- Meta’s smart glasses partnership with Ray-Ban is here, and I wore them for a Friday night out.
- The high-tech eyewear has many capabilities, but we mostly used them for pictures.
- Many of the photos turned out dark, but we didn’t mind.
Meta’s smart Ray-Ban glasses began shipping out last month, and I brought a pair with me for a Friday night out recently.
Ironically, the futuristic eyewear sparked a bit of nostalgia for my Y2k-loving Gen Z friends when I decided to put them on at dinner.
The AI-powered glasses have voice-activated functions, speakers on either side, and the ability to call and text without picking up your phone.
But, the camera feature is what captivated my friends and I the most.
They’re available to order on Ray-Ban’s website in the Wayfarer and Headliner styles for $299 and $329. To use the glasses, you’ll need the Meta View app. (Meta provided a free pair to BI for review purposes. They will be returned or donated.)
For the smart glasses, the powered-up case is similar to that of bluetooth earbuds. It charges the glasses when they’re placed inside, and the case itself can be plugged into the wall for charging.
Here are some of my takeaways from a night with the Meta Ray Ban smart glasses — with pictures, of course.
The Meta Ray-Bans reminded me of a disposable camera.
Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg may believe smart glasses are the future, but they reminded me of a relic from the past.
Taking a photo of the Meta glasses reminded me of using a disposable camera. Although I could see the subject I was shooting, I couldn’t be sure of how the photo turned out until I imported the pictures on my phone.
The process felt like a streamlined version of taking a roll of film to be developed at a pharmacy. It was difficult to know if I was getting great pictures until after my night out when I took the time to import them using the Meta View app.
The Meta Ray-Bans are pretty inconspicuous until you take a photo or video.
When I first put the glasses on, I intended to snap candid shots of my friends without them knowing I had on any high-tech eyewear.
But, the sides flash when photos and videos are being taken, so I was given away after a few shots. My friends didn’t mind, anyway.
In fact, the glasses became a topic of discussion at the dinner table. My friends asked for me to take more photos and offered to take a couple of shots of me.
Many of my photos turned out dark or blurry.
The glasses were a fun conversation-starter during a night out, but they’re more effective in well-lit conditions. The photos taken at the table of an intimate restaurant turned out darker than I’d hoped.
Although the glasses flash on the sides to indicate a photo is being taken, the glow doesn’t brighten the environment.
In instances with better lighting, blurriness was an issue. I was using the button on the side of the glasses to rapidly snap photos of my friends.
I took more than 10 photos that night — and nearly half of them were blurry when I finally checked my Meta View app later that night. I was disappointed because I thought I was being still enough to get good images.
But, still, the discovery somehow added to that nostalgic feeling of vintage photo-taking.
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