Ray-Ban Meta is expanding its smart eyewear portfolio with its first audio-only AI glasses and the third generation of its camera-equipped AI glasses.
Ray-Ban Meta Audio combines open-ear audio and Meta AI without a camera, while Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 3) updates the existing platform with a slimmer design and new technology. Across the collections, Ray-Ban is also expanding frame, lens, and prescription options.
A Camera-Free Approach
In an exclusive interview with Insight Media, Maria Colon, vice president of marketing, Ray-Ban North America, says the Audio collection grew from how consumers already use the technology.
“The evolution of Ray-Ban Meta has always been about making technology feel more natural and relevant to everyday life,” Colon says. “With Ray-Ban Meta Audio, we’re expanding the experience around one of the most intuitive and frequently used ways people engage with technology: listening.”
At 43 grams, Ray-Ban Meta Audio is the lightest Ray-Ban Meta frame to date and offers up to 12 hours of battery life. Users can listen to music and podcasts, make calls, and access Meta AI hands-free.
“The absence of a camera also allows for a lighter, more refined frame that feels particularly natural as an everyday pair of eyewear,” Colon says.
Audio will debut in Clubmaster and Burbank frame designs. Clubmaster draws from browline styles associated with the 1950s and 1960s. The square Burbank design, which originated in the 1960s, was relaunched from Ray-Ban’s archives in 2021.
Gen 3 Expands Technology and Styles
Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 3) adds new features such as a 3K Ultra HD camera, six-array microphone, assignable action button, and up to nine hours of battery life. Meta AI capabilities include answering questions about what users see, providing local recommendations, translating conversations, reviewing messages, and setting reminders.
“AI is designed to make the glasses more intuitive and useful in everyday moments,” Colon says.
In addition, Colon says the Gen 3 designs have a slimmer, more refined style with flexible temple tips that create a personalized fit. “As the category has evolved, we’ve seen the importance of making the technology feel increasingly natural to wear,” she says. “Comfort, proportion and fit become particularly important when eyewear is designed to be part of someone’s everyday routine.”
In terms of frame options, Wayfarer returns for Gen 3, while Aviator and Zena, a geometric cat-eye silhouette, join Ray-Ban Meta for the first time.
Options, Availability, and Pricing
Both collections allow for a plethora of clear and sun lenses, including Transitions, polarized, blue light filter, and prescription options. Blayzer Optics and Scriber Optics also return in new seasonal colors, such as Transparent Shiny Dark Olive, Shiny Brick Brown, and Transparent Shiny Ocean Blue.
Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 3) launches Sept. 23 starting at $449, followed by Ray-Ban Meta Audio on Oct. 13 starting at $349. Both will be available through Ray-Ban, participating EssilorLuxottica retail and wholesale channels, and Meta.com.