Meta Ray-Ban Gen 1 review: More realistic, less complicated design, but how useful are these really?

At a time when smartphone penetration has reached record levels in India, the next frontier of personal technology appears to be smart glasses. While other smart wearables and accessories have not taken off dramatically in India, there is optimism that smart glasses could become the next big “IT thing”; at least Meta is betting on the country’s youth.

As users globally await the shipping of the first batch of Gen 2 and Meta Ray-Ban Displays, users in India currently only have access to the Gen 1 glasses of Meta Ray-Ban Skyler and Wayfarer.

First impression

On unboxing, users are greeted by the classic brown Ray-Ban case. It now also resembles a sleek cocoon similar to an earbuds case, which works as a charging and pairing case. The centre of the case has a circular ring that lights up when you remove or place the glasses inside.

The glasses themselves are surprisingly lightweight, and appear to retain their traditional Ray-Ban look with almost minimal structural difference from regular eyewear. The Wayfarer frame is slightly broader than regular eyeglasses but remains comfortable.

Inside the box, aside from the glasses and case, you’ll find a cleaning cloth; however, notably, the USB‑C charging cable is missing.

Are the glasses really useful?

Setting up the glasses is slightly more elaborate than expected. An additional Meta AI app needs to be downloaded to use basic camera and Bluetooth features. At least a few users may feel this is unnecessary. However, once configured, the glasses intriguingly blur the line between fashion accessory and smart device.

Equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 processor, the glasses feature a 12 MP camera, come with livestreaming capability to Facebook and Instagram, and Meta AI integration.

The glasses have dual custom-built open-ear speakers and a five-mic array with Bluetooth support. The audio streaming quality is decent and can be controlled using the phone as well as simple gestures on the frames. This makes it amazingly useful, especially when your phone is away. However, if listening on full volume, the audio would very much be heard by the non-smart-glasses wearers as well, around you.

The livestreaming feature definitely stands out, enabling up to 30 minutes of direct live streaming, and it becomes especially engaging when two users broadcast simultaneously using Gen 1 glasses.

These features, however, also indicate that the glasses are still far from becoming a necessity. For now, these will continue to be a fun accessory to try occasionally or flaunt among acquaintances, friends, and family. This is at least true for the Gen 1 glasses, possibly the Gen 2, and Displays have better use cases and performance than the generation available in India.

Another point of caution is battery drain, particularly noticeable when engaging the Meta AI features. While the battery for the glasses lasts up to 4 hours per charge, it definitely drains out the mobile battery faster than usual.

Notably, Meta claims that the case battery lasts up to 32 hours of additional charge time.

The app automatically adopts your phone’s language, and while Meta AI support enriches the experience, the linguistic responsiveness in English still needs improvement as it occasionally lags in processing. Neil Shah, VP– research, Counterpoint Research, told Fortune India that due to the limited capabilities of Meta AI, other players, including Google, have a better edge than Meta in smart eyewear. Google recently announced re-entering the smart eyewear space at its annual I/O event this year.

Priced from ₹25,999, the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 1 smart glasses definitely offer aesthetic appeal.

These are way more realistic than the more playful Snapchat AR glasses. The form factor of the Gen 1s is also way lighter and less complicated than the Snapchat AR glasses. Whether or not they are genuinely functional is a debatable question and depends on the use case of these smart glasses. However, for those willing to wait and spend more, Gen 2 models or upcoming display‑enabled smart glasses may deliver a more complete smart‑wearable experience.