Meta is soon set to go from having just one pair of current-gen smart glasses to two as it adds Oakley specs to sit alongside its Ray-Bans.
The Oakley smart glasses have yet to launch, but Meta has already shared several details about the glasses, which suggest they’re more than a fresh coat of paint. Some proper hardware upgrades are present, too.
We won’t know their full impact until the Oakley specs launch, but here’s the key differences so you can decide if you want to grab some Ray-Bans now or wait a month or so for the Oakleys to launch – or hope you can snatch up the limited edition pair going up for preorder on July 11.
1. A sportier design
Of course, the most obvious difference between these glasses is their design.
Instead of the iconic Wayfarer Ray-Ban design – or the Headliner and Skyler alternative designs Ray-Ban offers – the Oakley is serving us its HSTN glasses (pronounced how-stuhn).
At a glance, they do look fairly similar, but the HSTN design is more angular overall.
Oakley’s glasses also feature different lenses. You can, of course, pick up a pair with clear, shaded, or transition lenses like you can with the Ray-Bans, or you can snag a pair with Oakley’s special PRIZM lenses.
These specially tuned lenses are designed to increase the contrast of your natural vision to help with different sporting endeavors based on the type and color of PRIZM used. This makes it both a fashionable and functional choice.
Just like with Meta’s Ray-Bans, however, we expect the premium PRIZM and Transition lenses will increase the cost of Oakley’s smart glasses, more on that below.
2. Improved camera quality
At a glance, the Ray-Ban and Oakley glasses from Meta both boast a 12MP camera and five-mic array, suggesting their image and video recording quality will be on par with one another, but that’s not set to be the case.
According to Meta, the Oakley specs can record 3K video. That’s a step up from the full-HD (1440×1920 resolution) video the Ray-Bans can record.
This suggests that while the sensor hasn’t received a technical upgrade, other camera hardware has been improved in the Oakleys, and improved video processing could also play a part.
Regardless of precisely what has improved, it appears that those who want the highest camera quality from Meta smart glasses will prefer the Oakley variants, at least until the Ray-Bans get upgraded.
3. A boasted battery boost
As various software features have been rolled out and I’ve spent more time with them, I only have one major critique left for my Ray-Ban smart glasses: their battery life.
One thing the glasses have going for them is that, unlike every other gadget I own, they are still phenomenally useful as glasses or sunglasses even when they’re out of charge. However, when it comes to using them for music, recording video, or asking the AI questions, their typical lifespan is four hours.
For recording heavy sessions, they last a heck of a lot less time, closer to two hours, frankly, while audio playback heavy sessions are a little longer at a promised five hours.
Oakley’s smart glasses boast eight hours of “typical use.” Interestingly, they still offer an identical 5 hours of audio playback.
This suggests that either they’ll feature the same battery but use more efficient components in some areas (except in the audio department), or that they have a larger battery and better speakers, which are more of a battery drain.
Alternatively, Meta’s battery calculation methods may have changed between glasses, possibly as the company better understands how people use their smart glasses.
As for their charging case, the Oakley and Ray-Ban options both promise to restore 50% of the glasses’ charge in 22 minutes, though the Oakley case can carry up to 48 hours of bonus charge while the Ray-Ban’s can only manage 36.
4. A higher price
Lastly comes price, and this is the area where the Ray-Ban glasses are the clear winner because the cheapest pair starts at $299 / £299 / AU$449. The Oakley glasses start at $399 / £399 / $629.
In both cases, this will be for the most standard lenses; more premium options like transition lenses or PRIZM lenses will cost more.
For the Ray-Bans, you’ll pay $329 / £329 / AU$489 for polarized and $379 / £379 / AU$539 transition lenses.
As for Oakley, we only know that the PRIZM equipped limited edition pair will cost $499 / £499 / $789. It’s currently unknown what the standard edition PRIZM smart glasses will cost, but they may be priced the same or less, as Meta has previously charged an added premium for special edition specs.
So, based on all of this, our advice is to wait.
Meta’s Oakley specs look to be an upgrade, but without testing them first-hand, it’s impossible to tell how significant the upgrades actually are. If they’re a big boost, you’ll wish you had waited.
That said, if you’re more of a fan of the Ray-Ban’s design, that is one reason you might want to act if you see a sale price or are desperate for a pair. Based on what my colleagues have told me, I’m in the minority of people who think the Oakleys look rad, and as a fashion accessory, no matter how useful they are, you won’t want to wear something you think looks foolish.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
