Meta is pushing further into consumer wearables with a new range of AI-powered smart glasses that drop the Ray-Ban branding and lower the entry price for its connected eyewear.
The new Meta-branded glasses start at US$299, around US$80 below the starting price of the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 line. The move signals a shift in Meta’s smart glasses strategy from premium eyewear collaboration toward a broader, more accessible product range carrying its own name.
Ray-Ban logo is gone
The collection includes three main styles: Meta Adventurer, Meta Fury and Meta Glasses by Kylie, a fashion-led model developed with Kylie Jenner. The Adventurer has a slimmer rectangular shape, the Fury uses a thicker square frame, and the Kylie version leans into a Y2K-inspired oval design, complete with a mirrored case and decorative detailing.
Although the Ray-Ban logo is gone, Meta has not abandoned its eyewear partner. EssilorLuxottica, the parent company of Ray-Ban and Oakley, remains involved in the design, manufacturing and distribution of the glasses.
That gives Meta access to established eyewear production and prescription-lens expertise while allowing it to build a product identity less dependent on another consumer brand.
What's new
From a technology standpoint, the new glasses remain close to Meta’s existing AI eyewear. They include built-in cameras, microphones, open-ear speakers and access to Meta AI, allowing users to take photos and videos, make calls, send messages, ask questions about their surroundings and use voice commands.
Meta is also making a larger AI pitch. The glasses are expected to launch with Muse Spark, Meta’s new AI model for wearables, with support for more natural voice interaction, expanded language coverage, live translation, audio-based pedestrian navigation and a “dynamic photo” feature that captures multiple frames and recommends the best shot.
The new range also puts more emphasis on comfort and fit. Adjustable nose pads, bendable temple tips and overextension hinges are designed to make the glasses suitable for more face shapes, while prescription support broadens their appeal beyond users looking only for sunglasses or camera glasses.
That wider appeal is important because smart glasses still sit in an uncertain category between gadget, fashion accessory and future computing platform. Meta has spent years arguing that eyewear could become a natural home for AI assistants, hands-free media capture and eventually augmented reality. But for now, the strongest use cases remain convenience-driven rather than essential.
Privacy - a challenge
The bigger challenge is privacy. Camera-equipped glasses can record from the wearer’s point of view, creating concerns for people nearby who may not know when they are being filmed. Meta has already faced criticism over misuse of its glasses, and reports around possible facial-recognition features have sharpened scrutiny of the category.
Meta executives have acknowledged the problem and said the company is working on updates to address tampering and misuse. The company will need those safeguards to be visible, credible and easy to understand if it wants smart glasses to move from early adopters into everyday public use.
The lower price could help Meta put more AI glasses on more faces. But the company’s task is not only to make the hardware cheaper and more stylish. It also has to convince consumers and everyone around them — that Meta-branded eyewear can be useful without becoming intrusive.