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Xreal announced the Aura smart glasses at Google's Android Developer Summit, built on the Android XR platform and Qualcomm's Snapdragon Reality Elite chip. The glasses connect via a wired puck device for processing rather than computing on-device, use a Sony Micro-OLED display at 1200p/120Hz with a 95-degree field of view, Bose audio, and support Gemini along with various Google Play apps and XR experiences at launch.
A new guide details how to identify smart glasses by their thicker frames, lens-housing bulges near the temples, and recording indicator lights. It also warns that some low-cost smart glasses sold on TikTok Shop and Temu lack recording lights, making them harder to detect by that method alone, while audio-only models like Ray-Ban Meta Audio Glasses have no cameras at all.
Meta's smart glasses listen continuously for the "Hey Meta" wake phrase when voice activation is on, and in the US users can no longer stop Meta from storing recordings of their AI voice interactions in the cloud. Users can manually delete these recordings or turn off "Hey Meta" entirely via the Meta AI app's preferences, though the touchpad still activates the assistant and microphones still work for calls and video.
Meta has released the Ray-Ban Meta Audio, a version of its smart glasses that strips out the camera found in earlier models. The glasses retain features like voice-activated AI assistance and turn-by-turn navigation through 'Hey Meta' voice commands, delivered via built-in speakers.
A 9to5Mac writer who tested Ray-Ban Meta glasses and Even Realities G2 smart glasses says both previews of expected first- and second-generation Apple Glasses impressed technically but offered little practical daily use beyond novelty AI demos. The writer notes the first-gen Apple Glasses, expected next year, will reportedly lack a display and rely on audio and Visual Intelligence camera features, while a later version is expected to add a display.
Some Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses users reported their devices recorded and transcribed conversations even though they hadn't activated the AI assistant with the wake phrase, including users who had disabled the 'Respond without Hey Meta' setting. Meta told Android Authority the issue has been resolved and that users can review or delete voice logs through settings, but has not explained what caused the bug or how many devices were affected.
Multiple owners of Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, including 2nd- and 3rd-generation models, told Android Authority and Reddit that the devices captured audio without being activated by the required 'Hey Meta' command. Meta told Android Authority the issue 'has been resolved' and pointed users to settings where voice logs can be reviewed or deleted.
Engadget's review of Meta's audio-only Ray-Ban glasses found six microphones and open-ear speakers that matched the sound quality of prior Gen 2 models, with testers reporting clearer phone calls than with AirPods Pro. Meta says the frames last up to 12 hours with mixed use or six hours of continuous audio, and the reviewer still had about 50% battery after five hours of streaming plus a one-hour call. The glasses retain most Meta AI features like live translation and navigation, but the customizable action button offers only two options compared with more on camera-equipped models.
Meta has released an audio-only version of its Ray-Ban smart glasses that drops the camera entirely, offering Bluetooth audio, calls, and a voice AI assistant in Clubmaster and Burbank frame styles. A reviewer who tested the glasses over several days reported that no one noticed them being worn, since they look like ordinary eyewear, and found setup now includes more prominent privacy disclosures about how AI voice and visual data are handled.
Mark Zuckerberg has said in recent interviews that Ray-Ban Meta glasses signal photo-taking more clearly than smartphones do, since the glasses light up when capturing an image while phones typically do not. Journalist Joanna Stern countered that holding up a phone is itself a visible cue, even without a light indicator.
Meta's Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 glasses offer up to 9 hours of battery life (versus 8 for Gen 2) and up to 50 hours with the charging case (versus 48). The Gen 3 also gains a sixth microphone with a redesigned array for better noise reduction, and inherits an action button from Meta's other glasses lines that can trigger Meta AI, capture photos, or be customized for other shortcuts, unlike the Gen 2's capture-only button.
Meta unveiled its third-generation Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, featuring a slimmer design, a 12MP camera with 3K video, a nine-hour battery, and a six-mic array, available now in Aviator, Wayfarer, and new Zena cat-eye styles starting at $449. The company also refreshed its camera-free Meta Glasses line, adding a new Ivory colorway for the Kylie Edition and a LISA collaboration, plus a cheaper $249 Meta Adventurer model.