Meta designs its own glasses in the race for your face

As smart glasses slowly graduate from being a niche gadget geeks use, Big Tech companies are vying for the perch atop your nose. And market leader Meta just made a big change: The company unveiled a new set of smart glasses designed in-house without the Ray-Ban branding of its other models.

The new glasses’ $299 starting price is meant to be a cheaper alternative to the Ray-Ban- and Oakley-branded Meta specs that go for $379+. But they’re still produced in partnership with Ray-Ban’s parent company EssilorLuxottica and offer similar functionality, like a built-in camera and an audio-enabled AI assistant.

For now, the glasses come in three versions: Adventurer, Fury, and the slim ovoid Starfire designed by Kylie Jenner. Meta suggested it might later release a cheaper camera-less model with more style options.

Crowded nose bridge

Though Meta currently controls more than two-thirds of the market, its rivals want in:

• Snap released high-end glasses called SPECS last week for $2,195 (with questionable aesthetics).
• Google will start selling AI smart glasses designed by Warby Parker this fall.
• Apple plans to start shipping iPhone-pairing smart glasses next year.

There may be room for everyone: Market research firm IDC reported that smart glasses sales jumped 167% in Q1 of this year from 2025 and Meta said in April its daily smart glasses users had tripled since last year.—SK