Smart glasses with a camera and speakers are no longer new. What Meta adds with the Ray-Ban Display is a full-color screen inside the lens, controlled by a wristband that reads small finger movements. It costs USD 799 with the band included, and the first detailed review suggests it delivers on much of that promise, as long as you accept thick frames and short battery life when the screen is busy.
This is a documented review: I brought together the official specs from Meta and the tested impressions published by Engadget, then added my own verdict.
At a glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Price | USD 799 including the Meta Neural Band |
| Arab market availability | Not officially sold in the region. It launched only at a limited set of US retailers |
| TechKahwa rating | 7.4/10 |
| Best for | Early adopters who want glanceable messages, captions and a camera viewfinder without taking out a phone |
| Skip if | You want all-day battery with the display in use, light frames, or a wide choice of apps |
Design, the display and the wristband
The glasses are made with EssilorLuxottica under the Ray-Ban brand and come in Black and Sand, with Transitions lenses that darken outdoors. The display sits in the lens, off to the side of your view, so it does not block what is in front of you. Engadget gives the field of view as 20 degrees. That is small, and it is meant to be. The idea is a glance at a message, a map direction or a caption, not a floating movie screen.
The weight is the first trade-off. Engadget puts the glasses at 69 g and writes: “At 69 grams, the display glasses are noticeably heavier.” Anyone who has worn heavy sunglasses for a full afternoon knows how quickly extra grams on the nose start to matter.
The second half of the product is the Meta Neural Band, an EMG wristband that reads the electrical signals from your wrist muscles to detect gestures like a pinch or a swipe. Meta rates it for up to 18 hours of battery and IPX7 water resistance, and it comes in three sizes. This is the part that caught my attention most in the reviews. Engadget reports that the band “almost never missed a gesture”, which is a big deal. Controlling glasses by voice alone is awkward in public, and touch panels on the frame are clumsy. A quiet finger movement under the table is a far more natural way to reply or scroll.
Battery and everyday performance
Meta’s official battery figures are:
- Glasses: “up to six hours of mixed-use”
- Up to 30 hours in total with the collapsible charging case
- Neural Band: up to 18 hours
The key phrase is “mixed use”. Engadget warns that “if you’re doing display-intensive tasks like video calling or live translation, it will die much, much more quickly.” In other words, the six hour figure assumes the screen is off much of the time. If your plan is to use the display for long video calls or extended translation sessions, expect far less.
There is also the question of charging two devices. The glasses and the wristband each need their own battery, so your nightly routine grows by one more item.
On the software side, reviewers praise live captions and translation, and the camera viewfinder, which lets you frame a shot through the in-lens display before taking it. The weaker point is the app selection. Third-party apps are very limited at launch, so what you get is mostly what Meta built itself.
| Item | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Glasses battery, mixed use | Up to 6 hours | Meta |
| Total with case | Up to 30 hours | Meta |
| Neural Band battery | Up to 18 hours | Meta |
| Weight of glasses | 69 g | Engadget |
| Display field of view | 20 degrees | Engadget |
What reviewers agree on
Strengths:
- A bright, clear display that is useful at a glance.
- Accurate and intuitive wristband gestures; Engadget says the band “almost never missed a gesture”.
- The camera viewfinder and zoom help you frame photos properly.
- Live captions and translation work well.
Weaknesses:
- Battery drains quickly with heavy display use, as Engadget warns.
- Thick, heavy frames at 69 g.
- Very few third-party apps.
- A high price, and two devices to charge.
Who should buy it
In my view, this is a product for early adopters and for people who are curious about where personal computing is heading. If you like being first to try a new category and you will use it mainly for short glances, messages, captions and photos, the Ray-Ban Display is a compelling first take on that idea.
For most people it is harder to justify. USD 799 is a lot for a first-generation device with limited apps and a battery that suffers under heavy use.
For readers in the Arab region, there is a more basic obstacle: the glasses are not officially sold here. Meta launched them only through a small group of US retailers, including Best Buy, LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut and Ray-Ban stores. Buying one through import means no local warranty and, because the product relies on fitting both the glasses and the wristband to the right size, that is more of a risk than with a phone. I would wait for an official regional launch before spending this much.
Verdict
The Meta Ray-Ban Display shows that glasses with a useful screen are now possible, and the Neural Band is a genuinely clever way to control them. Engadget scored the glasses 76/100, and that feels fair: impressive ideas, held back by weight, battery life under load and a thin app library.
If you are an enthusiast who wants to try the next thing first, this is the pair to watch. For everyone else, and especially for buyers in the region where it is not sold, patience is the smarter choice. TechKahwa rating: 7.4/10.
Sources
- Meta Newsroom, Meta Ray-Ban Display and Meta Neural Band announcement, September 17, 2025, https://about.fb.com/news/2025/09/meta-ray-ban-display-ai-glasses-emg-wristband/
- Engadget, Meta Ray-Ban Display review, October 17, 2025, https://www.engadget.com/wearables/meta-ray-ban-display-review-chunky-frames-with-impressive-abilities-193127070.html