It’s hard to believe, but we now live in a world where you have to account for generations of smart glasses. That’s great for variety’s sake, but for choosing which smart glasses to buy (in this case, which Ray-Ban-branded smart glasses in particular), things might get a little confusing. Having used both generations of Meta’s Ray-Ban AI smart glasses myself, I’m here to give you the guidance you need, though.
If Meta Connect had you considering taking the plunge into smart glasses for the first time, here’s everything you need to know before you go and drop several hundred real, non-Metaverse dollars on a pair.
Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 vs Gen 1: battery
The biggest thing (or one of them) you’re going to want to know is that the second generation of Ray-Ban Meta AI smart glasses improve greatly in the battery department. Meta claims that Gen 2 have double the battery over Gen 1, which, no matter which way you spin it, is a major win for anyone who plans to wear their smart glasses for long periods.
I’ve already gotten a chance to use the second-gen Ray-Bans for about a week, and while I can’t fully declare that these achieve that lofty battery improvement quite yet, they do appear to be much-improved. That’s thanks in part to what Meta says is a new “ultra-narrow steelcan” battery design that crams more battery life into a space that’s no bigger than the last generation. The case also gets a battery bump, going from 32 hours to 48 hours in the second-gen version.
This one is a no-brainer; Meta’s Gen 2 Ray-Bans are far and away the winner in the battery department.
Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 vs Gen 1: cameras and video
An equally big improvement when it comes to the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 is in the video capabilities. While the first-gen Meta Ray-Bans top out at 1080p at 30 fps, the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 ratchets things up to 3K resolution. If you want to record at 60 fps, you’re limited to 1080p.
This should make the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 ideal for anyone who plans to record themselves in motion (i.e. while playing sports or riding a bike), since a higher fps is just generally better suited for those activities. As for still pictures, the news is less exciting. Both smart glasses have the same 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera sensor, which makes them a tie resolution-wise, gen over gen.
Still, it’s hard not to give Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 the point here since the frame rate and resolution are such a drastic improvement over the original. If you’re going to use your smart glasses for video, there’s only one generation you need.
Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 vs Gen 1: features
While battery life and video capabilities are where the two generations stand out from each other, things start to look fairly similar in feature set. Both pairs of smart glasses come with Meta AI, and while Meta recently announced some new features at its annual Connect conference, those are going to eventually roll out to all of its “AI glasses,” including the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 1 and existing Oakley smart glasses, including the HSTN and Vanguard.
Those features, in case you missed it, are hyperlapse, which condenses longer videos into a quicker timelapse, and slo-mo. Again, those features should look nicer on the new generation, though, thanks to the improved video capabilities. Conversation Focus, which helps you hear the person you’re talking to, is also slated to roll out on all of Meta’s AI smart glasses.
If you’re buying either pair of smart glasses for Meta AI, you should know that Meta’s voice assistant is still hit and miss in my experience. While it works well for simpler voice commands like “Hey Meta, play music,” anything more complex, like “Hey Meta, what kind of car is that?” might send its AI spiraling.
Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 vs Gen 1: fit and feel
Another point of parity between these two glasses is in their size. The smart glasses, despite the difference in battery life between the two, have the same dimensions. There is a slight difference in weight—the second-gen glasses are about 2 grams heavier—but that’s hardly anything to write home about. Having used the first-gen Ray-Bans extensively and the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 for almost a week, I can’t really notice a difference.
This one is a tie, but also points to the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 smart glasses for having more battery without a larger footprint.
Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 vs Gen 1: price