If you’re in the market for a new pair of glasses (as I am), the Black Friday deals currently going on Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are tempting. You can get several colors and sizes of the Wayfarer frames starting at $239.20 (about $61 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target right now. If that all-time low price isn’t enough, you’ll even get a $90 digital gift card or credit when purchasing them from Amazon and Target. You can use it toward anything in their respective stores.
If you need a prescription, note that you can only get lenses with a strength between -6 and +4. You can’t get prescription lenses with your frames at the above retailers, but you can get them when ordering through Ray-Ban, which is offering the same Black Friday price but without the added perks retailers are offering. Still, you can get lenses retroactively by taking any pair to a Ray-Ban store or a local authorized retailer such as Lenscrafters. (Ray-Ban’s store locator can help you find one.) You should also be able to get lenses from other optical outlets, but that may void the warranty.
The Ray-Ban Meta glasses impressed in our initial look at them last year. In addition to being some of the first smart glasses that look good as part of your daily wardrobe, they’re also some of the first to get the technicals right, with very good photo and video quality coming from the 12MP camera. They also have great calling performance, thanks to five microphones, plus onboard speakers that work surprisingly well for music. You can also share your POV with friends in real-time with video calling, live stream to Facebook, or simply record the world around you and easily import your captures for sharing later.
AI is where Meta is beginning to shine, especially compared to the smart glasses that preceded it. Recent updates have added to its arsenal, which includes using your voice to snap photos or start recording video (there’s also a dedicated button). Meta AI can also remember objects, landmarks, or even your parking spot, and it’ll help you easily scan QR codes. It can also read and send messages.
The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses may feel like a novelty after a while if you’re not in it for content creation or don’t have a genuine curiosity for the tech, but whatever your muse, now’s a good time to try them out.
