Meta Ray-Bans are one of the most fascinating new pieces of lifestyle tech I've encountered in years -- when I'm wearing them, that is.
I don't always have my black Meta Ray-Bans on my face, and there's a good reason for that. Battery life isn't good enough, and it's getting worse over time. On a recent trip to the UK, I wore them to the beach and got a low-battery warning after just one long walk in the tide pools.
As impressive as smart glasses are, the battery issues are just some of the problems the tech will have to solve. All signs indicate that increased functions, like built-in displays and gesture-controlling wristbands, will open up new possibilities but also increase price and complexity.
Meta's glasses-focused Connect 2025 conference is just a few weeks away on Sept 17-18. What should we expect? What needs to be addressed? Here's what's on my mind as a wave of new AR products appears ready to arrive.
CNET's Patrick Holland testing out a display-enabled pair of Google glasses at the company's May developer conference. James Martin/CNET
What will embedded displays inside smart glasses do?
While bulkier and less practical AR glasses have existed for years without a clear-cut focus (Magic Leap, Magic Leap 2 and Snap's Spectacles), the current wave of AI-enabled smart glasses, pioneered by Meta Ray-Bans, has left out displays entirely. Instead of displays in the lenses, onboard audio and cameras have provided enough features at a lower price and smaller size, making Meta Ray-Bans feel truly wearable.
But display-enabled smart glasses are on their way. A few outliers, like Even Realities, have already been there. New entries like Rokid Glasses and RayNeo X3 Pro are getting smaller, too. Google and Samsung are expected to eventually have their own smart glasses with displays. I tried a prototype demo late last year, and Google's recent developer conference showed off some demos.
Meta's going to be the big next-on-deck player. An anticipated pair of display-enabled smart glasses code-named "Hypernova" could cost around $800 and may be packaged with a gesture-sensing wristband (I tried it last year with a concept pair of Meta Orion glasses).
Meta is expected to also have a developer toolkit for its next-gen glasses, which makes sense. What exactly will the display or displays be used for? Most smart glass manufacturers are still trying to answer this question.
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