Google Glass was an intriguing concept. If you remember it, Google Glass was a pair of smart glasses that incorporated AR technology. The glasses provided users with a mixed reality experience, mostly in real-time. The Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer glasses are very much in the same vein, minus the visual components. At a surface level, that sounds strange. Why would you wear smart glasses or digital glasses that have no visual gimmicks? Honestly, because it’s refreshing. There are no advertisements, nothing cutting into your view, and the tech kind of stays out of the way until you need it.

But that also brings up the question, what do the Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer sunglasses do? They’re simple, really, but that’s what makes them brilliant. However, these glasses aren’t for everyone. Not everybody is going to get the full use out of the technology. To understand why, we have to delve into the features and specifications, so let’s get technical for a minute.

What are the features of the Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer sunglasses?

The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses come in a variety of styles, including different color and lens variations. The pair I have are a shiny warm stone color, light brown, with slightly brown, polarized lenses. I don’t wear prescription glasses, but if you do, you can order the right lenses. As far as features, the glasses record video, live-stream, and capture photos via the two cameras, with ultra-wide 12 megapixel cameras and the five-mic system. They also work as open-ear speakers, similar to earbuds or headphones. Directional audio ensures that only you hear the playback, not everyone else around you.

You can also call upon Meta AI at any time, simply by saying “Hey Meta,” while you’re wearing the glasses. Using the AI, you can ask questions, simplify your daily tasks or schedule events, translate various languages, learn things about the world around you like historic landmarks, get recipes, get answers to queries, scan QR codes, and much more. It’s like having a virtual assistant right next to you with eyes on the world — trust me, it’s a lot cooler when you’re using it.

There are also touch controls on the side, to do simple tasks like play music, audiobooks or podcasts, pause audio, answer calls and so on. You can also issue voice commands to Meta AI. It’s all pretty intuitive. Plus, the glasses connect to a dedicated Meta View app, and no, you don’t have to have a Meta (Facebook) account via the platform. I disabled mine years ago. You will need an account of some kind. I have an Instagram account, which is how I’ve connected to these and the Meta Quest 3S.

Putting them on

There’s nothing special to it. You put them on like any other pair of glasses. They feature a high bridge or a low bridge fit, which you choose when you initially order. If your eyewear tends to slide down your nose while wearing them, sits too low, or presses on your temples and cheeks, you want to go low bridge. If the bridge of your nose is above the level of your pupils, then you want the high bridge.

When you load up the app and sync your glasses for the first time, you get a full tour of the features and controls, so you’re never out of the loop. More importantly, they’re always available in the app if you get lost.

The battery lasts for about four hours on a single charge, maybe a little less if you’re playing music the entire time. It has 32GB of built-in flash storage to store your photos and videos. You can always transfer them over to your phone through the app, and there’s an option to do this automatically. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 wireless connectivity are onboard, too.

Finally, the case doubles as a wireless charger when you dock the glasses. It’s a neat, fabric-lined case that includes the charging bits incorporated. The glasses snap in, charging via a metal connection in the bridge. You charge the case via USB-C when it’s out of juice.

So, what can you do with the Ray-Ban Meta glasses?

If you live a solitary life, off-grid and want nothing to do with technology, these are not for you. But I think you know that already. Most of the features revolve around creating media and sharing, with the bonus including side interactions with the AI. The coolest feature and one that I use the most, is the music playback. Once you set up your preferred music service through the app — like Spotify, Amazon Music, and others — you can tap and hold on the touch panel on the side of the glasses and the music starts playing right away. When you take the glasses off, it stops. When you put them back on, it starts again. And yes, the glasses have sensors to determine when you put them on and take them off. You can always disable that setting in the Meta View app.

A physical button on the top of the frame allows you to snap candid photos with the built-in cameras. You can press and hold that button to begin recording video from the first person perspective. Of course, you can also call upon Meta AI and tell it to record or take a photo of what you’re looking at. If you’re the type of influencer who loves vlogging personal moments, these glasses are fantastic for that. The camera quality is excellent, for snapping still photos and taking videos. The photos are a resolution of 3024 by 4032 pixels and look vivid, sharp and clear. The video is 1440 by 1920 at 30 frames per second. It’s not a smooth-as-butter 60 frames-per-second, but the videos still look great.

Now, the Meta Wayfarer are not a mini GoPro for shooting high-octane sports or activities, so keep that in mind. But they’ll do phenomenal when capturing a wedding, family reunions, personal family videos and so on. You don’t have to livestream any of it, either. So, if you just want to record some bits for yourself, that’s perfectly doable. It hearkens back to the old days when Dad carried around a tape recorder to make home videos. I’ll bet some of you don’t have any clue what I’m talking about.

What can they do?

Getting back to the crux of the question. You can use them to interact with the world around you, but digitally. For example, if you’re exploring Washington D.C., you can ask the AI to tell you more about landmarks, buildings and other areas just by looking at them. The glasses do have to be connected and synced to your phone to make a query, so keep that in mind. You can also snap photos quickly, capture videos, and so on. They take calls, too, like Bluetooth earbuds.

Let’s say you’re in a foreign restaurant and you need to know what kind of sauce you’re looking at, or maybe a wine. You can ask Meta to translate. Or, let’s say a song is playing nearby and you like the tune. You can ask Meta for the title or artist to remember for later. I even had Meta write a couple of lovely poems for my wife, which I sent via text.

One of the things it can’t do is give you product recommendations, which is weird. For instance, I asked where I could buy more Kora Cafe coffee. The Meta AI flat-out told me it can’t do that currently. That’s kind of silly since Alexa can. Maybe not with that particular brand of coffee, but certainly she can tell me about products and help me purchase them. It’s not that big of a deal since we don’t need any more platforms to buy products from. It’s just a bummer that Meta can’t tell me the info I need there.

There’s also a service called Be My Eyes that allows you to call upon a volunteer who stays hands-free and remote but offers advice and guidance through the glasses. It’s designed to help blind and low-vision users receive sighted assistant from volunteers anywhere around the world. Live video and AI are used to facilitate the communication and interactions. I haven’t used it, but it sounds interesting.

What’s the verdict, and the price?

Bringing it all home, I’ve been using these for a few months now and I quite enjoy them, but in little spurts. I don’t wear glasses regularly, as I’ve noted, so I don’t like wearing these all the time. Mostly when I leave the house or I’m visiting somewhere. They do work excellent recording family moments, however. I’ve worn them during the holidays, family gatherings and small trips to visit family elsewhere. Everyone around me knew I was recording, so it wasn’t some big secret. But I’ve enjoyed being able to watch those videos, sort of like old-school family home videos that were so common years ago. That said, I wouldn’t bother uploading anything I’ve recorded.

While I have tested out the livestreaming features to make sure they work and they’re reliable, it’s not my cup of tea. I’m not the demographic there. But if you are, you’ll love these. I use my Wayfarer to take a lot of first person shots of the stogies I’m smoking for The BS Lounge, mostly social shares.

As for the price, they start at $299. The pair I have is $379 and there are even more expensive models than that. It depends on what frames you choose, what lenses you pick out and where you buy them from.

So, would I recommend, and should you buy a pair? It depends. If they sound like something you’ll use all the time, or even to document your daily adventures, grab a pair. If it sounds more like they’ll collect dust on a shelf, at least in your household, then I think you already have your answer about buying.

• Recommended Buy: Yes, if you will use the functions.
• For Who: Anyone who livestreams, listens to music, or likes interacting with personal assistants and AI.
• MSRP: $299 to $549+