The Meta Ray-Bans have been a hit since their launch, with customers (like me) drawn to their common type issue full of mics, cameras, audio system, and AI. Now, Meta is catering to a extra athletic viewers with its new Meta Oakley good glasses — and with them, it has upped the ante throughout practically each spec.
As a glasses wearer, photograph fanatic, and AI reporter, it was an absolute no-brainer for me to buy the Meta Ray-Bans. After months of making an attempt them, I used to be principally impressed. My largest qualm was the battery life, which solely lasted 4 hours.
So, when Meta introduced the Oakley model would have eight hours of battery life, I used to be instantly intrigued. I spent sooner or later with the Meta Oakley HSTN Restricted Version, they usually exceeded my expectations.
Initially: extra energy
There are a lot of sensible causes an athlete would wish to put on good glasses, together with hands-free entry to music, messages, AI help, a digicam, and video. Nevertheless, which means that the glasses need to be comfy, sturdy, and have a battery that lasts the length of your exercise.
Meta executed on all of those fronts with Meta Oakley HTSN Restricted Version glasses, packing an eight-hour battery life from a single cost (up from 4 on the Meta Ray-Bans) and as much as 48 hours with the totally charged carrying case, in line with Meta.
To accommodate outside actions in all terrains, the glasses have an IPX4 water resistance ranking, a step-up in sturdiness from the Ray-Bans. The video high quality can be greater, capturing 3K video, up from 1080p on the Meta Ray-Bans.
However these glasses additionally hold all the options that made the Meta Ray-Bans so nice, equivalent to a 12 MP ultrawide digicam, digicam sensors embedded alongside the facet of the eyewear (nice for recording POV photographs throughout your exercise), two open-ear Bluetooth audio system, and a customized five-mic array.
Throughout my stroll, I listened to Justin Bieber’s new album and was extraordinarily glad with the audio, a lot in order that I used to be content material with my determination to forgo my regular open-ear headphones, the Shockz OpenFit.
I used to be additionally capable of ship audio messages, which is my most well-liked mode of communication, with no challenge. I even acquired the suggestions, “your audio sounds nice, really,” once I apologized upfront for any splotchiness which will ensue from speaking into my glasses.
I additionally examined the photograph and video capabilities by snapping photographs throughout my stroll. I’ve all the time been amazed at how properly it takes pictures, even when you’re in movement, with the ultimate end result being secure, good-quality photographs. Probably the most spectacular half, nevertheless, was the improved video high quality, which was evident as quickly as I seen the video after getting house. You possibly can distinctly hear the sound of my toes hitting the pavement as I did my mild jog, and the standard and POV make it really feel such as you have been taken alongside the trail of my jog.
This performance is especially essential as a result of if you’re available in the market for these glasses to doc your train, on the value level, which is double that of a conventional GoPro, it’s crucial that the standard of the photographs be as excessive as doable.
Elevated consolation
Regardless of the extra rugged design and the higher elements underneath the hood, I discovered the glasses to be extra comfy than the Meta Ray-Bans. In response to the specs posted on the Meta web site, each glasses are the identical precise weight at 49 grams. Nevertheless, the Oakley pair sits a lot extra comfortably on the bridge of my nostril that they virtually really feel lighter.
Utilizing the smartglasses hands-free is simply as straightforward with both voice or touchpad instructions, relying on which you like. Earlier than my outing, I synced the glasses to Apple Music and my messages, so I did not have to have a look at my cellphone in any respect. Reasonably, I acquired a voice notification each time I obtained a textual content, and did easy motions on the touchpad, equivalent to swiping ahead to regulate quantity or tapping to pause a track.
Utilizing Meta AI was simply as easy, with a easy command of “Hey Meta” unlocking a multimodal AI assistant that may see what you see, present audio help, and even carry out different extra superior duties equivalent to AI language translation.
The Oakley pair’s case is a bit bulkier and fewer glossy than that of the Ray-Bans. That mentioned, it was doubtless a purposeful design, as you in all probability need one thing extra heavy-duty when on a run, bike journey, hike, and so on. The Meta Oakley charging case holds 48 hours of cost versus the 32 hours on the Ray-Bans.
There’s additionally the added comfort of getting high-quality sun shades catered to athletes. The good glasses have Prizm 24K Polarized lenses, which not solely shield towards the beaming solar rays outside but in addition help you see components you will have in any other case missed.
The underside line
The audiences for the Meta Ray-Bans and the Meta Oakleys are a bit totally different. In case you are an out of doors fanatic who’s seeking to doc a few of your adventures and have quick access to your cellphone, music, and an AI assistant, the added specs and design make the $499 funding within the Meta Oakley HTSN Restricted Version glasses price it.
In case you are simply searching for good glasses you should use often, with out a explicit want for prolonged battery life or taking pictures high-quality video, you might wish to both persist with the Meta Ray-Bans, which begin at $240, or wait till extra fashions are made out there later this summer time on the lower cost level of $399.
