Looking to pick up a pair of Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses this year? You might want to hold off on that decision, as Meta’s annual product conference will kick off on September 17, and we’re expecting the company to unveil new smart glasses.
Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses have been one of Meta’s most successful products to date, garnering tons of attention worldwide and selling millions of units. You may not be aware that these glasses are actually second-generation Ray-Ban Meta glasses, as the original Ray-Ban Stories weren’t nearly as popular.
Part of the success was greatly improved hardware between the first and second generation, while the other part has been the excitement of Meta AI being built into Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses.
Since we’re anticipating Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses (Gen 3) to be announced at Meta Connect 2025, my recommendation is to wait and see what Meta will unveil and how much better they might be over Ray-Ban’s current offerings. For now, let’s go over the potential differences based on what we know to help you make a decision now.
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Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses (Gen 3) are expected to come in two main varieties: sunglasses and prescription glasses. The currently available Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are offered in three different traditional Ray-Ban styles, each with a selection of colors and lens types. However, Meta is unable to offer all types of prescriptions due to the frame styles.
Separating prescription and sunglasses styles would likely allow these prescription glasses users to utilize the new generation of smart glasses. If you’ve already taken a look at the available prescription options for Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses and can’t get what you need, you should definitely wait and see what’s available with the new rumored style options.
Folks who are looking to primarily take photos or videos with their smart glasses should also wait to see what upgrades Meta will deliver with the camera on Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses (Gen 3). The recently released Oakley Meta HSTN smart glasses offer a notable camera upgrade for folks recording active video. If you plan to take your smart glasses out for a run, hike, or even while playing sports, waiting for a potential camera upgrade is a good option.
That’s because the higher-resolution camera allows Meta to offer better image stabilization, keeping the video jitter-free and bump-free, almost no matter what you do. We don’t expect any other camera upgrades over what Meta just delivered with Oakley Meta HSTN smart glasses, though, but Meta could always surprise us with AI super resolution or something.
Speaking of Meta AI, we’re expecting a big upgrade for Meta AI on all of the company’s upcoming smart glasses. That should include Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses (Gen 3), as it’s likely the company will include a new chipset that’s able to do even more than the two-year-old chipset in the current Ray-Ban Meta product.
This upgraded Meta AI is said to be able to provide longer interaction sessions, including additional live AI time with recording storage. Meta AI will be able to pull up data from your personal recordings on request, helping you remember where you left your car keys, the coffee mug, or even someone’s name whom you previously addressed.
Google’s upcoming Android XR-powered smart glasses are also able to perform these functions, and we fully expect any competing Meta smart glasses to be able to do it, too.
What about the price?
Of course, any upgrade discussion isn’t complete without a price. While there are currently no rumors regarding the price of Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses (Gen 3), we don’t expect Meta to launch them at a wildly different price range than what’s currently available.
At the most, they’ll probably retail for $400-500, just like Oakley Meta HSTN. Meta Hypernova, the other, more advanced smart glasses that we expect to see unveiled at Meta Connect, are rumored to retail for $800, and there’s no expectation that Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses (Gen 3) will cost anywhere near that price since they aren’t expected to feature any display technology like the Hypernova.
Still, there’s a high chance that they could be more expensive than the $250-300 price tag you would spend on the current Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, but we’ll have to wait and see. At the least, if Meta does release its new smart glasses before the end of the year, you could always pick up a discounted pair of Gen 2s during this year’s Black Friday sales in November.
Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses
Style meets intelligence with Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses! Pick the style you love and get Meta AI-powered smarts, a great first-person camera, Bluetooth speakers, and a nifty charging case that’ll keep your glasses topped up all day long.
