Meta today unveiled its latest foray into wearable tech with a new collaboration: the Oakley Meta HSTN smart glasses, marking a shift toward performance-oriented eyewear. Announced today, these glasses build on lessons from the Ray-Ban Meta line and aim to appeal to athletes and active lifestyles while retaining core smart features like audio, camera, and AI integration.

Meta’s partnership with EssilorLuxottica—parent company of Ray-Ban and Oakley—has so far centered on fashion-forward smart glasses. The Ray-Ban Meta models, launched in 2023, surpassed two million units sold, demonstrating consumer interest in discreet, screenless smart eyewear. With the Oakley Meta HSTN, Meta signals an expansion into performance eyewear: “This is our first step into the performance category,” says Alex Himel, Meta’s head of wearables, underscoring a strategy to diversify form factors and use cases beyond lifestyle and fashion.

Smart glasses are emerging as potential frontline devices for AI interactions, offering hands-free access to virtual assistants and contextual information. Tech giants like Google and Apple are reportedly exploring AR-capable devices, and Meta’s Oakley collaboration intensifies competition in a space where design, comfort, battery life, and seamless AI integration will determine differentiation.

Oakley’s heritage in sports eyewear informs the HSTN design. The “Meta HSTN” name nods to Oakley’s HSTN frame style, reimagined with embedded electronics while preserving durability and comfort. Crafted for active use, the frames carry an IPX4 rating—resistant to splashes but not submersion—making them suitable for workouts, cycling, or casual outdoor activities in light rain. Oakley’s trademark PRIZM lenses enhance contrast and detail, appealing to athletes who benefit from optimized vision in varied environments.

Multiple frame colors—warm grey, black, brown smoke, clear—and lens options including photochromic (transitions) allow personalization; prescription compatibility is offered for an extra cost. The limited-edition HSTN model, available for preorder starting July 11, 2025, retails at $499 and features gold accents with Oakley PRIZM lenses, whereas standard models will begin at $399 later in the summer.

Compared to Ray-Ban Meta, Oakley Meta HSTN boasts notable hardware upgrades:

• Camera: The front-facing camera now captures Ultra HD 3K video, up from 1080p on prior models, enabling clearer action footage and sharable POV clips. Content creators and athletes can document performance hands-free, from mountain biking trails to skatepark runs.
• Audio & microphones: Open-ear speakers and integrated microphones allow users to listen to music, podcasts, or calls without blocking ambient sound—a crucial safety feature for outdoor or athletic use.
• Battery life: Typical use runs up to eight hours per charge—double that of Ray-Ban Meta—while standby may last up to 19 hours. Fast charging achieves approximately 50% in 20 minutes. A portable charging case delivers up to 48 additional hours of power, ideal for extended outings or multi-day events without easy access to outlets.

These enhancements address common pain points in smart eyewear: limited recording time, insufficient power for all-day use, and bulky designs. By focusing on a slimmer, sport-ready form factor with robust battery performance, Meta and Oakley aim to increase practical adoption among active users.

Central to the Oakley Meta experience is Meta AI, the company’s LLM-based assistant. Via voice commands and the onboard camera/microphones, users can:

• Contextual queries: Ask questions about surroundings, such as “Hey Meta, how strong is the wind today?” leveraging real-time data and camera input to inform decisions in sports like golf or sailing.
• Hands-free capture: Instruct “Hey Meta, take a video” to record activities without manually handling a device, preserving flow during workouts or creative projects.
• Real-time translation: Translate spoken languages on the fly, useful for travel or international competitions where quick comprehension is vital.
• Visual assistance: Query “What am I looking at?” to receive information about objects or landmarks in view, blending computer vision with AI reasoning—a feature promising utility for exploration, education, and accessibility.

These capabilities mirror those in Ray-Ban Meta but benefit from improved sensors and audio quality. For athletes, subtle prompts can inform training—checking heart rate or cadence requires integration with additional sensors or a connected phone, which Meta may explore in future iterations.

The Oakley Meta HSTN limited-edition model will be available for preorder starting July 11, 2025, at $499 USD, in markets including the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. Standard Oakley models featuring Meta’s tech, starting at $399, are slated to launch later in the summer. Meta and Oakley aim to expand availability to markets such as Mexico, India, and the UAE later in the year.

Prescription lens options incur extra cost. The varied frame/lens combos cater to aesthetic preferences and functional needs (e.g., polarized or photochromic lenses for changing light conditions). Athletes and enthusiasts can choose based on sport-specific requirements, from cycling to watersports to snow activities.

Smart glasses remain nascent: while Ray-Ban Meta’s sales (over two million units) indicate interest, widespread adoption hinges on comfort, battery longevity, seamless connectivity, privacy safeguards, and compelling use cases beyond novelty. Meta’s goal of selling 10 million smart glasses annually by 2026, as disclosed by EssilorLuxottica, underscores ambitious scaling plans. Achieving this will require addressing:

• Privacy & social acceptance: Cameras on eyewear can trigger privacy concerns; clear indicators (e.g., LED lights when recording) and transparent data handling policies are essential to user trust and social comfort.
• Developer ecosystem & apps: Rich third-party app support for fitness metrics, navigation overlays, and social sharing can enhance value; Meta may open SDKs or collaborate with fitness apps to deepen functionality.
• Battery & performance improvements: Ongoing hardware refinement—smaller, lighter components with longer battery life and better cameras—will be critical. Oakley Meta’s jump to 3K video and extended battery is a step, but further strides can widen appeal.
• Integration with wearables: Pairing with smartwatches or biometric sensors could unlock advanced training analytics. Meta’s broader ecosystem (e.g., integration with Meta Quest VR/AR, smartphones) may create synergies for immersive experiences.
• Affordability & fashion: While $399–$499 positions these glasses as premium devices, broader market penetration may require lower-cost models or financing options. Collaborations with diverse eyewear brands can cater to varied style segments.

For athletes and outdoor enthusiasts, Oakley Meta HSTN offers a hands-free companion: capture workouts, check environmental data, and enjoy media without earbuds, all through an AI assistant in your eyewear. The emphasis on durability and battery life addresses pain points of earlier smart glasses. Casual users may still opt for fashion-centric models like Ray-Ban Meta, but Oakley’s performance tilt signals Meta’s intent to segment offerings by lifestyle.

“This is just the beginning,” Alex Himel hints, suggesting future performance eyewear iterations and broader partnerships beyond Oakley. As Meta refines hardware and software, and as consumer comfort with AI-enabled wearables grows, we may see smart glasses evolve from niche gadgets to mainstream accessories. For now, the Oakley Meta HSTN bridges sport performance and AI convenience, representing a noteworthy milestone in the smart eyewear journey.