Meta launches $399 Oakley AI glasses for 3K video recording
Meta Platform Inc. is deploying a new model in Oakley aimed at athletes and is now available in surprise hit smart glasses, including improved video recordings.
The company launched a new model on Friday based on Oakley’s HSTN design, marking the company’s first expansion, leaving Ray-Ban due to undisplayed glasses. Like the original model, the Oakley version can make calls, play music, take photos and videos, and use Meta’s artificial intelligence to answer questions about the surrounding environment.
Starting at $399, the new version, which reaches up to $499 on a limited edition model with a gold accent, includes about twice the battery life, video recording at 3K resolution, and water resistance.
“We are increasingly seeing performance use cases with Ray-Bans like roller coasters, cycling and people around the water, so we are leaning on it,” says Alex Himmel, the company’s vice president of wearables, in an interview.
It was not certain that they would arrive at the second eyewear brand. Meta’s first glasses, Ray-Ban story floped in 2021. However, the 2023 follow-up version was a huge success, giving the social networking giant a true potential hardware hub in the artificial intelligence race.
“It was crazy. The popularity surprised us a little,” Himmel said. “We were going to be the last pair of glasses without displays. We said we’d take two swings.
Instead, beyond the latest Oakley models, the company has a multi-year roadmap in the exhibit-less category, and is planning a follow-up pair of Oakley grasses based on Sphera designs later this year, according to people with knowledge of the issue. The pair is aimed at cyclists and have a central camera. Friday’s model has a camera located in the upper corner, like the Ray-Ban version.
Display free glasses are one component of the overall meta-AI hardware strategy. The company plans to introduce high-end glasses with displays to display notifications and camera viewfinders later this year, Bloomberg News It has been reported. 2027, that I’m aiming to expand That first true augmented reality glasses blend digital apps with the real world.
Meta’s form factor is catching up with several other tech companies working on their competitors. apple Inc. plans to introduce its first eyeglass products at the end of 2026, Bloomberg News It has been reported. That device works similar to the meta product, but syncs better with the rest of the Apple ecosystem. Amazon.com Inc. also sells glasses, but the current model does not have a camera.
Meta said it sells millions of glasses and has “a wonderfully increasing number of multiple” purchases each week compared to the previous year. He said the audio quality and microphones have started to outperform standalone earbuds, and the camera and AI quality has also started to improve.
Still, Himmel said the battery life remains “number one complaint” about the Ray-Ban version. The new Oakley model can run for 8 hours on a single charge, and the charging case holds 48 hours of juice. “You should expect these 40% bumps,” he says, attributes the improvements to new battery chemistry and software optimization.
Like Ray-Ban, Oakley owns it essilorluxottica SA is calling Oakley the second most popular brand after Ray-Ban. Himmel said Meta will “develop as fast as possible with the new brand under the Esselle Cusottica portfolio. “In the fashion world it moves so quickly, so we need to move very quickly,” he says. We have to be fast to hit every brand we want. ”
The first Oakley model, which can be pre-ordered on July 11th, will be a limited edition pair for $499. The $399 version in gray, black, brown and transparent colors will be released in the coming months. Available in versions with clear, transition and polarized lenses. Like the Ray-Bans, users can replace the prescription optics lens.