Unboxing the NEW RayBan Meta Sunglasses

New to Ray-Ban Meta Glasses? Start Here

If you have never paid attention to these glasses before, here is the plain-language version. Ray-Ban Meta glasses are regular Ray-Ban sunglasses (and clear-lens glasses) with technology built into the frame: a small camera at the front, microphones, tiny speakers in the arms, and Meta AI, the same assistant you may have seen in Meta's apps, that you can talk to. They connect to your phone over Bluetooth, and everything you capture lands in an app on your phone.

Here is what that does for you in everyday terms. You can take a photo or a video of exactly what you are looking at, hands-free, without digging your phone out of your pocket. You can listen to music or a podcast through the arms of the glasses, with your ears left open, so you can still hear the room around you. And here is the part people never believe until they try them: the people around you cannot hear what you are listening to. I have stood on a putting green listening to Rage Against The Machine with my fellow golfers right beside me, and they had no idea. You can take a phone call, have a text message read to you, and ask a question out loud and get an answer back. You can even ask for walking directions and have the glasses talk you through the route as you walk, which is a lovely thing in a city you do not know, no phone in your hand, no stopping on the sidewalk to stare at a map. The original unboxing below walks through all of it, and my fishing, golf, and snowboarding stories further down are still my favourite examples of the moments these glasses catch that a phone would have missed.

Why would you want a pair? The short answer is that they let you capture your life and your work without standing behind a phone. If you run a business, that is more useful than it sounds. A real estate agent can walk a listing and film it from their own point of view. A baker can show the cake being decorated with both hands in the shot. Anyone whose work happens with their hands busy can create content in the middle of doing the actual work, which is when the good content happens anyway. And outside of work, there is a lot to be said for being present at the family thing, the trip, the concert, and still coming home with the moment saved.

Why might you not? They are a real purchase, not an impulse one, and they are one more device to keep charged. They work with your phone nearby and a Meta account, so if you are deliberately keeping your tech life simple, that is a genuine consideration. There is a small learning curve while you get used to the button and the voice commands. And if you rarely take photos or video now, your phone already does this job well, and a pair of camera glasses will not change that. I would rather tell you that up front than have a pair sit in a drawer.

Privacy: The Question Everybody Asks

The first thing most people ask me about these glasses is the privacy side, and it is a fair question. A camera that does not look like a camera makes people understandably cautious, so here is how it actually works.

There is a light on the front of the glasses, and it lights up when you are recording. It is there specifically so the people around you can see that a recording is happening. The glasses are also not filming your whole day. They record when you start them, either by pressing the capture button or by asking out loud, and the rest of the time they are just sunglasses. Your photos and videos live in the app on your phone, and nothing gets shared anywhere unless you choose to share it, the same as the photos sitting in your camera roll right now. You can delete anything you capture.

In the settings, you manage things like voice controls and what the assistant keeps, the same way you would in any Meta app. And my own rule of thumb is a simple one: treat the glasses like a camera, because that is what they are. If a moment is one where you would ask before filming with your phone, ask before filming with your glasses. If a workplace or a venue has rules about cameras, those rules apply here too. Used that way, I have found people relax about them quickly, and half the time they end up asking me to take their picture.

Three Generations, Side by Side

There are now three generations of these glasses, and this is the only comparison table you need. The original Ray-Ban Stories (Gen 1), the Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) that the 2023 article below unboxes, and the new Gen 3.

Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3: What Changed From Gen 2 (October 2026)

When Meta announced the Gen 3 glasses this fall, I went looking for the camera upgrade first, because that is what I do. There isn't one, and I mean that as useful information rather than a complaint. The Gen 3 story is the parts you touch and hear: a button you can assign yourself, better microphones, longer battery life, a slimmer fit, and new frame styles. I picked up my pair on October 13 (shiny black with green polarized lenses) and have been wearing them side by side with my Gen 2 Wayfarers ever since.

What's in the Box

First, the packaging. It is really well packaged, clever packaging, the kind of box you open slowly because someone clearly thought about it. Inside: the glasses, sitting in the charging case they come in, a Ray-Ban lens cloth, and the instruction booklet. And that is the list. No cables, same as my Gen 2 pair, so you will use a USB-C cable you already own to charge the case.

Getting Started: The Quick Start

Setup takes a few minutes, and the app walks you through it. In order:

1. Give the glasses a charge in their case while you set up. They arrive with some charge, but topping up first saves frustration later.
2. Download the Meta AI app on your phone (the box has a QR code that takes you straight to it) and log in with your Meta account.
3. Turn the glasses on with the small power switch inside the right arm. (Coming from Gen 2? The switch has moved sides. On the Gen 2 it sits inside the left arm, both counted from wearing them, not looking at them, so expect your fingers to go to the wrong side for the first few days.) The switch itself is better, too. The Gen 2's is round and smooth, and I always had trouble getting a good purchase on it. The new one has texture to it, grippy enough that a fingertip can actually catch it and slide it.
4. Put the glasses in their case, and press and hold the button on the back of the case for about five seconds, until the case light pulses blue. That is pairing mode.
5. In the app, tap to set up a new device and follow the prompts: pick your glasses, connect, join your Wi-Fi, and say yes or no to the permissions as they come up.
6. Finish the fun part in the app: choose what the new Action Button does, set your video length, and turn on auto-import if you want your photos and videos to flow to your phone on their own.

That is it. You are set up, and the rest is playing.

The Action Button

This is my favourite change, and it is a small one. On my Gen 2s, the button on the frame takes a photo or a video, and that is all it does. If I want Meta AI, I say "Hey Meta" out loud. The Gen 3 adds an Action Button that you assign yourself: one press can open Meta AI, or you can set it to capture instead. A quiet little tap instead of announcing it to the whole train, the trail, or the rollercoaster car. It is quieter, faster, and a lot less awkward in public.

The Microphones

Gen 3 carries a six-microphone array, up from five on the Gen 2, and Meta says it cuts more than 90 percent of background noise. What that means in real life is that on a call, the person on the other end hears you instead of the wind, the crowd, or the ride you are on, and your voice commands land the first time instead of you repeating yourself in a loud place.

Battery: My Disney Test

Gen 3 battery life is rated at up to 9 hours of typical use, with the case adding up to 50 more. Gen 2 is 8 hours and 48 from the case. One hour does not sound like much on a spec sheet, so let me tell you what it looked like in real life. With my Gen 2s, downloading and importing video to my phone drains the battery, and for a night at Disney I would have had to holster them partway through the night for another charge. On October 13, I wore the Gen 3s all night at Disney. I used them, I downloaded video, I never charged them once, and I ended the night at 46 percent. That is the difference the extra battery makes on a real night out.

Fit and Styles

The frames are slimmer. The camera and LED openings are about a third smaller. And the ends of the arms, the tips that hook over your ears, can now be adjusted by an optician to fit your actual head, so the glasses grip properly instead of sliding down or pinching. On my Gen 2s, those tips are fixed: the fit you get out of the box is the fit you keep. The Gen 3s read more like regular sunglasses and less like tech, and they stay put when I am moving. Two new styles join the lineup this year: the Aviator (yes, the classic Ray-Ban Aviators, in their 90th anniversary year, including a limited edition), and the Zena, a cat-eye. If the Wayfarer shape was never your face, there is now an iconic alternative.

What If You Wear Prescription Glasses?

Good news, because this is the question that decides it for a lot of people: the Gen 3 glasses support prescription lenses across the line. You can order them with your prescription already in, directly from Ray-Ban or a participating certified retailer, or have prescription lenses fitted to a pair you already own at a participating retailer. Single vision and progressive prescriptions are both supported, in clear, sun, polarized, and Transitions lenses. The supported range covers most prescriptions, from -12.00 to +6.00 total power (the new Aviator style runs narrower, -6.00 to +4.00, so Aviator fans with a stronger prescription will want to check before ordering). If you know you will wear these every day, ordering them with your prescription already fitted is the simplest route.

Longer Video Takes

Gen 3 records continuously for up to 5 minutes in a single take. My Gen 2s cap a video at 3 minutes. A full ride, a full song, a whole moment, without the glasses cutting you off right at the good part.

Dynamic Photos (Gen 2 Owners Get This Too)

Dynamic Photos takes a little burst when you shoot and lets you pick the best frame afterward, so for the moments you cannot stage, the mid-laugh, mid-ride, dog mid-shake moments, you choose the shot where nobody blinked. This one is software rather than new hardware, and Meta has brought it to Gen 2 as well. It is a lovely feature, and it is not, on its own, a reason to upgrade.

Coming Later This Year: Dolby Atmos Recording

This one is not here yet, and I am flagging it clearly because it is the feature I am watching. Think of regular video sound like a photograph of what you heard: everything flattened into one frame. Recording in Dolby Atmos spatial audio is more like standing back in the middle of it. The glasses capture where each sound actually is, in front of you, behind you, above you, off to the left, and keep that placement in the video. Play the clip back on headphones and the scream comes from behind you, where it happened. Dolby Atmos has existed for years for playing sound, in theatres and streaming. Meta says its glasses will be the first consumer devices that let you record your own everyday moments in it, just by pressing record. Meta has announced it for an update later this year, and has not confirmed which models get it, so for now it is a promise to watch rather than a feature to buy for.

So, Should You Upgrade?

The camera is the same 12 megapixels. The video is the same 3K. Storage, speakers, and splash resistance are the same. You are paying for refinement: the button, the microphones, the battery, the fit, and the styles.

If you are buying your first pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses, the Gen 3 is the one I would point you to. If you love your Gen 2s, the software is keeping up (Dynamic Photos arriving on Gen 2 is a good sign), and you can feel good about waiting for the next round.

Selling Your Gen 2, or Handing Them Down? Unpair and Reset First

If a Gen 3 upgrade means your Gen 2 pair is going to a new home, do this before they leave your hands. A factory reset wipes the glasses back to out-of-the-box state and unlinks them from your Meta account, and anything still sitting on the glasses that you have not imported yet is deleted for good, so step one matters.

1. Import first. Open the Meta AI app and let every photo and video you want to keep come across to your phone.
2. Unpair in the app. In the Meta AI app, tap Glasses, then Device settings, then General, then Unpair glasses, and confirm. (Unpairing alone does not erase the glasses themselves, which is why the reset below still matters.)
3. Factory reset the glasses. Take them out of the case, charged and powered on. Fold both arms closed. With the arms folded, press the capture button five times; the light turns orange. Then press and hold the capture button, and release when the light starts flashing. The light cycles through white and green and then turns off, and the reset is done. A word from experience: the timing on the five presses is fussy, and it took me two tries. If nothing happens, you did not break anything, just run the sequence again.
4. Forget them in Bluetooth. In your phone's Bluetooth settings, forget the glasses so your phone stops looking for a pair that is no longer yours.

Now they are a clean, fresh pair for their next person, and none of your account, settings, or un-imported moments go with them.

A Very Special Thank You

None of this testing happens without my best friend, Jenn Herman. When I decided I needed to get my hands on a Gen 3 pair, Jenn did all the running around with me to make it happen, every store trip and detour it took to track a pair down. Jenn, thank you. Having a best friend who will spend her day helping you hunt down a pair of smart glasses so you can make content about them is not something I take for granted, and this whole Gen 3 section exists because of you.

The Original 2023 ArticleNovember 2023 · Kept exactly as written

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