. And support an oculus out, because we're besides expecting a batch much smart glasses to beryllium released complete nan adjacent 6-12 months, including Google's re-entry into nan abstraction pinch caller glasses powered by Android XR.

ZDNET's buying advice

The Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses are an early adopter product, boarding connected a dev kit. Let's beryllium honorable that $800 is simply a ton to walk connected a brace of glasses. But wow, what a futuristic brace of glasses they are. We person to beryllium honorable that they are going to springiness you a sensation of nan early for nan adjacent year, but they could quickly get superseded by different caller products from Meta, Google, and others wrong nan adjacent 12-18 months.

So if you bargain these, you astir apt shouldn't deliberation of this arsenic an finance successful a brace of glasses that you'll beryllium wearing for 2-3 years. You should beryllium an early adopter who lives astatine nan cutting separator of tech and either wants aliases needs to enactment retired beforehand connected nan latest innovations because it's your activity aliases your No. 1 hobby.

If you do bargain nan Meta Ray-Ban Display, my prediction is that you'll astir apt deterioration them for a twelvemonth earlier upgrading to different brace of smart glasses that leapfrog these. Then you'll perchance walk them disconnected to family member, friend, aliases colleague. If you person ne'er tried a brace of smart glasses earlier past I'd urge getting a demo of nan Meta Ray-Ban Display but starting pinch nan solid Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 glasses aliases nan caller Meta Oakley Vanguard glasses (if you're much sporty) to get a first look astatine nan smart glasses experience.