Meta has pushed its smart glasses strategy into more aggressive territory with a new model priced at USD 299. The lower entry point comes as the company increasingly frames smart glasses as a central device for the AI era, and even a possible replacement for the smartphone.
That pricing move matters because Meta is not simply trying to sell another wearable. The company appears to be working to remove one of the biggest barriers to adoption: the cost of getting mainstream consumers to try a device category that is still relatively small.
A cheaper step into Meta’s wearable push
The new glasses arrive with a fresh design and are made with EssilorLuxottica, the parent company of Ray-Ban. This time, however, the device does not carry the Ray-Ban or Oakley branding that has helped define Meta’s earlier products.
At USD 299, the glasses are at least USD 80 cheaper than the entry-level version of the second-generation Meta Ray-Ban model. Meta’s pricing choice suggests that the company wants a faster path to adoption rather than a premium-only audience.
Meta’s position in the category is already strong. Together with EssilorLuxottica, the company is estimated to control more than 80% of the smart glasses market and has sold millions of units since the first launch in 2021.
Focused on function, not a display
The new Meta Glasses do not include a screen, but they still carry the core features Meta sees as useful for everyday AI use. They include an integrated camera and speaker, allowing users to interact without taking out a phone.
Through Meta AI, wearers can talk to the system to translate or understand what they are seeing around them. The glasses can also take photos and record video directly from the user’s point of view.
This product direction shows that Meta is not rushing to the most advanced version first. Instead, it is leaning on a lighter, simpler, and cheaper form factor to broaden usage before moving upmarket.
Executives at Meta have described these lightweight glasses as a stepping stone toward more advanced hardware. The longer-term goal is a pair of glasses with a display lens and more complete computing capability.
Last year, Meta introduced the USD 799 Ray-Ban Display glasses with a built-in screen. The new lower-priced model sends a clear signal that the company also wants to reduce the entry barrier for everyday buyers.
Zuckerberg’s bigger hardware bet
Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly said he believes smart glasses will one day take over the role of the smartphone. In his view, glasses and AI are tightly connected and sit at the center of the future of computing.
He argues that glasses are the ideal device form for both AI and the Metaverse. With a wearable like this, AI can see what the user sees, hear what the user hears, and respond throughout the day in real time.
Zuckerberg also sees glasses as a way to merge the physical and digital worlds through holograms. That vision turns smart glasses into more than a tech accessory, positioning them as a new computing platform that stays on the wearer’s face.
The market potential is large in his view. He has said that more than one billion people around the world wear glasses, and many of them could move to AI glasses within the next 5 to 10 years.
Competition is building fast
Meta is not alone in chasing that opportunity. Last month, Google said it was developing new smart glasses with Warby Parker, powered by Gemini AI.
Last week, Snap also unveiled Specs priced at USD 2,195. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel framed the device as a successor to the smartphone, showing that the “phone replacement” narrative is becoming a central theme across big tech.
Against that backdrop, Meta has chosen the more affordable route to widen its user base. If the strategy works, cheaper smart glasses could become an important entry point for bringing AI-powered computing to a much larger audience.
Meta’s move also suggests that the company sees more immediate potential in smart glasses than in virtual reality. VR remains more niche and is still closely associated with gaming, while smart glasses fit more naturally into everyday routines.
That difference helps explain why Meta is leaning so heavily into glasses rather than only into immersive headsets. By placing AI closer to the user’s eyes and ears, the company is trying to make its hardware feel more essential than devices that must be held in the hand or opened separately.
The result is a clear escalation in Meta’s wearable ambitions. A lower price, a simpler feature set, and a stronger AI pitch all point to a company that is preparing for a longer contest over the next major computing platform.
