Sporty AI Glasses With a Confusing Game Plan

No matter how long I spend writing and thinking about gadgets, there are some things that never cease to surprise me. One of those things is progress. Not just that progress happens, but the pace at which it happens. Case in point: smart glasses.

Just yesterday (not literally, but figuratively), Meta was selling one pair: its Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses (Gen 1), which lack a display, but come with a voice assistant, open audio capabilities, and an onboard camera. Now? Well, there’s not just multiple generations of those smart glasses, but a version called the Meta Ray-Ban Display with a screen inside. And that’s just one line of AI smart glasses; there’s a whole other line of sports-oriented Meta-made AI smart glasses designed in partnership with Oakley instead of EssilorLuxottica, the owner of Ray-Ban.

That variety provides more options for anyone interested in buying a pair of smart glasses, but it also means more to think about. Now, you have to decide not just whether you want smart glasses but also which smart glasses are right your lifestyle. As is the case with any gadget, it’s best to answer that question one pair at a time. We can start from the beginning—a new beginning, I guess.

Designed for action sports

While there are now technically two pairs of Meta-made Oakley AI smart glasses you can buy right now, only one is widely available, and that’s Meta’s HSTN (pronounced how-stuhn), which came out in August. As a recap, the HSTN AI smart glasses are made more with sports in mind. In addition to having a different frame than the Ray-Ban version, they also come equipped with the ability to record in 3K (just like the recently released Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2) and have a few features that could make them more ideal for action sports.

Let’s start with the first thing you probably noticed—the look. Unlike Ray-Bans, which have a more rectangular shape and profile, the Oakley Meta HSTN bring more circular-style lenses wrapped in a frame with more angular sides. It’s all subjective in the end, but I suspect that the HSTN design will be more polarizing than Ray-Bans, which tend to fit most people well. I personally don’t love how the HSTN look on me, but it’ll depend on your head shape—I’ve had quite a few other people try them on, and those with more circular/oval features definitely pulled them off better. Then again, I’m not Anna Wintour so what do I know about what looks good?

Because of the different shape and entirely different company spearheading the design part of the HSTN, they also feel a lot different on your head. The HSTN (I tested a pair with transition lenses and an “Amethyst” tint) are a tighter fit for me and some others I’ve had try them; the stems really hug your temples. This makes sense, since they’re more geared toward sports, which is to say, activities where you want to feel confident that the smart glasses won’t fly off your face. In keeping with that tight fit, I find the bridge (the part that rests on your nose) is a little more snug than both generations of Ray-Ban Meta smart lasses. For some people, that may not be very noticeable, but for anyone in the big nose crew like me (let’s call ourselves the Beak Brigade), you might feel it.

Overall, I personally find HSTN less comfortable to wear than Ray-Ban Meta AI smart glasses over longer periods, but smart glasses are a very personal thing, so you might have a different experience. The thing to keep in mind here is that they’re just more snug—if you’re sensitive to that sort of thing, you’ve been warned.

Upgrades over other smart glasses

The biggest upgrade in the Oakley Meta HSTN (at least at the time they were released) is the ability to record 3K video. Previously, Meta’s AI glasses were limited to 1080p, which is fine for most people, but if you’re really trying to get the most out of recording video in a glasses form factor, it might not cut it.

While that upgrade was pretty nice at the time of the HSTN’s summer release, I’d be negligent not to note that the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 now also have 3K recording capabilities, as do the Oakley Vanguard glasses coming out at the end of October. The former also start at $379 while the Oakley HSTN AI glasses start at $399. It feels strange to me to have smart glasses cannibalize each other’s headlining features, but I guess some people may have a preference for the Oakley look and feel, and there are some key differences that I’ll get into later.

The good news is, both pair of smart glasses record in 3K. That’s not something you may recognize at a cursory glance, but once you start really zooming in on pixel resolution, the difference between recording in 1080p and 3K is vast. Just like I showed in my recent comparison of the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 1 and Gen 2, there’s a big difference in video quality. That won’t matter for everyone—there are still a lot of people who use their smart glasses for mostly still photos, and the 12-megapixel sensor is the same between Ray-Ban-branded AI smart glasses (Gen 1 and Gen 2) and Oakley ones—but for anyone who wants to take video, it’s an upgrade for sure.

And if you’re one of the people who actually intend to use Oakley Meta HSTN for sports (i.e., getting solid footage of you bombing some slopes), then it’s nice to know that you won’t have to deal with as many blurry, washed-out pixels. Just to hammer home the difference between 1080p and 3K, here’s a comparison below featuring the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 1 (left) versus the Oakley Meta HSTN (right).

One thing you won’t get out of the box is the ability to record in 60 fps, though a spokesperson working on behalf of Meta says the feature is coming to HSTN “later this fall.” You won’t be able to record in 3K at 60 fps, you’ll be limited to 1080p.

Longer battery life than Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses

Another major difference between the HSTN and the Ray-Ban Gen 1 is the battery life. While it’s rated for the same battery as the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2, it’s much longer than the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 1, which top out at 4 hours with a single charge. Meta says that you’ll get about 8 hours of use with the Oakley Meta HSTN, which seems at least semi-accurate based on my testing. Like I said in my review of the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2, it will largely depend on how you’re using them.

To put the HSTN battery life to the test, I tested a few things: audio playback, calling, and video capture. After about an hour of listening to a podcast at 75% volume on my phone, a brief 10-minute phone call, and capturing a few videos in 3K, the HSTN were down from 100% to 70% in about 2 hours. I’ve noticed that audio playback tends to drain both Ray-Ban and Oakley AI glasses at the fastest rate of pretty much any activity I do with them, especially if the volume is high.

This is all to say that (with intermittent, general usage), your HSTN smart glasses will get roughly the advertised 8-hour battery life, but if you plan on listening to audio at a high volume, you can expect to get an hour or two below that. The case has up to 48 hours of battery, by the way, and is different than the charging case for the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 1 and Gen 2. It’s thicker and more cloth-like, which are both things that I like less than the Ray-Ban versions, especially because the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 case has the same amount of battery life in it. Either way, it’s still a lot more than the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 1 smart glasses and its 4 hours, but in my experience, those die well before that advertised battery life.

Speaking of audio, that side of things was a major surprise while testing the Oakley Meta HSTN. I noticed that audio playback sounds a decent bit louder in the HSTN glasses compared to the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 1 and Gen 2. Meta told me the speakers are the same as the Ray-Ban Metas, but depending on the fit of its AI glasses, your results may vary. Apparently, the HSTN fit me well as far as audio is concerned, and as someone who uses smart glasses almost entirely for their audio and calling capabilities, that was a very welcome surprise. It’s also one that you’ll definitely enjoy if you’re running with them on or playing sports.

An airing of grievances

If you were to ask me on the spot how I feel about the Oakley Meta HSTN AI, my answer would be firmly… conflicted. There are some things that I find nice: the extended battery over the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 1, improved audio, and the ability to record 3K video (like the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2). There are some things that I feel like HSTN could have pushed the boundary in, though, and that makes them just a little less appealing.

One of those areas (since athletes are the intended crowd here) is water resistance. The Oakley Meta HSTN have the same IPX4 water-resistance rating as the Gen 1 and Gen 2 Ray-Ban Meta, and as tough as it may be from an engineering perspective to upgrade that, it’s clearly not impossible since the upcoming Oakley Meta Vanguard have an IP67 rating, making them much more resistant to getting wet and provides dust protection.

There’s also the fact that, unlike the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2, the HSTN can’t record in 60 fps, which feels like a bit of a bummer for anyone who wants to use them in an action sports setting where frame rate might be more of a priority than resolution. I’ll be honest, if I were an action sports person, I can’t see myself springing for the HSTN over Oakley’s upcoming Vanguard AI glasses. Yes, you have to be okay with wraparound shades to wear the Vanguard, but if you can get past aesthetics, the Vanguard record in 60 fps, have a higher IP rating, better wind-blockage due to the wraparound design, and also have the loudest speakers of any Oakley glasses.

Then there’s the look. While the circular and thicker frames will appeal to some, they’re not really my jam. Yes, they look more like regular glasses than the Vanguard, but the HSTN are also meant for athletes, and I feel like if you’re going to lean into the sports aspect of it all, you might as well go all the way. In coach speak: leave 110% on the field.

The HSTN have one foot in and one foot out of the action sports world in some ways, which puts them in a weird spot. The Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 do pretty much everything that the HSTN do (and more), but come in a style that I think will suit more people. If you’re looking for general-purpose smart glasses, the HSTN definitely aren’t my number one pick, and if you’re looking for the best sports-oriented smart glasses, well… with Vanguard on their way, they’re still not my number one pick.

All that isn’t even counting the problems I have with Meta’s smart glasses writ large: Meta AI is still way too variable for my taste and seems to only work when it wants to, and voice commands could use a refinement since that’s the main way you’re going to be using smart glasses without a display, even if the touchpad is responsive. And don’t even get me started on privacy, which Meta, as always, could do a much better job on.

It’s not that the HSTN aren’t solid smart glasses—they are—they just lose the plot ever so slightly. With a price premium over the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 and a new pair of Oakley Vanguard glasses on the way, I’m left wondering who exactly the HSTN are for.