Meta Ray Bans: A Pleasant Surprise

Wearable meets AI Voice control

At the end of the year, I saw the new Meta Ray Ban glasses topping several "best of" product lists. Having been an early adopter of Snap's Spectacles (which I used extensively), I was curious. While I enjoyed Spectacles, their use case was primarily limited to capturing photos and videos uniquely. They were an interesting entry in the wearable category, the first of their kind after Google Glass.

I purchased a pair of Meta Ray-Bans with low expectations, but I was in for a big surprise. I knew they were designed for photos and videos and tightly integrated with Meta's platforms (Facebook, Instagram, etc.), but they offered much more. I'm a big fan.

First, the glasses look great. I opted for the "jean"-colored frames with red lenses. They look like any other stylish pair of Ray-Bans. You have to look closely to even notice the camera lenses, which is a stark contrast to Spectacles. Snap's glasses were very obvious about their camera functionality, perhaps to avoid any privacy concerns. The yellow circle around Spectacles' lenses was a clever branding element, but it also screamed "camera!" Meta's approach is much more subtle.

Using the glasses is a breeze. A quick press of a button on the right side snaps a photo. Press and hold the same button to record the video. You can adjust the recording time in the settings (mine's set to 3 minutes). Livestreaming is also an option, though it requires a few extra steps within the Instagram or Facebook app. The quality of the photos and videos is good, though not entirely up to par with today's top-tier smartphones. But for capturing everyday moments, they're perfectly fine.

What surprised me was the audio. I'm a podcast addict and usually listen through earbuds while walking my dog. The Meta Ray Bans can connect to Spotify, Amazon Music, and Calm. I decided to try them, and the audio quality is fantastic! No more pausing or fumbling with earbuds when someone wants to chat. Music sounds good, too, though I probably wouldn't use them primarily for that. For podcasts, however, they're hard to beat.

The glasses also offer some basic communication features. They'll notify you of incoming text messages and read them aloud using Meta's voice AI. You can also receive calls. The biggest downside is that you can't respond to texts or initiate calls. Hopefully, Meta will address that in future versions or software updates.

Speaking of voice AI, I found Meta's version to be excellent – much better than Siri, in my opinion. It's more akin to Google's voice assistant. You can ask things like, "Hey Meta, what am I looking at?" the glasses will snap a photo and use its AI to describe the scene.

One feature I didn't explore much was the translation capability. I was hoping for real-time conversation translation, but it seems limited to translating phrases. Real-time translation is too demanding for the glasses' current processing power.

If you're looking for stylish, "smart" sunglasses with cool tech, I highly recommend the Meta Ray Bans!