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<\/a>(photo Josh Ross\/Velo)\nQuick hits: 7 standout details of the Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses<\/p>\n
When paired with a recent Garmin device you get some newer Strava features, automatic creation of a ride highlight video, and you can ask stat questions during the ride. The reality is that there\u2019s not actually a lot to the Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses. I\u2019m going to repeat this in different ways throughout the review but there\u2019s so much hype that it\u2019s a little hard to believe. Meta being involved only ups that feeling.<\/p>\n The best products tend to be simple and that\u2019s the case here. The Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses do a few things well and they incorporate existing technology in a novel way. They also leverage the power of a good mic and AI to do more with less.<\/p>\n The first piece of this is the Oakley part. These glasses look like glasses. Sports glasses certainly but still glasses. They\u2019ve got a wraparound frame design that uses the Oakley Prizm lens technology with choices for white frames with \u201cprizm everyday\u201d gold or sapphire lenses that will add varying degrees of warmth to your view. There\u2019s also black frames with a neutral grey or, as tested, the Prizm Road lens with a pinkish hue.<\/p>\n Prizm road is specifically designed to enhance contrast on pavement. Oakley offers three light transmission options in the Road Prizm technology but the Oakley Meta Vanguard frames only have the standard road with 20% VLT and a mirrored red front surface finish.<\/p>\n As you\u2019d expect, there are also smart features. The right side temple is touch sensitive. Sliding forward or backward will adjust volume while a single tap pauses or starts music. You can also touch and hold with the ability to assign that to Meta AI, nothing, or a quick connection to a specific contact.<\/p>\n If you prefer buttons, there are three. The left side has a power button that you won\u2019t really use but does exist. The right side houses a larger capture button that lets you take a picture or long press to start a video. The other button is an action button that has a few customizable options but works well as a way to start a hyperlapse.<\/p>\n Also on the arms are two speakers and five microphones. The microphones are the real magic here but we\u2019ll get into that later.<\/p>\n At the front of the glasses you\u2019ll find the camera lens. It\u2019s just above the bridge of the nose and when it\u2019s recording there\u2019s a light near the tops of the lens, with venting next to it, to notify people. The camera itself has a vertically oriented sensor so there\u2019s only portrait recordings here.<\/p>\n Think of this as your Instagram content creator and you can do that with either a 12mp still photo or video resolution options of 1080p @ 30fps, 1080p @ 60fps, 3K @ 30fps. Outside of that there is a slow motion 120fps mode but it\u2019s only 720p or there\u2019s a hyperlapse mode that uses still images. All this data is stored in 32GB of flash storage.<\/p>\n When it\u2019s time to charge you\u2019ll do this by placing the glasses in the case. The case has enough charge for four refills and there\u2019s a USBC charging port. The glasses on their own have \u201cup to 9 hours with a single charge\u201d but that number is highly dependent on how you are using them.<\/p>\n The mic, which I already referenced once but will discuss more below, is what makes this work but a lot of what makes these conceptually simple is the AI assistant. If you\u2019ve used Google Gemini or ChatGPT, Meta AI is essentially the same. What\u2019s new is that now you have it available while riding. Google also offers this, since Gemini is available as the assistant and accessible through headphones, but the hardware here is easier to use on a bike.<\/p>\n That accessibility during a ride, with Meta AI being on board, makes the sky the limit as far as functionality. Unfortunately there are business limits here. The obvious example is that I am generally in the Google ecosystem so it sure would be nice to Gemini instead of Meta AI and that\u2019s not possible. The same is true of YouTube Music.<\/p>\n This is a Meta product so it has a Meta first design. It\u2019s no problem to message via Instagram, Messenger, or Whatsapp but if you try to connect other products now, or in the future when there\u2019s something to connect, it\u2019s likely going to be an issue. Your app connections list includes Amazon Music, Audible, Garmin, Health Connect, iHeart, Shazam, Spotify, and Strava. That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n Otherwise you get all the normal large language model stuff. I ask it to tell me the weather when I\u2019m testing jackets and I\u2019ve found it\u2019s good at doing simple math. A little algebra to give me a sense of how long before I finish a ride based on speed and distance is something I\u2019ve taken advantage of a few times.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll notice one of those magic connections is Garmin and if you can take advantage there\u2019s some very cool integrations. You will need one of the more recent Edge bike computers, or smart watches, but once you\u2019ve added a Connect IQ data field Meta AI will have access to the data your device does. Tested with a Garmin Edge 850<\/a> I was able to ask it essentially anything my computer knew.<\/p>\n To give you a sense, I\u2019ll probably use this at my next press camp when I\u2019m barely hanging on to the group. In moments like that my glasses are sweat streaked and looking at my bike computer can be difficult. I have to take my eyes off the road plus dedicate mental capacity to understand my vision. Instead I can get the info by listening and using my voice.<\/p>\n The other thing it does is turn the Meta AI app into a bit of a Strava competitor. It says I haven\u2019t given it enough data yet but \u201cIf more data is recorded, patterns can be detected and better insights can be provided to help with future workouts and performance.\u201d<\/p>\n More interesting, at least to me, is that you can turn on autocapture. What this does is take a series of short videos during your ride. At the end the AI edits it together into a story of the ride. You can add Garmin stats to the clips plus decide which ones are included. I used to do this with Insta360 products but this is both automatic and from your point of view.<\/p>\n What this connection does not do is bring those images into anything. They end up in the Meta app and your phone gallery for you to manually add to wherever you upload your rides. That includes Garmin Connect despite having Garmin and the Vanguard glasses connected.<\/p>\n So there\u2019s all this technical detail about AI and cameras and on and on. Forget that now.<\/p>\n Start by thinking of the best glasses you can buy for seeing detail on the road. Hint, it\u2019s a set of Oakleys. I know there\u2019s lots of great glasses out there but Oakleys show detail on pavement like nothing else.<\/p>\n Now add your favorite pair of headphones to ride with. This is not the same as the best sounding headphones that exist but rather the headphones you like for staying aware while listening to music on a bike. I personally like bone conduction but maybe you ride with one ear bud in.<\/p>\n Now take those two products and smash them together but also add in the camera in your phone. Maybe it\u2019s not a Google Pixel 10 or Iphone 17 but it\u2019s good enough (I don\u2019t want to overstate the quality here) and you pull it out from time to time when it\u2019s convenient.<\/p>\n What you are left with is the basic experience of using the Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses. It\u2019s a great set of glasses, excellent headphones, and a usable camera. It\u2019s also all combined and your camera is always available. There\u2019s one more piece though. The mic.<\/p>\n Remember how I talked about the mic above, it\u2019s the key to all of this being more. The AI, the Garmin stuff, even the camera to an extent, only works because the mic is so good. The mic probably works so well because of AI but that\u2019s besides the point.<\/p>\n For years I\u2019ve been testing headphones with one specific goal in mind, wind noise performance. Not because I want to talk on the phone while I ride, although there\u2019s occasionally a desire to do that for short periods of time, but because I want people to be able to hear me while riding on Zwift.<\/p>\n In that environment I have a Wahoo fan pointed right at my face. At the same time I either want to chat with people to zone out or chat with teammates for race tactics. It\u2019s a nightmare and nothing works. Every single set of headphones will start cutting out when the noise reduction fails as the fan ramps to full power. I started using the Insta360 Mic Air<\/a> because it stops cutouts (but still has wind noise in the background) but then I tried the Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses.<\/p>\n I thought I was just being silly and had no idea it was going to be so different. On Zwift, there\u2019s no cutouts, there\u2019s no wind noise, nothing. It sounds like I\u2019m casually sitting on the couch. Turns out that performance holds outside. Over 20mph outside is no problem for the mic.<\/p>\n This matters because now the AI works no matter what you are doing. \u201cHey Meta take a picture\u201d or \u201cHey Meta start a video.\u201d Works just as well during a sprint as it does when you sit up. You can ask for your speed on a descent without looking at your computer.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also fast. I noticed some deer on the side of the trail while I was testing and I asked Meta to take a video. No problem grabbing it before they jumped away.<\/p>\n That one small change to the formula is transformative to the overall experience. Having AI and Garmin integrations just add to that.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not listing this as a negative but you should understand what you are getting. The \u201cup to 9 hours with a single charge\u201d likely means the glasses are on but not being used. I can\u2019t say for sure but the best I saw was around 4.5 hours. That time came without a Garmin connection, with minimal photo\/video, and with constant use as headphones. With a Garmin connection, and heavy photo\/video use plus headphone use, I instead dropped the life expectancy by an hour to 3:30 on a charge.<\/p>\n They would continue to work as glasses, obviously, but there\u2019s no way to charge them during a ride so plan accordingly.<\/p>\n
\nBattery life is \u201cup to 9 hours with a single charge\u201d but that likely means on and waiting. You can expect about half that in use and less with heavy use.
\nThe headphones are just as good as using bone conduction and the volume will change in response to wind noise.
\nThere is no screen. Consider these a combination of sunglasses and headphones plus an AI component.
\nIn all my years of testing microphones, this is the best one I\u2019ve ever used in windy conditions.
\nThere are four lens options currently available with an additional low light option coming in the future.
\nThe camera is 12 MP with three video resolution options of 1080p @ 30fps, 1080p @ 60fps, 3K @ 30fps (which equates to 2300 x 3100 and portrait only)
\nFor more information visit the Oakley website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a>(photo Josh Ross\/Velo)
\nOakley Meta Vanguard glasses hardware details<\/p>\n<\/a>One of the speakers (photo Josh Ross\/Velo)<\/p>\n<\/a>(photo Josh Ross\/Velo)<\/p>\n<\/a>(photo Josh Ross\/Velo)<\/p>\n<\/a>(photo Josh Ross\/Velo)<\/p>\n<\/a>(photo Josh Ross\/Velo)<\/p>\n<\/a>(photo Josh Ross\/Velo)
\nMeta AI adds functionality to the Oakley Meta glasses<\/p>\n<\/a>(photo Josh Ross\/Velo)<\/p>\n<\/a>(photo Josh Ross\/Velo)
\nGarmin helps ground these as sports focused<\/p>\n<\/a>(photo Josh Ross\/Velo)<\/p>\n<\/a>(photo Josh Ross\/Velo)<\/p>\n<\/a>(photo Josh Ross\/Velo)
\nOakley Meta Vanguard glasses ride experience<\/p>\n<\/a>Each arm has a speaker facing up and down. (photo Josh Ross\/Velo)<\/p>\n<\/a>When recording there is a front facing LED but anytime you interact, or record, with the glasses there is an LED only you can see to verify it\u2019s happening. (photo Josh Ross\/Velo)<\/p>\n<\/a>You can see my glamorous setup because I took t through the glasses. (photo Josh Ross\/Velo)<\/p>\n<\/a>No glamorous terrain at this point of the year but you get a sense of the image quality. It\u2019s not the best possible but it\u2019s always there and provides a unique point of view. (photo Josh Ross\/Velo)
\nWhat about the Oakley Meta Vanguard battery life?<\/p>\n