Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3 vs Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2: should you upgrade?

Among the host of unusual products that Meta unveiled at its Join match this week — an AI Tamagotchi, any person? — we bought the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3 clean glasses. Here we’re going to shatter down the total key specs of the unusual specs, and in specific how they compare to the mannequin that launched this time final year.

In our Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 overview, we praised the AI-powered glasses for bringing with them improvements in digicam quality, battery life, and receive, and there are upgrades to focus on with the third-abilities too.

Whether or no longer you already possess a Gen 2 pair and are pondering of constructing the swap to the unusual items, or you are pondering getting allowing for clean glasses for the first time, right here is how the 2025 and 2026 versions compare.

Pricing and receive

The Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3 are out now and yours for a starting trace of $449 / £409 / AU$679, which is a modest trace bump over the old versions. Meta says the final receive is slimmer and extra gratified to wear when compared to the Gen 2, though the weights listed on Meta’s store counsel there is no longer great alternate there (a minimal of via the Wayfarer, which is the handiest fashion carried over).

There are three assorted kinds to make a choice from. You’ll doubtless be able to need bought the Wayfarer we saw with Gen 2 (additionally on hand in rotund), and two unusual additions: the enduring Aviator receive, plus the Zena, which Meta describes as “a bold new cat-eye frame that makes a confident statement”. A complete of 27 lens and shade combos are on hand across these body shapes, with colours collectively with Black and Havana (a aggregate of darkish and light brown).

When the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 launched, they were on hand for $379 / £379 / AU$599 and up, and at the time of writing, that trace hasn’t dropped with the advent of the Gen 3 items. All three kinds are unruffled on hand to amass too: the Wayfarer (in widespread or rotund), the cat-sight Skyler, and the extra rounded Headliner.

At launch time, Meta talked about 27 lens and shade combos for the Gen 2 glasses, however these combos are no longer precisely the identical as they are for the Gen 3, and they changed over time with seasonal offerings — one thing that is doubtless for the unusual items too. So the takeaway is that there is in regards to the identical range of receive different, though the specific alternate options are assorted essentially essentially based on which abilities of clean glasses you choose.

Battery life and specs

You kind no longer desire your clean specs demise at some level of the day, and Meta says the Ray-Ban Gen 2 are succesful of lasting 8 hours between battery expenses. Assuming you are taking a fully charged case out with you as well, you are getting an further forty eight hours (or six paunchy recharge cycles) on top of that earlier than you might perchance maybe maybe presumably presumably additionally honest derive to search out a energy socket.

With the Ray-Ban Gen 3, Meta is promising as a lot as 9 hours of battery life on a single cost, with an further 50 hours provided by the charging case. There’s additionally level out of charging the glasses from zero to 50% in a mere two minutes, which is the identical negate made with the old Gen 2 items.

In phrases of the digicam, or no longer it is the total identical: both the Gen 3 and the Gen 2 derive a 12MP ultrawide digicam succesful of capturing as a lot as 3K resolution video (excellent be respectful of different of us’s privateness). There’s a elevate for negate enter though, since the Gen 3 has a 6-mic array when compared to the 5-mic array of the Gen 2.

The loudness and bass of the audio system is listed as the identical between generations — 76.1 dB(C) — so there is now not any contrast there, whereas the 32GB of inner storage suits as well. The headline upgrades as some distance as key critical formula high-tail are better battery life and improved mic inputs, though we’re basing that on spec sheets in save of any making an try out.

Parts and AI

In phrases of what you might perchance maybe maybe presumably presumably additionally basically enact with the Gen 3 clean glasses, the entire lot is extra or less the identical as earlier than. The handiest exception is an further ‘action’ button you receive on the unusual items, alongside the unusual photo/video hold button, which might additionally honest also be customized to launch a specific feature: the AI assistant, sending a text to a fave contact, or activating the on-board translation, as an instance.

Besides that, you receive receive valid of entry to to the identical Meta AI in your glasses, and or no longer it is the identical companion Meta AI app running in your phone too. The final core functions are the identical, collectively with audio calls, video calls (where the caller sees what you are seeing), dwell assistance thru the AI about one thing you are taking a admire at, and audio playback for your tune, podcasts, and audiobooks.

The upgrade will not be any longer pretty as dramatic as it became once from Gen 1 to Gen 2 — you might perchance maybe maybe presumably presumably endure in mind there were critical improvements to video hold quality, and colossal leaps in battery life too — so must you already possess a pair of Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 clean glasses then you kind no longer truly favor to upgrade at once, except you are a colossal fan of the unusual designs.

Will derive to you are unruffled on the Gen 1 items or you are taking a admire at clean glasses for the first time, alternatively, the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3 are a terrific extra compelling proposition. After the latest round of Meta announcements, you might perchance maybe maybe derive got additionally now bought the selection of the Meta VR Glasses and the digicam-free Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses as well.

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Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about items, apps and the web for added than twenty years. Based entirely out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you might perchance maybe maybe presumably presumably additionally safe him preserving files, formula and experiences, particularly for phones, capsules and wearables. Working to substantiate our breaking files coverage is the handiest within the commercial over weekends, David additionally has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and about a other locations moreover, as well as being decades bettering the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Manual.