Meta’s second-gen Ray-Ban smart glasses aren’t a major overhaul, but there are some iterative improvements that make them a better buy than the previous model.
Smart glasses with displays in them may be the future, but for now, Meta seems to understand that not everyone is willing to spend $800 on a pair. And for those people, it now has Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2), a sequel to its surprisingly popular AI and camera-equipped smart glasses, which are designed in tandem with EssilorLuxottica, the owner of the eyewear brand.
I already have a pair of the $379 second-gen glasses, which were announced at Meta Connect this week, and while I haven’t had a chance to test them thoroughly for a full review, I have a decent impression of the features that I can use at this point in time. One of those features is better video capture.
In this iteration, Meta is giving video recording a pretty big upgrade, allowing you to record in 60 fps at 1080p. You can also record in 3K resolution, though that’s limited to 30 fps right now. That upgrade should be great if you’re like me and you enjoy taking videos while you’re bike riding—something I’ve done often with my first-gen Ray-Ban smart glasses. I tested the Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) on my way back from Connect and a little bit when I got home, and the results are definitely higher fidelity than its predecessor. I haven’t had time to take any videos while bike-riding—a high-motion activity that should really make the 60 fps capability useful—but I did shoot some footage of my friends’s new dog in 3K.
