Every time I’ve written about Meta’s AI-enabled glasses, I invariably get asked these questions: Why do you even want these? Why do you want smart glasses that can play music or misidentify native flora in a weirdly cheery voice? I am a lifelong Ray-Ban Wayfarer wearer, and I’m also WIRED’s resident Meta wearer. I grab a pair of Meta glasses whenever I leave the house because I like being able to use one device instead of two or three on a walk. With Meta glasses, I can wear sunglasses and workout headphones in one!
Meta sold more than 7 million pairs in 2025. Take a look at any major outdoor or sporting event, and you'll see more than a few people wearing these to record snippets for Instagram or TikTok. Meta's partnership with EssilorLuxottica has made smart glasses accessible, stylish, and useful and is undoubtedly the reason why Google, and now Apple, are trying to horn in on the market. After the notable flop that is the Apple Vision Pro, Apple is recalibrating its face-wearable strategy, moving away from augmented reality (AR) toward simpler, display-less, and hopefully good-looking glasses.
That's not to say that you shouldn't be careful how you use these glasses. Meta doesn’t have the greatest track record on privacy, and the company has continued to push forward with policies that are questionable at best. Even if you’re not concerned that face recognition will allow Meta to target immigrants or enable stalkers to find their victims, at the very least, people really do not like the idea that you could start recording them at any moment.
Probably the biggest hurdle to wearing Meta glasses is that even doing so seems like a gross violation of the social contract. After all, these are Mark Zuckerberg's “pervert glasses.” When I pop these on my head, I’ve had friends (and my spouse) recoil and say, “I have apps to warn me away from people like you.” The best part, though, is that Oakley and Ray-Ban already make really great sunglasses. Even if the battery runs out or you don't use Meta AI at all, these are stellar at shading your eyes from the sun.
Anyway, if you decide to try them, here's what you should get. If you do chicken out, check out our buying guides to the Best Smart Glasses or the Best Workout Headphones for more.
Best Overall
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Last year, Meta upgraded the original Meta Ray-Ban Wayfarers that became a smash hit. These are Meta’s entry-level glasses, and they come in a variety of lens styles. You can order them with clear lenses, prescription lenses, transition lenses, or the OG sunglass lenses, as well as in a variety of fits, including standard, large, or high-bridge frames. Improvements to this generation include an upgrade to a 12-MP camera and up to eight hours of battery life; writer Boone Ashworth’s testing clocked in at five to six hours.
Ashworth noted that while the glasses were comfortable and the video playback was fine, he found the constant use of Meta’s AI a little troubling. Meta AI could not identify the type of dead fish that he saw on the beach. He also found that it was not at all unobtrusive to trigger; it’s very hard to look directly at a stranger’s bag and say, out loud, “Hey Meta, is that bag Gucci?” The other problem is that you have to funnel all pictures and videos through Meta’s app, which will force-feed you AI-slop videos until you figure out a way to stop it. (I did this by going to Settings → Data & Privacy → Remove All Public Vibes. Now my app just opens to Settings.)
While Ashworth doesn’t normally wear glasses, Meta’s representative noted that he does look very good in them, and I agree.
Best Sunglasses
It took me a while to even find out which bag I’d put these glasses in, because these are my daily-driver sunglasses. These are the Meta version of the iconic Oakley HSTN ($196) (you’re supposed to pronounce it like “hau-stuhn," after Houston Street in New York City), which are Oakley’s round lifestyle frames. I opted for the version with the polarized Oakley Prizm Ruby lenses, which are designed for bright sunlight.
I like these for outdoor activities, because even Oakley’s lifestyle sunglasses are very good. The Prizm lenses enhance contrast when you’re biking, trail running, or hiking, which is pretty important if you don’t want to accidentally fall into a hole at high speeds. Because these are Oakleys, they also have the Unobtanium no-slip nose pads—I have gone running in these in the deep heat of August, which I don’t recommend, but they do stay on my face through inconceivable levels of sweat. Otherwise, they have all the specs of the Gen 2 Wayfarers, including the same Bluetooth compatibility, two-speaker and five-mic array with sliding touch and voice controls, 12-MP camera, and charging case.
My favorite function of the Oakley Meta HSTN is that they’re integrated with both Strava and Apple Music, so I can control what’s playing with voice commands while I run. The speakers also sound comparable, or a lot better, than many of the open earbuds that I’ve tried, and I’m not worried about them falling out of my ears while I’m moving around. I also haven't had quite the same problems with queries as Ashworth did, although when I look back at my chat history in the app, it appears that I only ask Meta AI about different marathon record holders and times.
My only complaint is that these are hard to hear when you’re biking at higher speeds, which is why I also like the next pair of Meta sunglasses.
Best for Runners, Bikers, and Influencers
Last year, Meta launched the Oakley Meta Vanguard, which are designed for outdoor influencers. These are genius. They are high-end sports sunglasses and workout headphones and a little action camera for your face, and they do all of these things pretty well. That makes them a bargain for the price. (The Vanguard is modeled on the Oakley Sphaera, which, while lighter, cost almost $300 even without all the extras packed into it.)
The Vanguard weighs about 66 grams, compared to the Sphaera’s 33 grams, which is to be expected given the added tech. I don’t find it particularly uncomfortable to wear while biking or running, and especially not compared to having a GoPro strapped to my helmet or on a chest harness. The biggest difference between the Vanguard and the other Meta frames is that the camera is on the bridge of your nose rather than on the side. This gets rid of the weird fisheye effect that can sometimes happen with the side camera.
The Meta AI app also integrates with select Garmin watches for auto-capture, which is very neat. The watch triggers auto-capture at select intervals (you can also pick 30-second, 1-minute, 2-minute, or 5-minute clips) so you can make time-lapse videos. Then you click auto-import, and it’s all back in your Photos library by the time you get back to the car.
The other reason I really like these sunglasses is that the speakers are 6 decibels louder than either the Wayfarers or the HSTNs, and you really notice. Meta notes that you can hear them when you’re going up to 30 mph. Most of my ebikes top out at 28 mph, and these are the only non-bone-conduction, open-ear headphones I can hear while actually going at speed. Workout headphones, an action cam, voice controls, and a lot of eye coverage in one moderately priced package is a very nice deal.
Best AR Glasses
I haven't had the chance to try these, but former editor Verity Burns tried them when they launched last year. A very subtle name change—these are the only Meta glasses that lead with Meta in the branding, rather than the glasses brand—is a possible indicator that Meta took the design lead with these. These are Meta's self-branded, tech-first display glasses.
The glasses come with a single display in the right eye and a wristband that lets you use hand gestures alongside voice control. Burns noted that the demo was extremely impressive, but aesthetics-wise, the glasses are very chunky, which is a rare misstep. They're also expensive—$200 more than the lighter Even Realities G2, which has a dual display and an optional ring for hand control. Also, you can only get these through an in-store, in-person fitting, which might also be a reason for the slow rollout.
What Features Do Meta AI Glasses Offer?
I like the Meta AI glasses because they're among the simplest, most useful products on the market. However, that's not to say that shading your eyes, listening to music, and learning how much slower you are than the marathon world record holder are the only reasons why you might want AI-enabled glasses.
Here are some of the features that Meta's AI glasses offer.
Hands-free texting and calling. This is a no-brainer. Just say, “Hey Meta” to call one of your contacts via your phone, WhatsApp, or Messenger. You can specify what platform, as long as it's connected to the Meta AI app.
Chat with Meta AI. Ask questions like, “Where are the closest burritos?" or “What is the marathon world-record time?”
Translate written text or in-person conversations. If you're traveling, you can now translate both written text and live conversations. Just look at the text while wearing the glasses and say, “Hey Meta, translate into English.” For live translation, open the Meta AI app and click Glasses → Translate.
You can download language packs in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish for use offline. This is my least favorite feature. It's adequate for quick translations of my son's Spanish books, but it's really hard for any translation app to match the speed, accuracy, and convenience of Google Translate on a pair of Google earbuds.
Hands-free photos and video. This is the real reason that many people buy a pair of Meta glasses. It's so easy to take convenient clips for later use, especially while biking or doing other outdoor sports.
App integration. To record activities with your Garmin or on Strava, or to listen to music, go to Settings → App Connections. The Meta glasses also connect to Apple Health, Audible, Google Calendar, and a few other music, fitness, and scheduling apps.
How Does Meta Handle My Data?
This is the biggest hurdle to using Meta glasses. The company behind the Cambridge Analytica scandal needs to be very clear and upfront about its privacy policies. It's not entirely clear that it has succeeded in doing so.
The good news is that Meta, like Google, does not sell your data and requires partners and third parties to disclose how they use your data. The bad news is that, like many LLMs, Meta uses third-party contractors to review large amounts of data, some of which may be quite personal.
The best advice I can give you is to avoid wearing your Meta glasses while you're reading legal documents, don’t use Meta AI as your at-home paralegal. I use Meta glasses mainly as sunglasses, but I don't wear them in my house or ask Meta AI (or any AI) personal or health-related questions.
As for pictures and videos, you can also toggle off Cloud Media so that any media you capture with the glasses go straight to your camera roll and aren't accessed by Meta at all. To do that, tap Glasses → Device Settings → Toggle off Cloud Media (and Share Additional Data, too, while you're at it).
What's Up Next
Meta recently launched two models, the Ray-Ban Meta Blayzer Optics (Gen 2) ($499) and Ray-Ban Meta Scriber Optics (Gen 2) ($499) that are optimized for prescription lenses. The Scriber is winging its way to me with my prescription lenses, and I will update this guide once I've tried it.
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