The Ray-Ban Meta collab gave us the most successful pair of smart glasses to date, and now Meta has jumped in bed with Oakley for a fresh pair, the Oakley Meta HSTN.
Before you start thinking this is the result of a falling out between Meta and Ray-Ban: both Oakley and Meta are brands owned by EssilorLuxottica, so it really isn’t.
But back to the important stuff. The new Oakley Meta HSTN smart glasses are meant to be pronounced “how stuhn” and will cost $499 when they go up for pre-order on July 11. We don’t have specific UK pricing but we have heard they will be available here.
As well as a fresh look, the Oakley Meta HSTN bring some major hardware upgrades. They can capture 3K video, where the Ray-Ban Meta glasses are limited to 1080p. They still have a 12MP camera, though.
Battery life takes a massive leap too. Meta says the Oakley Meta HSTN will last up to eight hours per charge, up from four hours in the Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer.
Meta hasn’t had to make the Oakley Meta HSTN super-chunky to get there either. Like the Ray-Ban pair, these look mostly like plain old sunglasses, with perhaps slightly chunkier arms.
And, as usual, you control them in part using these arms. There’s a capture button on one side, and an area just beyond your ear, on the right side, acts as a touchpad. You can also just talk to the baked in AI assistant, “Meta AI,” and these glasses have a 5-mic array to let them hear you OK in noisier places.
Over at the Meta website you'll see two key Oakley Meta HSTN styles. There’s the classic all-black design, and a creamy white with some gold accents, which is the initial $499 release.
The glasses are also available with Oakley’s Prizm lenses. These attempt to amp up your perception of colour and contrast, making what you see pop that bit more. A polarised version of Prizm will be available in the Oakley Meta HSTN.
One drawback of these glasses is pretty obvious. They cost more than the current Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer. However, six lower cost $399 finished are coming later this summer. Here are those finish combos:
- Desert with Prizm Ruby Lenses
- Black with Prizm Polar Black Lenses
- Shiny Brown with Prizm Polar Deep-Water Lenses
- Black with Transitions Amethyst Lenses
- Clear with Transitions Grey Lenses
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
