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If you're at all familiar with Meta's Ray-Ban-branded smart glasses, there won't be many surprises when it comes to its latest Oakley frames. The Oakley Meta glasses rely heavily on what's already been a successful playbook for the company: the style of a popular eyewear brand mixed with juuust enough tech to let you keep your phone in your pocket a little longer.
But the Oakley Meta glasses are also the social media company's first collaboration with a non-Ray-Ban brand (though both share a parent company in EssilorLuxottica). And while Meta stays pretty close to the strategy it's used for the last four years, its latest frames offer some hints about its longterm ambitions in the space.
Meta has described its Oakley-branded frames as "performance glasses," which isn't entirely surprising given Oakley's longtime association with athletes. But there are only a few actual upgrades compared to the Ray-Ban lineup. The Oakley Meta glasses have a notably longer battery life, both for the glasses themselves and the charging case. They are also able to capture higher quality video than previous versions.
With a starting price of nearly $400, though, I'm not sure those upgrades are worth an extra $100 - $200.
Oakley/Meta 79 100 Expert Score Oakley Meta glasses There are some solid upgrades that will appeal to serious athletes and power users, but they don't quite justify the higher price. Pros Five hours of continuous music playback
3K video recording
Meta AI is finally getting useful Cons Awkwardly thick frames
Bulky charging case
(At least) $100 more than Meta's Ray-Ban glasses $399 at Meta
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