GoKawiilAs Google, Samsung, Warby Parker, Gentle Monster and Xreal ready their first smart glasses for the fall, Meta's launching a new line of its own smart glasses to get a head start on the competition. And Instagram star Kylie Jenner is part of it.
I saw the new-look glasses in person at a Meta event in New York on Monday, and for the most part they're subtle design riffs on looks that have already been around. This time, however, the glasses are only Meta branded (called Meta Glasses), without any Ray-Ban or Oakley branding at all. They're still being made by Essilor Luxottica and sold via the same retail channels, but they start at a lower price than Ray-Ban and Oakley models: $299 and up, versus $379 for Ray-Ban Gen 2 glasses or $499 for the Ray-Ban Scriber and Blazer Optics glasses that launched this spring.
Meta is by far the leader when it comes to consumer adoption of smart glasses. In the first quarter of this year, its Ray-Ban lineup accounted for 69% of shipments, which jumped 167% year over year, according to market researcher IDC. But in his report, issued last week, IDC research manager Jitesh Ubrani wrote that "the challengers assembling against it are formidable."
Watch this: New Meta Glasses Hands-On: New Designs Start at $299, and There's a Kylie Jenner Model? 02:57
Lower price, comfier fit?
The price drop is probably going to be welcome, especially since these glasses look to be otherwise the same comfort and feature sets of existing Ray-Ban and Oakley models. All the glasses are designed with a comfort fit like the new Scriber/Blazer models, which I'm wearing as my regular glasses right now, and they feature adjustable nose pads and flexible arms with customizable temple ends. They have the same battery life and camera quality as the Gen 2 and later models that launched last fall, and the dual camera and AI rocker button on the top that the Scriber/Blazer models added.
I tried the "Fury," a chunkier-frame pair of Meta Glasses that look a lot like the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, minus the displays. I actually like the look, but I'm a chunky glasses guy. (The nose pad wasn't as comfy as the Blazer Optics pair I've been wearing, though.)
Another frame design, the "Adventurer," is very much like the Ray-Bans, but without a Ray-Ban logo or official brand, and more compact than the Fury model.
The Kylie Edition Meta glasses come with a little sparkle in one lens and a mirrored charge case. Scott Stein/CNET
Kylie Jenner?
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