I remember the first time I tried the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. It was love at first wear. Other than the fact that the glasses look super cool, carry the Ray-Ban name and tickle the gizmo lover in me with their Bond-style capabilities, they also make for a very functional gadget. Marrying a camera, a headset and voice-activated AI smarts in a gadget that you can wear all day, it’s something that can be taken anywhere and is at your beck and call when you need it. It’s a camera which is ready to shoot all the time, and you don’t even have to pull anything out of your pocket, and similarly, it’s a headset which you’re already wearing.
For me personally, it was the audio prowess that nudged me towards buying a pair of Ray-Ban Metas for myself, more than the camera. And then, when I got a chance to try out the Oakley Meta HSTN smart glasses, I just had to say yes.
The Oakley Meta HSTN (pronounced Houston) smart glasses bring with them 3K video recording and significantly better battery life as compared to the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 1, a gap which the latter closed with the Gen 2 model. With that gap closed, the two smart glasses are quite similar overall in terms of specs and capabilities, and with Meta AI powering their smarts, the AI features are the same, too. However, they do differ quite a bit in terms ot style and build, and their positioning. The brain behind the smarts is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chip, which is designed specially for smart glasses, and it powers quite a few others as well.
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Design and build
The Oakley Meta HSTN are labelled as performance-focused eyewear created for athletes and sports enthusiasts, and offers signature Oakley design that looks premium and sporty. Unlike the Ray-Ban Meta that features curved arms, the Oakley HSTN come with straight arms that offer a snug fit to ensure they stay put during outdoor activities. Lightweight and comfortable to wear for long durations, they’re available in different styles and lenses. The pair I tried came with transition lenses, which in my opinion, is the ideal lens option anyway. These lenses are clear by default but turn darker in the sun, making them ideal for wearing at all times. The Oakley HSTN have a dedicated capture button on the right arm, and the camera and LED light on the temples in front. IPX4 rating promises protection against rain and sweat.
Usage and app
Using the Meta AI app to pair with your Android or iPhone, the Oakley HSTN let you capture PoV-style video (up to 3K resolution) or 12MP stills in vertical orientation. Image quality is pretty good, especially in daylight, and stabilisation does a great job of eliminating jitter from your videos. To shoot, all one needs to do is press the shutter button (quick press to shoot a photo, long press to shoot a video), or issue a voice command to Meta AI. However, framing can be an issue since there’s no viewfinder. On the positive side, once you’ve shot a few photos and videos, you can get an idea of the frame
Thanks to the speakers built into the arms, the Oakley HSTN also work as an open-ear headset, allowing you to listen to your favourite music and handle calls, with the custom 5-mic array relaying your voice to the other end. Audio quality is surprisingly good, though there is a little bit of sound leakage as with most open-ear solutions. I usually find TWS buds a tad bit inconvenient to use during my daily commutes, and the Oakley Meta HSTN stepped in nicely as a replacement.
The Oakley HSTN can also be connected to WhatsApp via the Meta AI app, and once you do that, it can read out incoming messages to you. What’s more, you can even send messages using voice commands, and as long as you speak clearly and there’s not much ambient noise, it works quite well.
Moving on to the AI prowess, it’s Meta AI all the way. You can invoke Meta AI by uttering ‘hey Meta’, and then get it to respond to general queries, get weather updates, set reminders etc. You can even ask stuff like “what am I looking at?”, and the glasses then click a photo and process the results.
The Meta AI app acts as the hub to set up and configure the Oakley HSTN, and allows you connect your glasses with other apps like Amazon Music, WhatsApp, Messenger, etc. You can even connect to Shazam and get the glasses to recognise songs playing around you. You captured media is also available to view via the Meta app, and can be downloaded to your phone’s storage as well.
Performance and battery
As I said earlier, the quality of images and video footage is pretty good, as long as you’re shooting in well-lit areas. In low light, it isn’t that great. I do find the audio prowess quite good — the sound is surprisingly rich and clear. AI capabilities are fun to play with, and in some situations, can prove to be handy. Moving on the battery life, it’s significantly better than the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 1. I got about 6 hours, and the case can juice it up about 5 more times — which isn’t bad at all.
Verdict
The Oakley Meta HSTN don’t come cheap, and will set you back by upwards of Rs 41,800. The Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 are priced in the same ballpark, but if you’re fine with 1080p video quality and lower battery life, the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 1 can be had for a bit lower (around Rs 30k or so). The smart glasses segment is posed to grow significantly too, with Qualcomm being one of the key brands putting its might behind this segment. Indian OEMs are getting into the space as well. As things stand today, the Oakley Meta HSTN and the Ray-Ban Meta glasses stand out at the best options, and that’s where your money should be going if you’re looking to stay on the cutting edge of tech and get yourself a pair of smart glasses. The overall usage and AI capabilities are the same, so between the Oakley and the Ray-Ban, I’d say the choice would boil down to the style you prefer and if you intend to wear these glasses for outdoor sports.
Editor’s rating: 8.5 / 10
Pros:
- Stylish & sporty
- Decent image quality
- Good audio
- Useful AI prowess
Cons:
- Pricey
- Design might not appear to everyone
- Shot framing can be problematic
