My experience wearing the Ray-Ban Meta glasses for over a year

I’ve worn the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses every day for more than a year. I don’t believe everyone needs smart glasses, but for myself, I really enjoy them. And even though they’re smart glasses, people often don’t recognize them. The Ray-Ban Meta comes in various styles. I rock the classic Wayfarer look in glossy black, and most people can’t tell that I’m wearing smart glasses, which is both good and somewhat creepy.

Who needs the Ray-Ban Meta?

I don’t think anyone needs the Ray-Ban Meta — for that matter, no one needs smart glasses or any smart portable devices. However, we want them, and they are accessible. The Ray-Ban Meta glasses only cost about $369 for the frames to start; depending on your style, they might cost a bit more. I purchased my pair from Ollie Quinn’s for that price, plus they have transition lenses, increasing the price to $459 (although I got a little discount, your mileage may vary). I also have my prescription lenses in the glasses, and I was able to use my private insurance provided by my job.

Why did I want the Ray-Ban Meta?

I should always wear my glasses, my eyesight isn’t perfect, and I have an astigmatism. However, I can legally drive without wearing them, and my prescription is relatively weak, so I would often forget to wear my glasses in the past. Despite not needing them to see all the time, if I go too long without wearing them, I would get headaches, sometimes excruciating migraines. So, to combat my forgetfulness, I bought the Ray-Ban Meta glasses. If a phone were just for calling or texting people, I might forget it occasionally. Still, I always know its location because I use my smartphone to access the internet, set alarms and watch videos. And that’s the same for my Ray-Bans, I tend to pay a lot more attention to these glasses than I ever have to any of my previous glasses.

What do I use my Ray-Ban Meta glasses for?

I use my Ray-Ban Meta mainly to see and avoid headaches. I often have them turned off as well; I think it’s a little weird to have a device that can take videos of people without them knowing. Of course, the glasses have a light that turns on when video recording is enabled or when I’m taking pictures, but it’s not super noticeable. But turning on my Ray-Ban Metas is easy, and they boot up quickly.

I turn them on for two reasons: I’ll turn them on if I want to use their AI functionalities or use them as an audio listening device, replacing my earbuds.

Yeah, I know AI sucks, but I’m using Meta AI to answer quick questions, and not summarize documents or formulate emails. When I want to hear the time and the weather for the day, or ask random questions like what Magneto’s last name is, which I couldn’t remember, I’ll turn on the smartglasses. I like that the Ray-Ban Meta can answer any question, and of course, your phone can do this, but sometimes your smartphone isn’t always in your hand. Plus, the Bluetooth range is pretty good on the smart glasses. I could use them to ask questions from upstairs while my connected phone was downstairs.

I also use the Ray-Ban Meta to listen to music, even though they aren’t directly in your ears, the people around you often can’t hear what you’re listening to. I used them once on my flight, and the people sitting beside me had no clue. I asked them about it. Perhaps, if you’re blasting your music, people might be able to hear it, but the audio quality is solid, and I don’t feel like I need the music too loud with the Ray-Bans.

What else can the glasses do?

The Ray-Ban Metas are also used to take pictures and videos. Because I think it’s a bit creepy, I don’t use these functionalities too often. However, I thought taking a video while on a rollercoaster at Disney World was very fun.

I’ve also used them to take pictures of random landmarks while travelling, and I would ask the smartglasses questions about what I was seeing. It’s fun having a little docent speak in your ears, telling you information about what you’re looking at without needing to take out your phone, allowing you to stay immersed. I’ve even had the smart glasses translate other languages when travelling.

You can also use them to set reminders, like taking a picture of your room number at a hotel and then asking Ray-Ban for the number when you need to bill something to your room. I haven’t used this, but I tried it out to test the feature, and it works fine.

Of course, you can also use the Ray-Ban Meta to speak on the phone like wireless earbuds, or to hear when you have a notification. If it’s a notification from WhatsApp, your texting app or Facebook Messenger, your phone will also read out the entire message.

Meta has redesigned the Meta AI app, which lets you see all the pictures you take, customize your settings, and change the AI’s voice. There are several options now, like Dame Judi Dench, John Cena, and Awkwafina, but this is only for the app and not your smartglasses.

It’s not perfect

I don’t have any major issues with the Ray-Ban Meta, but I find that the battery doesn’t last the entire day. In fact, after two to three hours, I get the “low power” notification. I wish that the battery life were better, at least lasting until the end of the day.

Meta AI is good, but that option would also be great because I use Gemini on my phone and laptop. Especially considering that Gemini could access your Google Search results and give you access to Gemini Live. In the last two weeks, the Ray-Ban Meta glasses got a new update called ‘Full Duplex,’ currently in the demo stage. Full Duplex offers a more natural, conversational tone, adds pauses, filler words, expressions and more to mimic an everyday conversation. It works like Gemini Live, but I can’t access the previous queries I’ve asked on my phone.

My perfect smartglasses would also feature XR functionalities with a mini screen on the lens, but I really like my Ray-Ban Meta, and it’s definitely a step in the right direction for Ray-Bans. Adding tech to stylish glasses is excellent, and even though they are big and bulky, most people can never tell that these glasses have AI or a camera.

I would recommend the Ray-Ban Meta to anyone looking to add more tech to their lives, but hopefully, the next iteration has a better battery life.