Buy the $379 Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 for a strong call mic and a camera in frames you can wear to a client meeting. When the $449 Gen 3, the camera-free $349 Audio, the $599 Even G2 or the $799 Meta Ray-Ban Display is the better buy.
Buy the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 for $379 if you want a good call mic and a camera in glasses you can wear into a client meeting. I’ve worn the Wayfarer for a month, and it’s the pair I’d tell most founders to buy.
Pay $70 more for Gen 3 only if you want the Aviator frame or adjustable temples. Drop the camera with the $349 Ray-Ban Meta Audio if you’ll mostly wear them around clients. Buy a display only if you need words in front of your eyes: the $599 Even G2 for notes and teleprompting, the $799 Meta Ray-Ban Display for messages and captions.
How I picked
I run sales. My weeks are calls, in-person client meetings and flights between São Paulo and the US. I want glasses that make me sound clear on a call, play a podcast while I keep one ear on the room, and look like ordinary glasses across a conference table.
One pair here has a full review: the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 Wayfarer, which I bought and wore for four weeks. I haven’t used the others. For those I compared the official spec pages with recent hands-on testing: The Verge’s hands-on with Gen 3 and the camera-free Audio at Meta Connect in September 2026, and ShortCircuit’s longer tests of the Meta Ray-Ban Display and the Even Realities G2 (Even Realities sent ShortCircuit its pair). Prices are US list prices in October 2026.
The picks
| Glasses | Price | Camera | Display | Battery (rated) | Buy it for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 | $379 | 12 MP, 3K video | None | Up to 8 hrs, 48 with case | Calls, video, podcasts. My pick |
| Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 | $449 | 12 MP, 3K video | None | Up to 9 hrs | Aviator or cat-eye frame, adjustable temples |
| Ray-Ban Meta Audio | $349 | None | None | Up to 12 hrs, 48 with case | Calls and audio in meetings, no camera |
| Oakley Meta HSTN | $399 | 12 MP, 3K video | None | Up to 8 hrs | A sportier frame |
| Even Realities G2 | $599 | None | Green text, both lenses | Up to 2 days | Notes, teleprompter, meeting transcripts |
| Meta Ray-Ban Display | $799 with Neural Band | Yes, lower resolution | Color, one lens | Up to 6 hrs, 30 with case | Messages, captions and maps on your face |
What matters for work
How they look across a table. My Gen 2 pair is a transparent grey Wayfarer with Transitions lenses. In a month of client meetings, nobody asked about the camera. That cuts both ways. A camera people can’t spot is also a camera some people resent, and The Verge’s reviewers spent much of their Connect coverage on that backlash. Meta’s answer is a pair with no camera at all. If your clients are wary, that removes the question.
How you sound on a call. The Gen 2 mic surprised me. People on WhatsApp calls hear me clearly, better than I expected from microphones in a frame. Gen 3 adds a sixth mic, and Meta claims it cuts over 90% of background noise. The Even G2 has microphones but no speakers, so it can’t take a call on its own. You’ll still need earbuds, and my earbuds guide covers which ones.
Comfort past hour three. This is the Gen 2’s real weakness. The temples press on the top of my ears, and after three or four hours they go back in the case. Gen 3 and the Audio pair add adjustable temple tips, which Meta suggests an optician fit for you. If you plan to wear smart glasses through a full workday, that fix is worth more than any spec on the box. The Even G2 weighs 35 g against the Gen 2’s 52 g.
Battery on a travel day. A São Paulo to New York flight takes about 10 hours, and the full door-to-door day runs closer to 14. You won’t run audio the whole time, so the case matters more than the rated number. Gen 2 at 8 hours needs one top-up on a heavy day, and Meta says the case adds 50% in 20 minutes. The Audio pair, rated at 12 hours, might not need one. The Even G2, at up to two days, comes home with charge left.
Best overall: Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2, $379
Two things earn these a spot in my bag. The mic makes me sound good on calls, and the 3K video looks great on my phone. Filming from eye level with both hands free changes what I bother to record on a trip. Podcasts play from the temples, so I can listen in an airport and still hear my gate called.
The weak spots are the temple pressure I mentioned and Meta AI. It’s the only assistant on board, and I don’t like it, so the AI side mostly goes unused. If the Wayfarer is the frame you’d pick anyway, Gen 2 is a better deal than Gen 3. My full review covers the month in detail.
Best upgrade for all-day wear: Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3, $449
Meta launched Gen 3 on September 23. The camera is the same 12 MP, 3K sensor as Gen 2. What changes: a ninth hour of battery, six microphones instead of five, an action button for the assistant, adjustable temple tips, and two new shapes, the Aviator and the Zena cat-eye.
The Verge described it as a modest hardware update, and the spec sheet agrees. Buy it if you want the Aviator, or if fit is the problem and the adjustable temples would solve it. If you already own Gen 2, nothing here changes the camera or the call quality enough to replace a working pair.
Best without a camera: Ray-Ban Meta Audio, $349
The Audio pair shipped October 13 in Clubmaster and Burbank shapes. It weighs 43 g, Meta rates it at up to 12 hours with 48 more in the case, and it takes prescription lenses. There’s no camera, so there’s no travel video and no asking the assistant about what you’re looking at. You keep the open speakers, the mics and the calls.
I haven’t worn them. On paper they match how I actually use glasses in a meeting: I wear mine for the look and don’t touch a single feature. If you’d mostly wear smart glasses at work, around clients, the Audio pair costs $30 less, weighs less and lasts longer. The Verge’s testers also thought the thinner temples look less like tech.
Best for presentations and meeting notes: Even Realities G2, $599
The G2 projects green text into both lenses, at 640 by 350 pixels per eye and up to 1,200 nits. You can set the text near, mid or far. There’s no camera and no speaker. Even Realities rates it at up to two days per charge, and the case holds seven more.
The work features are the reason to look. Teleprompt puts your script at eye level and, in AI mode, scrolls as you speak. ShortCircuit found it more useful on the G2 than on the first model because the text now sits where you’re already looking. Conversate transcribes a meeting and builds key points and action items afterward. In ShortCircuit’s test, using the phone’s microphone, the transcript held up with people talking across the room. Live translation and a calendar dashboard round it out.
The trade-offs: navigation runs on OpenStreetMap data, which ShortCircuit found weak in places. The temple tips can get in the way of over-ear headphones. Prescription lenses start at $159, and the R1 control ring is $249 more. And ask before you transcribe a client meeting.
Best display for messaging: Meta Ray-Ban Display, $799
This is Meta’s pair with a full-color display in one lens, sitting just below your line of sight. It comes with the Neural Band, a wristband that reads finger movements: pinch, tap, swipe, and turn to change the volume. ShortCircuit called its live captions and translation the smoothest it had tested on any glasses. You can read and answer WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger messages, and the camera gets a viewfinder.
The costs add up. Meta rates the glasses at up to 6 hours, with 24 more in the case, and the band at 18. Photos and video come out at a lower resolution than on Gen 2. The assistant is still Meta AI. For me, that’s the same objection I have to Gen 2, at more than twice the price.
What I’d skip
- Upgrading Gen 2 to Gen 3 for the camera. It’s the same sensor. Upgrade for the frame or the fit, or keep the $449.
- Buying for the assistant. Meta’s glasses run Meta AI only. If you want Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini through your glasses, nothing in this guide gives you that today.
- A display pair as your call headset. The G2 has no speakers. The Display runs 6 hours. Neither replaces earbuds on a call-heavy day.
My recommendation
Buy the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 at $379. It’s the best mix of call quality, camera and looks for a founder who travels, and I’ve worked a month of meetings and trips in it. Pay $449 for Gen 3 if you want the Aviator or need temples that fit. Pick the $349 Audio if a camera would make your clients uneasy. Spend $599 on the Even G2 only if you present often or want meeting notes in your line of sight.
FAQ
Can smart glasses replace earbuds for work calls?
For short calls on the move, yes. My Gen 2 pair sounds clear on WhatsApp calls. The open speakers leak sound and block no noise, so for long calls or flights, earbuds with noise cancelling still win.
Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 or Gen 3?
Gen 2, if the Wayfarer is your frame. Both have the same camera. Gen 3 adds an hour of battery, a sixth mic, adjustable temples and the Aviator and cat-eye shapes for $70 more.
Is it OK to wear camera glasses into a client meeting?
I do, and I don’t use the camera there. A white LED lights when the camera records. If a client seems uneasy, take them off, or buy the camera-free Audio pair.
Do smart glasses work with prescription lenses?
Yes. Ray-Ban Meta glasses, including the Audio pair, take prescription lenses. Even Realities sells G2 prescription lenses from $159.
Do any smart glasses work with ChatGPT or Claude?
Not Meta’s. Every Meta model here uses Meta AI. The Even G2 has its own assistant, Even AI.