Meta has launched the Ray-Ban Display smart glasses, alongside a new gesture-controlled wristband, the Meta Neural Band. The announcement came at the company’s annual developer event, Meta Connect 2025.
The new glasses, priced at $799 and available from September 30, come with a colour heads-up display embedded in the right lens. The display allows users to view apps such as Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook, while also showing navigation directions and live translations.
Unlike Meta’s experimental Orion prototype, which featured full augmented reality functions and eye tracking but is still years away from release, the Ray-Ban Display glasses opts for a simpler design. The trade-off is intentional, as Meta is prioritising a consumer-ready product over futuristic demonstrations.
The smart glasses are powered by an onboard assistant, fitted with cameras, microphones, and speakers, and connect directly to the cloud for internet and social media use. While the design is bulkier than earlier Ray-Ban Meta glasses, early testers say the fit remains comfortable thanks to ultra-narrow batteries built into the frame.
There is also the Meta Neural Band. Worn on the wrist and similar in appearance to a Fitbit, it enables app navigation through micro hand movements. The device reads subtle signals from the hand using electromyography (EMG) and has up to 18 hours of battery life with water resistance.
For years, Meta has relied on devices made by Apple and Google to reach users. Now pushing its own hardware, Meta aims to establish smart glasses as the next major computing platform.
The company is betting on displays in eyewear becoming as mainstream as smartphones did two decades ago. But then, there’s still competition. Both Apple and Google are expected to launch their own smart glasses, with tighter integration into their existing ecosystems.
That leaves Meta in a race against time, hoping that being first to market gives it the edge, even if its product is not yet the most advanced.
