On Wednesday, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) unveiled two new smart glasses at its Connect 2025 event, introducing the $499 Oakley Meta Vanguard for athletes and the $799 Ray-Ban Display with built-in AR features, earning praise from investor Gene Munster as the "best bang for the buck."
Oakley Vanguard Targets Athletes
The Oakley Meta Vanguard, launching Oct. 21, is designed for runners, cyclists and outdoor sports enthusiasts.
The glasses feature a large unified lens with a 12-megapixel camera and 3K video recording, a five-microphone array tuned to reduce wind noise, and open-ear speakers that Meta says are its most powerful yet.
With nine hours of battery life and a charging case providing an additional 36 hours, the Vanguard offers fast charging to 50% in just 20 minutes.
Its wraparound design uses Oakley PRIZM lens technology for sun, wind and dust protection. The glasses also integrate with Garmin smartwatches and Strava, allowing athletes to track and overlay performance stats onto captured media.
Ray-Ban Display Brings Everyday AR
Meta also debuted its Ray-Ban Display smart glasses, priced at $799 and available Sept. 30. These glasses feature a small high-resolution digital display embedded in the right lens for notifications, navigation, live captions, translations and music playback.
"Because everything needed to fit in a fashionable pair of glasses worthy of the Ray-Ban name, we rearchitected our entire display to fit the form factor," Meta said.
The design supports photochromatic lenses, an in-lens capture LED, and minimized light leakage for subtle, private use.
Ray-Ban Display At $799 Delivers 3X Tech Edge: Munster
Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, praised the product's value, saying, "Ray-Ban Display is $799. It's the best bang for the buck in the Meta glasses lineup. Even though it's $200 more than the Oakleys, the Display's tech chops are 3x better."
Earlier this week, Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki called the lineup a "game changer," praising Meta's AR progress.
Apple Making Moves
The launch comes as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) prepares new XR devices, including future Vision Pro models and potential smart glasses by 2027.
In June, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that he believes Apple could eventually surpass Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses despite its slow start.
He noted Apple is developing at least seven head-mounted and smart glasses projects, with some expected from 2027 onward. Kuo said Apple's renewed focus on hardware innovation is positive for the market and supply chain.
Price Action: META shares rose 0.50% to $779.62 in after-hours trading after dropping 0.42% during the regular hours, according to Benzinga Pro.
Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings indicate that META remains strong across short, medium and long-term horizons, with additional performance details available here.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
