Using the Ray-Ban Meta Headliner has me convinced that smart glasses are the future

Meta’s Ray-Ban current smart glasses collaboration has been around since 2023 (longer if you consider the original Ray-Ban Stories). Since then though, the range has increased, with different styles and colours, as well as an expansion of features.

The glasses now come in three styles, from the classic Wayfair design to the rounder Skyler and retro Headliner models. There’s also a range of frame colours and lenses to choose from. I opted for the Headliner, in what it calls the Shiny Jeans Transparent finish with dusty red lenses. This is one of 10 combinations available (32 across all three styles) on the Meta website, in addition to prescription lenses and transitions.

It’s an impressive range that caters for all styles and types of use. The prescription models mean could even replace your regular glasses or your screen/reading glasses. So how comfortable are they to wear and what advantages do they offer?

The biggest feature – or at least the most obvious – is the camera. The 12MP unit is mounted on the left side of the frame (as you wear them). What looks like a second camera on the right-hand side is actually the capture LED that eliminates to show you’re taking a picture and balances the design.

The camera allows you to take 12MP photos and HD videos (1424x1888 pixels) of up to 3 minutes. These can then be automatically downloaded to your phone through the Meta View app when connected over Bluetooth. However, the glasses contain 32GB of storage, which will hold up to 500 photos and 100 30-second videos.

It’s not just photography that these glasses are good for. They also feature open-ear speakers in the arms that deliver clear audio discreetly to your ears, allowing you to take phone calls, listen to music or converse with the virtual voice assistant. There’s also a touch-sensitive panel on the right arm that lets you control the volume, as well as play, pause and launch your music.

Using the Hey Meta command you can access Meta AI to access a range of functions including making calls and texts, translating phrases or asking general questions. Some questions require the glasses to be paired to your phone to have an internet connection – like live currency rates – but all in all, it’s pretty good.

There are more functions coming too. Back in September 2024, Meta announced that it was bringing live translation, and in the US you can already use Meta AI questions about what you’re looking at. That’s something that’s not available in the UK yet but hopefully will be coming soon.

I tried the glasses out for a week while in Las Vegas for the CES show, which allowed me to put them to the test in a sunny environment. While the quality of the image and video the glasses create isn’t as good as my phone, I did find the function useful – especially when I didn’t want to look like a tourist taking pictures.

The audio is surprisingly good for an open-ear system, and while no match for a decent pair of in-ear headphones, was more than adequate to provide a soundtrack to my longer walks between meetings along the strip.

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Pics taken using the Ray-Ban Meta glasses

While four hours of charge doesn’t sound like much, I found it plenty for the time I had the glasses on, and as the case holds an additional 32 hours of charge, it tops up the glasses whenever you return the glasses to them – and can be easily recharged overnight by USB-C.

I’d love to see live directions added to the list of functions as I feel that’s the biggest thing it’s missing. Though, if you could get the Meta AI Vision to use face recognition and let me know the names of people I can’t quite remember, that would be a game changer.

Returning to my regular sunglasses and computer glasses now somehow feels boring. I miss the ability to snap a quick photo and sneakily turn on a little bit of Taylor Swift to soundtrack my afternoon. If you need to wear glasses, they might as well be smart glasses, and the Ray-Ban Meta Headliners are some of the best out there right now.