The Meta glasses are clever but almost feel too easy, like the spontaneity of life may be drained away
Mark Zuckerburg, the founder of Facebook, has predicted that this is the end of the smartphone era. He says those little screens we take everywhere and spend hours scrolling on, will no longer be the dominant tech product, because there’s something new: the Meta Glasses.
These first-of-their-kind AI glasses allow you to make calls, send messages and take photographs, all from the frames on your face. Zuckerburg says ten years of research that went into making these “the next major platform”.
I’m sceptical. Even as someone who’s had a phone since the age of six, and will happily scroll for five hours a day on the weekends, I can’t imagine wearing a device on my face.
And previous attempts at smart glasses have failed pretty spectacularly – remember Google Glasses? First launched in 2014, they were pulled from the market within a year.
Meta have smartly collaborated with Ray-Bans for theirs – so they do actually look cool. Since being released to the public in 2023, costing from £299 up to £379, 2 million pairs have been sold – though I don’t know anyone who has a pair yet. The Meta Wayfarer glasses I received to review look similar to a normal pair of RayBans – and include sun protection and come in a variety of colours.
The new Meta Glasses retail at £349
They come in a fancy brown leather-look case embedded with Ray-Ban’s logo with a charging port inside. On the outside a glowing green light indicates that they are charged.
The frames are classic Ray-Ban style; the lenses are thick but they are still stylish. The cameras, placed on either side of the lenses, are visible but discreet. The lenses, which claim to offer 100 per cent UVA and UVB protection, automatically switch from clear to tinted when you’re outside.
In order to set the glasses up I had to download an app. To take a photograph, you click a button on the side of the glasses, which then appears in the app and can automatically import to your phone’s camera roll. However, I found that it’s impossible to tell what’s in the frame when you take a photo as you can’t see it on a screen. When I tried to take an image of my puppy sitting on the floor, I was looking at him and clicked the camera button, but the image I produced was mostly the floor.
Other images were better, but the quality is still miles behind what you can get on an iPhone. The next generation of these glasses will reportedly have built in holograms with projected screens that allow users to see a photo or even a person in front of them.
The glasses consist of much more than a camera. By saying “Hey Meta” you can ask them just about anything, including asking them to take an image or video for you. As I’m on a redecorating hype, I put on my glasses stand in my living room and say “Hey Meta, how can I improve this room?”. The answer to your question is delivered as a voice reply through tiny speakers in the glasses: “You can add cushions and throws to add dimension and try adding some greenery or mirrors. You’ll want a lamp.” They were right, I did need all of those things, but it definitely felt strange knowing I was showing my home to Meta. Who knows where that information could end up?
You can also use the glasses to make calls, or send texts: “Hey Meta, call Pete”, I told them one day, and sure enough we had a conversation despite my phone being on the other side of the room.
In the interests of a thorough test-drive, I kept the glasses on most of the time and the next day when I was walking through town, I asked them where my nearest coffee shop was. The glasses relayed to me, through speakers only audible to me, the address and opening hours of the four nearest cafes.
They’re obviously very clever, but I began to feel that they made things almost too easy. They render maps obsolete and reduce the likelihood of stumbling upon a new coffee shop by chance. Given how efficient the glasses are at helping users plan a whole itinerary, I can see how easily the spontaneity of life might disappear.
Concerns have also been raised about privacy – you could use the glasses to photograph or record people. The cameras do flash so it isn’t so much a secret that you’re doing it but it still feels strange with one click on your face, you could record anyone in the street. If they weren’t directly facing me, they wouldn’t have noticed if I had.
On the plus side, wearing the glasses reduced my screen time. I left my phone at home when I went on walks because I knew my glasses could take pictures and make calls for me. I had less need to search the Internet, and instead just asked questions out loud (ignoring the weird looks from passersby).
A downside, although the idea of built-in sun protection is great, was that the glasses darkened when sunlight shone into my flat. The same issue occurred when driving which wasn’t always helpful.
My favourite feature was listening to music without headphones, but still privately. I could work or walk listening to my playlist, and the volume was easy enough to change by swiping across on the side of the glasses.
As a glasses wearer, I was pleased to note it’s possible to have Meta glasses made to fit your prescription. However, since the pair I was testing was clear glass, I could only wear them with my lenses in. I’d probably need two pairs, one with my prescription, if I wanted to wear them all the time.
Since their initial release, multiple pairs of smart glasses made by other companies have been released for a much lower price tag. Some are as cheap as £20 on TikTok shop but most only come with the music function, rather than the camera, the ability to connect to your phone and “Hey Meta” feature.
After two weeks of using the glasses the battery didn’t need recharging once, because putting them back in the case recharges them automatically.
These frames can make decisions for me, redecorate my home, tell me about finances, and make suggestions about what to do each day. I almost feel they’re swallowing my humanity. There’s no doubt, however, that they’re a huge technological leap forward – but they won’t overtake phones just yet. We’re all too busy scrolling through an Instagram feed, something the glasses can’t currently offer.
One day, though, I don’t doubt everybody will be wearing them. I think they’re great – but almost too great: I’d hate to become so reliant on them that I became incompetent.