The Meta Ray-Bans have been successful since their launch, with shoppers (like me) drawn to their common type issue filled with 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, picture fanatic, and AI reporter, it was an absolute no-brainer for me to buy the Meta Ray-Bans. After months of attempting them, I used to be largely impressed. My greatest 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 someday with the Meta Oakley HSTN Restricted Version, they usually exceeded my expectations.
At the beginning: extra energy
There are lots of sensible causes an athlete would need to put on good glasses, together with hands-free entry to music, messages, AI help, a digicam, and video. Nonetheless, because of this the glasses should 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 absolutely charged carrying case, based on 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 also be increased, capturing 3K video, up from 1080p on the Meta Ray-Bans.
However these glasses additionally maintain all the options that made the Meta Ray-Bans so nice, corresponding to a 12 MP ultrawide digicam, digicam sensors embedded alongside the facet of the eyewear (nice for recording POV pictures 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 ordinary open-ear headphones, the Shockz OpenFit.
I used to be additionally in a position to ship audio messages, which is my most popular mode of communication, with no situation. I even acquired the suggestions, “your audio sounds nice, truly,” once I apologized upfront for any splotchiness which will ensue from speaking into my glasses.
I additionally examined the picture and video capabilities by snapping pictures throughout my stroll. I’ve at all times been amazed at how nicely it takes images, even when you’re in movement, with the ultimate outcome being steady, good-quality pictures. Essentially the most spectacular half, nevertheless, was the improved video high quality, which was evident as quickly as I seen the video after getting dwelling. You may distinctly hear the sound of my ft hitting the pavement as I did my gentle jog, and the standard and POV make it really feel such as you had been taken alongside the trail of my jog.
This performance is especially essential as a result of in case you are out there for these glasses to doc your train, on the worth level, which is double that of a standard GoPro, it’s crucial that the standard of the pictures 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 keeping with the specs posted on the Meta web site, each glasses are the identical actual weight at 49 grams. Nonetheless, 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 simple 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 take a look at my telephone in any respect. Slightly, I acquired a voice notification each time I acquired a textual content, and did easy motions on the touchpad, corresponding to swiping ahead to regulate quantity or tapping to pause a tune.
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 corresponding to AI language translation.
The Oakley pair’s case is a bit bulkier and fewer modern than that of the Ray-Bans. That mentioned, it was probably a purposeful design, as you in all probability need one thing extra heavy-duty when on a run, bike experience, hike, and so on. The Meta Oakley charging case holds 48 hours of cost versus the 32 hours on the Ray-Bans.
There may be 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 open air but in addition assist you to see parts you might have in any other case missed.
The underside line
The audiences for the Meta Ray-Bans and the Meta Oakleys are a bit completely different. If you’re an out of doors fanatic who’s trying to doc a few of your adventures and have quick access to your telephone, music, and an AI assistant, the added specs and design make the $499 funding within the Meta Oakley HTSN Restricted Version glasses price it.
If you’re simply searching for good glasses you should use sometimes, with no explicit want for prolonged battery life or capturing high-quality video, you could need to both keep on with the Meta Ray-Bans, which begin at $240, or wait till extra fashions are made obtainable later this summer time on the lower cost level of $399.
