Meta's New Smart Glasses Last Longer and Are Easier to Use
Meta has introduced its third-generation Ray-Ban Meta Glasses, starting at $449. Engadget
The design is much the same. You still get Meta AI you talk to, a built-in camera, and small speakers near your ears that do not cover them. The changes are battery life, fit, buttons and microphones, and how you take photos and video.
There are three frame shapes. Wayfarer stays. Aviator is new for the smart glasses. Zena, an angled shape, is also new. Ray-Ban now has a Gen 3 Zena page on its India store, next to older frames including Blayzer and Scriber.
Meta says Gen 3 lasts up to 9 hours per charge. Engadget Gen 2 lasts up to eight hours with normal use. Meta
The everyday point here is simple. That extra hour means less charging in the middle of the day. The case can stay as backup power, like a spare battery pack, instead of something you must use.
Gen 3 has adjustable temple tips. Those are the ends of the arms behind your ears. Ray-Ban USA lists the Gen 2 made for prescription lenses at $499.00.
The reason that small fix counts here is steadiness. If glasses slip, the camera, microphones and speakers move too. A better fit should suit more head shapes and make prescription lenses easier to use.
There are now six microphones, one more than before. There is also a button you can set to start Meta AI or take a photo or video. Speaking remains the main way to use Meta AI.
In everyday terms here, the button is a quick shortcut when you are in a hurry. More microphones also help the glasses focus on your voice and cut wind noise on calls outside.
Gen 3 can take photos and videos sideways, in landscape shape. It is the first in the line to record video with Dolby Atmos, a surround-sound format. It can also record spatial sound, which keeps where sounds came from.
The viewing habit here explains the change. Clips shot from your head are tall by nature, but TVs and laptops are wide. Sideways shooting avoids cutting off the picture. Better sound is part of the same idea.
Meta says it will offer more than 100 styles and colors across Ray-Ban, Oakley and Meta glasses by the end of the year. It also sells three AI glasses styles starting at $299, with Meta AI, 3K video and a 12MP camera. Display glasses cost $799 and include the Meta Neural Band. Simpler models without a screen sell for $300 to $400, according to late-2025 reporting. Reuters
The broader context here is familiar choice. EssilorLuxottica shares rose 14% to an all-time high on excitement about Meta AI glasses, adding nearly $20 billion in value. Reuters That jump was in October 2025. Meta is not asking most buyers to wear a visor. It is asking them to choose Wayfarer, Aviator or Zena.
In my view, the boring details will decide this. Battery, fit, an extra microphone and a button do not look exciting. They decide if people still wear the glasses after two weeks. My two children had wearables they loved on day one and left in a drawer by day ten, often over comfort or charging. Glasses pass or fail the same way.
Worth flagging for creators here is sound. Six microphones plus spatial sound plus Dolby Atmos suggests Meta thinks better audio can set head-worn devices apart, since cameras are limited by heat and size. Steady wide video with richer sound should be easier to use in normal edits, which gives these glasses more staying power.
