I’m no athlete, but the Meta Oakley Vanguard glasses are pretty sweet

Much of the attention out of this year’s Meta Connect event has been focused on the Meta Ray-Ban Display. That’s certainly understandable, given that it’s the next evolution of Meta’s rapidly growing smart glasses division thanks to the addition of an in-lens display. But Meta announced another new pair of AI glasses at Connect that’s also quite notable.

Following the launch of the Oakley HSTN earlier this year, Meta and the athleisure brand have teamed up on a new model, the Vanguard. These glasses have been built from the ground up with athletics in mind, making them a unique alternative to the standard Ray-Ban Meta models. To demonstrate this performance-first focus, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg alongside DJ and noted runner Diplo even closed out the Connect keynote by putting on Vanguards and leaving the venue to go for a run between Meta campuses.

Having also gotten to try out the Vanguard for myself at Connect, I can certainly speak to its robust sports features. But even before that, it has the sleek Oakley look across four sharp colours: black, red, blue and yellow, with the brand’s signature Prizm lenses to optimize vision depending on light and weather conditions. And despite its bulkier goggles-esque design, it feels remarkably comfortable to wear.

The four Vanguard colour options.

Most importantly, though, are the fitness features, and the Vanguard has a wide assortment of them which are expanded when you connect a compatible Garmin device. In my demo, I started a light walk on a treadmill and was given a Garmin Forerunner 570 fitness smartwatch to wear. Once the Garmin is paired with the Oakley Vanguard, you’ll be able to ask Meta AI a variety of questions to gain better insight into your performance.

For instance, you can ask for single stats, like your heart rate, and get a quick response. For even more data, you can say, “Hey Meta, how am I doing?” and it will provide an overview of the duration of your workout so far, your heart rate range throughout, average split between laps and more. It’s a handy way to measure your performance without having to stop to fiddle with the watch or your phone.

But perhaps the coolest feature is the ability to record video with the glasses, just as you would with any other pair from Meta, and then add an overlay of your real-time workout stats. You can choose several parameters to track, including distance travelled, pace, heart rate and time. The glasses will also automatically capture footage when you hit key distance milestones. These are brilliant tools with which you can look back on your workouts to identify what you did well or perhaps want to improve on. There are also Strava integrations for more flexibility.

The real-time stats from the Vanguard.

All the while, the recording quality is exceptional, capturing HD video at 60fps or up to 3K/30fps. On top of that, Meta and Oakley have ensured that the Vanguard can still clearly record video and audio even at 30mph (48km/h) winds, which will be especially useful when biking. It’s also got IP67 water resistance should you get wet during your exercise. And finally, the nine-hour battery life – the longest of any Meta smart glasses – will ensure it can last during lengthy workouts and activity-filled days.

Given all of this, though, the Vanguard is clearly only intended for the more athletic of us. If you’re someone who is only casually active, it won’t be worth the steep investment (in this case, nearly $1,500 for the $679 Vanguard and $800 Garmin Forerunner 570). Honestly, I’m not exactly the healthiest person, to begin with, so the Vanguard definitely isn’t the right choice for me. That said, it’s easy to imagine people who are much better about their fitness getting a great deal out of the Vanguard.

And above all else, Meta has wisely positioned this as simply one option in its ever-growing smart glasses catalogue. For many people like me, the just-launched $520 Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) will be the way to go. Others, meanwhile, may even still want to wait until early 2026 when the Display expands to Canada and a few other markets.

Mark Zuckerberg at Connect with the Vanguard talking about all of the new Meta glass options.

Perhaps one day when I reach a healthier build then I’d pick up the Vanguards or a (by then) newer Meta Oakley equivalent. It’s certainly appealing. For now, though, I’ll just have a lot of respect watching the fit people with the Vanguard from the frames of own Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) glasses.

The Meta Oakley Vanguard can be pre-ordered online from Meta or Oakley ahead of an October 21 launch.