Ray-Ban Meta glasses look like ordinary Ray-Bans with a camera, open-ear speakers and microphones built into the frame. The current model is Gen 2, launched in September 2025 starting at $379. Meta kept the first generation on sale from $299.
The camera is the reason most people buy them. Gen 2 has a 12MP ultrawide camera and records 3K video with HDR at up to 60 frames per second, in clips of up to three minutes. Meta says that is more than twice the pixels of the previous generation. Both generations have 32GB of storage. For point-of-view content the appeal is obvious: your hands stay free and the shot is roughly what you see. The limits are just as obvious. You cannot frame a shot or zoom, the clip stops at three minutes, and every turn of your head is a camera move.
Battery is where Gen 2 improved most. Meta rates it at up to 8 hours of typical use, almost double Gen 1, and says it charges to 50% in 20 minutes. The case adds 48 hours of charging. Typical use is not continuous filming, so do not plan a full day of recording on one charge.
Frames come in Wayfarer, Skyler and Headliner styles. Setup and media transfer run through Meta's app, which also handles the Meta AI voice assistant and live translation. If you want a heads-up screen in the lens, that is a different product, the Meta Ray-Ban Display, which launched at $799.
Privacy deserves thought before you pay. A white capture LED on the front lights up while the camera is recording. It is small, and outdoors in daylight people may not notice it. Gyms, locker rooms, some offices and many venues ban camera glasses, and recording people without consent has legal limits in many places. That responsibility sits with the wearer, not with Meta.
Gen 1 or Gen 2? For $80 more, Gen 2 roughly doubles the battery and moves video up to 3K. If content is the point, that is worth it. If you mainly want music, calls and the occasional photo, Gen 1 at $299 does the job.
The short version: buy Gen 2 at $379 if you want to film, Gen 1 at $299 if you mostly want audio, and learn where camera glasses are not welcome before you wear them there.
