I bought these with my own money. Every product here did weeks of my workdays before I scored it. If you buy through a link on this page, I may earn a commission. How I test
How I used it
I bought the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 Wayfarer in the transparent grey frame with the clear-to-sapphire Transitions lenses, size 50-22. I've worn them for four weeks, a few hours at a time, mostly when I leave the house or when I'm around other people and want to hear something or watch something without putting earbuds in.
They also come with me to in-person client meetings. I don't use the camera or the speakers there. I wear them because they look like a good pair of Wayfarers, and that reads as more put together than showing up without glasses.
This is my second pair of Ray-Ban Meta. I owned the Gen 1 first, and it stopped turning on after 10 days. I'm not going into what happened after that. I still bought the Gen 2.
My days run long and I'm in front of a screen for most of them. The glasses pair with my iPhone 17 Pro Max, and the two things I use them for most are filming short videos and listening to podcasts.
What it gets right
The call mic surprised me most. On a WhatsApp call the other person hears me clearly, better than I expected from microphones sitting in a pair of glasses. I take a lot of calls, so a mic I can trust without holding a phone to my face is worth something on its own.
The 3K clips look great when they land in my camera roll. I film short moments when I’m out, mostly to post as Instagram stories. The footage is sharp and steady, and filming from eye level with both hands free changes what you bother to record.
They pass as glasses, which is the whole reason I wear them into client meetings. The transparent grey frame with the Transitions lenses looks like a nice pair of Wayfarers, indoors and out. Nobody has asked about the camera. In those meetings I don’t use a single feature. They’re there for the look.
I don’t use them for music much. I use them for podcasts when I’m around other people and want to keep one ear on the room. The open speakers in the temples do that job.
What could be better
- After a few hours they hurt. The temples press on the top of my ears, and three or four hours is my limit before they go back in the case. If you plan to wear smart glasses all day, try these on first.
- Meta AI is the only assistant on board, and I don’t like it, so I barely use it. If I could point the glasses at Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini instead, I’d use the AI side every day. Right now it’s the feature I paid for and skip.
- The clips look great on the phone and noticeably softer once they’re up as an Instagram story. That’s Instagram’s compression, and worth knowing if stories are the main reason you want the camera.
- Battery is fine, and I can’t tell you more than that. I wear them a few hours, they go back in the case, the case charges them. I’ve never run them flat, which is good news and also means I haven’t tested the rated eight hours.
How it compares
Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3, at $449, was announced in September 2026, a year after Gen 2. The camera is the same 12 MP, 3K sensor. You get a ninth hour of battery, a sixth microphone, an action button for the assistant, slimmer frames, and two new shapes, the Aviator and a cat-eye. If the Wayfarer is what you want, the $70 buys you small upgrades. If the Aviator is what you want, it only exists on Gen 3.
I owned a Ray-Ban Meta Gen 1. It stopped turning on after 10 days, so I can’t compare them on anything beyond the spec sheet. Gen 2 roughly doubles the rated battery and moves the video from 1080p to 3K.
The Oakley Meta HSTN has the same camera and chip as Gen 2 in a sportier frame. It’s the one to look at if you’d never wear a Wayfarer into a meeting anyway.
For calls at the desk, my AirPods Pro 3 still win on noise cancelling. The glasses win when I want to hear the room, keep my ears free, and look like I’m wearing glasses rather than earbuds.
Should you buy them?
If you’re buying new, the answer is yes when the Wayfarer is your frame and you want the camera and the mic more than the AI. Pay the $379 and keep the difference.
If you’re weighing Gen 3, buy it if you want the Aviator or the extra battery hour. For the same Wayfarer, Gen 2 is the better deal.
If you already own Gen 2, nothing in Gen 3 changes the camera. Keep yours unless the Aviator frame is calling you.
Specs
- Released
- September 2025
- Launch price
- From $379 (US)
- Frame
- Wayfarer RW4012, transparent grey, size 50-22
- Lenses
- Clear to sapphire Transitions
- Camera
- 12 MP ultra-wide; video up to 3K at 30 fps or 1200p at 60 fps
- Battery (rated)
- Up to 8 hours per charge, 48 hours in the case; 50% in 20 minutes
- Weight
- 52 g
- Assistant
- Meta AI
- Successor
- Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3, announced September 2026, from $449
Final verdict
After a month, the Gen 2 Wayfarers earn their spot for two reasons. The mic makes me sound good on WhatsApp calls, and the 3K video looks great on my phone. Everything else is a bonus. The Transitions lenses mean I can wear them into a client meeting and nobody sees a gadget.
Two things hold them back. The temples press on the top of my ears, so I take them off after three or four hours. And Meta AI is the only assistant on board. I don't like it, so the AI side of these glasses mostly goes unused.
If the Wayfarer is your frame, buy Gen 2 and keep the $70. If you'd rather have an Aviator, that only exists on Gen 3, and that's the version I'd buy today.
