Meta Launches Affordable Smart Glasses Starting at $299

Smart glasses are like public transportation, according to Peter Bristol, Meta's vice president of industrial design. "People will use it when it's good enough."

To reach "good enough," Meta is making its smart glasses more accessible, more customizable, and comfier to wear.

On Tuesday, the company revealed three new pairs of smart glasses: Adventurer, Fury, and Starfire. The price starts at just $299, and while that matches the original price of Meta's first-gen smart glasses, the price is markedly cheaper than the Ray-Ban Gen 2 glasses Meta launched last year. How did it get the price so low? Well, instead of Ray-Ban or Oakley branding to entice customers, these are just called Meta Glasses.

It's a big step for Meta as it tries to establish its own brand as the de facto name in smart glasses. Also, that lack of a luxury name tag means a more accessible price.

Meta is still partnering with eyewear mega-conglomerate EssilorLuxottica to manufacture and distribute the new Meta Glasses. This means you can still buy a pair from a glasses shop like LensCrafters, prescription or not (they support a power range of -12 to +2.25). They go on sale today.

The three Meta Glasses frames have different shapes and unique styling. The Meta Adventurer has a classic rectangular shape and comes in standard and large sizes; the Meta Fury is similar but less boxy. These two designs feature 26 customizations buyers can choose from, like tinted lenses and various frame colors like Racing Green or Sandstone. But it's the Meta Starfire that will surely turn heads.

The Kylie Jenner-infused Meta Starfire glasses.

Why this matters: Meta's new smart glasses offerings signal a significant shift in the company's approach to wearables. By dropping luxury branding and focusing on customization and affordability, Meta is positioning itself to capture a wider market share. This move could pressure competitors to reevaluate their pricing strategies and product offerings. For developers and businesses, the increased accessibility of smart glasses could lead to new opportunities for AR and AI-powered applications. For consumers, the expanded range of choices and price points could make smart glasses a more viable option for everyday use. However, questions remain about the long-term viability of smart glasses as a mainstream technology, and Meta's ability to sustain consumer interest in its products.