In 2026, the AI hardware battlefield moved from phones to faces.
Meta and Ray-Ban's smart glasses quietly became one of the fastest-growing consumer electronics products of the past year — because they solve a real problem: letting AI follow you, instead of making you look down at a screen.
What It Does
Built-in cameras and microphones connect to Meta AI (Llama-based). Whatever you see, it can help you analyze.
- Walk into a grocery store, ask about nutrition labels — it reads the back and answers
- At a restaurant, photograph the menu, ask which dish has fewest calories — instant answer
- See a foreign-language sign, just ask — real-time translation
Your phone can do all this, but requires unlocking and opening an app. The glasses shorten this to: look up, speak, hear answer.
Battery and Audio
Normal use gets 4-6 hours. Charging case gives 2-3 full charges, total approaching a full day.
Audio quality is surprisingly good. Open-air speakers hidden in the arms — call quality beats most bone conduction headphones.
Privacy
Meta updated firmware in late 2025 to make recording status more visible. The real question: where does the data go? Meta claims local processing priority, but cloud-assisted analysis still exists.
Worth Buying?
Buy if: You frequently need quick lookups, do outdoor activities, or are already in the Meta ecosystem.
Skip if: Extremely privacy-sensitive, mostly work at a desk.
AI glasses in 2026 haven't become the sci-fi version yet. But they're starting to be actually useful.
More reviews: wdsega.github.io
