Meta just made its biggest move yet in the race to put AI on your face. On June 24, 2026, the company officially launched a new line of wearables simply called Meta Glasses — dropping the Ray-Ban co-branding it’s been riding for years and stepping into the spotlight under its own name.
The starting price? $299. That’s cheaper than its previous Ray-Ban collab models, and a world away from Snap’s competing Specs glasses that launched just a week earlier at $2,195.
A New Identity, Same Trusted Partner
The glasses are still built in partnership with EssilorLuxottica — the same company behind Ray-Ban and Oakley — but you won’t find either of those logos on the frame. Meta is clearly signaling that it wants to own this space outright, not share the marquee with a legacy eyewear brand.
They come in several designs and color combinations, including a Kylie Jenner-designed model that even plays a custom chime when you put them on. Meta AI can also speak in an AI-generated version of Jenner’s voice. Whether that’s cool or uncanny is up to you.
What Can They Actually Do?
There’s no display built into the lenses — so this isn’t full augmented reality glasses yet. But don’t let that undersell what’s here. The glasses come with a camera, built-in speakers, and a dedicated button that summons Meta AI instantly.
Point them at a bowl of food and they’ll estimate the calories. Spot a sign in Arabic and they’ll translate it on the spot, spoken right into your ear. Need directions? A new “Pedestrian Navigation” feature gives turn-by-turn walking guidance — no phone needed, no screen required. Meta is also rolling out live translation support for 14 new languages, including Mandarin, Japanese, Hindi, and Korean.
The Bigger Picture
Smart glasses shipments surged 167% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year. Meta already holds roughly 69% of the market. Daily users of Meta’s glasses have tripled year-over-year, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
But the competition is heating up fast. Google and Samsung are collaborating on AI glasses launching later this year. Apple is reportedly developing its own smart glasses. And OpenAI is working on a hardware product too. The race to become the go-to AI wearable is very much on.
Meta executives have been clear that these display-less glasses are just the beginning — a stepping stone toward lenses with actual screens, and eventually an AI that sees and understands your world around the clock.
Why It Matters
For years, smart glasses felt like a novelty. Expensive, awkward, slightly weird to wear in public. Meta is trying to change that math — by making them affordable, useful, and genuinely good-looking.
At $299 with real AI utility baked in, the question is no longer “would you ever wear smart glasses?” It’s becoming “why aren’t you wearing them yet?”
The answer to that question could define the next decade of personal tech.
