- Meta and Oakley are officially making smart glasses
- They’re based on Oakley’s HSTN glasses design
- Launching later this summer, they’ll start at $399 / £399
It’s official. Following a teaser earlier this week, Oakley and Meta have made smart glasses, and as an owner of the almost two-year-old Ray-Ban Meta smart specs, I’m green with envy.
Later this summer, six pairs of Oakley smart specs will be available in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and several other European countries, starting at $399 / £399 (we’re still waiting for Australian pricing details).
Limited-Edition Oakley Meta HSTN (featuring gold accents and 24K PRIZM polarized lenses) will be available for preorder sooner – from July 11 – for $499 / £499 (again, we’re waiting for Australian pricing).
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Why am I jealous? Well, for a start, these smart glasses are set to boast a few important hardware and software upgrades over my Ray-Bans.
First is an upgrade to the camera. The Ray-Bans have a built-in 12MP snapper which can capture full-HD (1440×1920 resolution) video at 30fps. Meta is promising these Oakley specs will record Ultra HD (3K) video, perhaps making them possible alternatives to the best action cameras for people who want to record their sporting stunts and look good doing it.
Secondly, they’ll be able to record for longer with a boosted battery life. My Meta Ray-Bans boast a four-hour battery life for ‘standard use.’ They can play music, Meta AI can answer the odd question, and they should last about this long; as soon as you start capturing videos, their battery will drain much faster
With the case recharging them, the Ray-Bans can get up to 36 hours of total use.
Meta is doubling the glasses’ built-in battery with its Oakleys, promising they’ll last for eight hours with standard use, and 19 hours if they’re on standby. Meta adds that you can recharge them to 50% in just 20 minutes with their case, and said the charging case holds up to 48 hours of charge.
Finally, Meta’s AI will still be able to answer various questions for you and use the camera for context to your queries, as we’ve seen from the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, but it will also get some new sporting-related knowledge.
Golfers can ask about wind speed, while surfers can check the surf conditions, and you can also ask the glasses for possible ways to improve your sporting technique, too.
As with all these promises, we’ll want to test the Oakley Meta HSTNs for ourselves to see if they live up to the hype, but one way we can already see they’re excelling is on the design side.
Damn, are these things gorgeous.
Interestingly, the Oakley specs design choice is one major detail the leaks got wrong. Instead of its Sphaera visor-style shades, it’s Oakley’s HSTN glasses (I’m told it’s pronounced how-stuhn).
These glasses look like more angular Ray-Ban Wayfarers – you know, one of Meta’s existing smart glasses designs – but they do boast a serious design upgrade for athletes that you won’t find on Meta’s non-Oakley specs: Oakley’s PRIZM lenses.
Without getting too technical, PRIZM lenses are designed to provide increased contrast to what you can see. There are different models for snow sports, cycling, and other sports (as well as everyday usage), but each is designed to highlight key details that might be relevant to the wearer, such as the contours in different snow terrains, or transitions in trail types and possible road hazards.
If PRIZM lenses sound like overkill, you can also get a pair with transition lenses or with completely clear lenses.
I swapped my always-shaded Ray-Bans for a pair with transition lenses, and the difference is stark. Because they’re clear in darker environments and shaded in brighter weather, I’ve found it so much easier to use the transition lens pair as everyday smart glasses. Previously, I could only use my shaded pair in the sun, and that doesn’t come out all too often here in the UK.
The complete list of six Oakley smart glasses options is:
- Oakley Meta HSTN Warm Grey with PRIZM Ruby Lenses
- Oakley Meta HSTN Black with PRIZM Polar Black Lenses
- Oakley Meta HSTN Brown Smoke with PRIZM Polar Deep Water Lenses
- Oakley Meta HSTN Black with Transitions Amethyst Lenses
- Oakley Meta HSTN Clear with Transitions Grey Lenses
- Oakley Meta HSTN Black with Clear Lenses
Beyond the style and lenses, one striking factor is that despite some serious battery upgrades, the frames don’t seem massively chunky.
Like their Ray-Ban predecessors, they’re clearly thicker than normal specs, but they don’t look too much unlike normal shades.
All in all, these Oakley glasses look and sound really impressive. I’m chomping at the bit to try a pair, and if you’ve been on the fence about picking up the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, these enhanced options could be what convinces you to finally get some AI-powered eyewear.
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