Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wears the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, as he delivers a speech presenting the new line of smart glasses, during the Meta Connect event at the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, U.S., Sept. 17, 2025.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
Meta on Tuesday announced a new set of $299 smart glasses, a strategic price point that undercuts its previous entry-level second-generation Meta Ray-Ban glasses by at least $80. This move signals CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s continued, aggressive push into the burgeoning wearables market. The new Meta Glasses, developed in partnership with EssilorLuxottica, the parent company of Ray-Ban, arrive with updated designs but notably omit both Ray-Ban and Oakley branding.
The company is keenly aware of the escalating competition in the eyewear sector, where consumers are increasingly recognizing the utility and appeal of augmented reality (AR) devices. While the smart glasses market remains nascent, Meta and EssilorLuxottica have established a commanding presence. Since their initial launch in 2021, the collaboration has captured an estimated market share exceeding 80%, with millions of units shipped.
The three Meta Glasses designs.
Meta
The latest iteration of Meta Glasses, while not featuring an integrated screen, is equipped with a camera and personal speakers. This allows users to leverage Meta’s AI for real-time translation, contextual understanding of their surroundings, and the capture of photos and videos. Meta executives have articulated a vision where these lightweight smart glasses serve as a foundational step toward more advanced eyewear, eventually incorporating display technology and enhanced computing capabilities directly into the lenses. This follows the company’s previous unveiling of the $799 Ray-Ban Display glasses, which do feature a built-in display.
Zuckerberg’s strategic pivot towards smart glasses appears to be yielding more tangible consumer adoption than the company’s virtual reality (VR) headsets, which were a cornerstone of its 2021 rebranding from Facebook to Meta. While VR remains a niche market, primarily serving the gaming community, Zuckerberg’s overarching objective is to establish Meta as a dominant hardware platform for the AI-driven era.
Meanwhile, the competitive landscape for smart glasses is rapidly intensifying. Google announced last month its development of new computerized eyewear in collaboration with Warby Parker, powered by its Gemini AI model. This move directly challenges Meta’s position. Furthermore, Snap’s recent unveiling of its $2,195 Specs, positioned by CEO Evan Spiegel as the potential successor to the smartphone, underscores the ambitious trajectory of this market segment.
Meta has introduced the Meta Glasses in three distinct new designs, aiming to broaden consumer appeal. Accompanying the launch is a new charging stand for the glasses, enhancing user convenience.
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