Best Meta Glasses (2026): Ray-Ban, Oakley, AR

every time i When writing about Meta’s AI-enabled glasses, I’m always asked these questions: Why would you want these? Why would you want smart glasses that can play music or misidentify native flora with strange happy sounds? I’m a lifelong Ray-Ban Wayfarer wearer, and I’m also WIRED’s resident Meta wearer. I carry a pair of Meta Glasses whenever I leave the house because I like to use one device instead of two or three when I’m on the go. With Meta Glasses, I can wear sunglasses And Workout headphones in one!

Meta sold more than 7 million pairs in 2025. Take a look at any major outdoor or sporting event, and you’ll see more than a few people wearing these to record snippets for Instagram or TikTok. Meta’s partnership with EssilorLuxottica has made smart glasses accessible, stylish and useful and is undoubtedly why Google, and now Apple, are trying to get a hold on the market. After the notable flop of the Apple Vision Pro, Apple is recalibrating its face-wearable strategy, moving away from augmented reality (AR) toward simpler, display-less, and hopefully good-looking glasses.

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be careful when using these glasses. Meta doesn’t have the best track record on privacy, and the company has continued to push policies that are questionable. even if you are No There are concerns that facial recognition will allow meta to target immigrants or enable stalkers to find their victims, at the very least, people don’t really like the idea that you could start recording them at any time.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to wearing meta glasses is that doing so feels like a blatant violation of the social contract. These are Mark Zuckerberg’s “distortion glasses”, after all. When I put these in my head, my friends (and my spouse) step back and say, “I have apps to warn against people like you.” The best part, though, is that Oakley and Ray-Ban already make great sunglasses. Even if the battery dies or you don’t use Meta AI at all, these are great at protecting your eyes from the sun.

Anyway, if you decide to try these, here’s what you should get. If you tend to walk outside, check out our buying guides for the best smart glasses or the best workout headphones for more information.

overall best

Last year, Meta upgraded the original Meta Ray-Ban Wayfarers which were a huge hit. These are Meta’s entry-level glasses, and they come in a variety of lens styles. You can order them in a variety of fits including clear lenses, prescription lenses, transition lenses, or OG sunglass lenses, as well as standard, large, or high-bridge frames. Improvements in this generation include an upgrade to the 12-MP camera and up to eight hours of battery life; Author Boone Ashworth’s test was completed in five to six hours.