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Ray-Ban Meta Optics review: A better fit comes with a higher price
The expensive, prescription-ready smart glasses have a premium fit and a few extra features.
What if your prescription glasses could also be smart glasses? That's the basic premise of Meta's "Optics" line of Ray-Ban eyewear. The company has supported prescription lenses in many of its frames for years, but custom lenses were never really a primary use case.
With the Optics line, though, Meta and Essilor Luxottica tweaked their second-generation Ray-Ban frames to make them more suited to people who are glasses-wearers by necessity, not just by choice. The frames come with extra customizable elements that make them more similar to the regular glasses you'd get from your eye doctor, but are otherwise broadly similar to the rest of the Gen 2 lineup.
The result is probably the most comfortable pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses I have tried. But adding custom lenses to the $499 frames also comes with significant extra cost that just doesn't make sense for most people — unless you have a particularly generous vision insurance policy. But if you are all-in on Ray-Ban Meta glasses, and want something for all-day, everyday wear, the investment could be worth it.
As someone who often wears contacts, but defaults to my prescription glasses most days of the week, Ray-Ban Meta glasses with see-through (but not prescription) lenses haven't made much sense to me. I get that having transition lenses can make an expensive pair of glasses useful in more situations, but I've generally preferred the sunglasses form factor because it tends to be a better fit for the situations when I most want to reach for a pair of smart glasses.
That said, I've always wondered if I would feel differently if I had my own prescription in a pair. After wearing the Ray-Ban Meta Optics as my primary glasses for two weeks, I'm starting to see the appeal. The glasses are very similar to the second-generation frames, but have a few upgrades that make them easier and more comfortable to wear throughout the day.
One issue I've had with just about every pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses is that the slightly oversized frames tend to slip down my nose. With the Optics lineup, Meta made the inner nosepads swappable so you can get a more secure fit. I changed the "universal fit" pads that came on out of the box for the "high bridge" pads and immediately noticed less slippage. There's also a low bridge option included if you need it.
The "Scriber" style frames I tested were still oversized, but they stayed on my face better than the Gen 2 Wayfarers I tested last year. The tips of the glasses are also moldable (at a Meta store or optician's office) so you can get an even more precise fit, though I didn't have this done with my pair. I found that the overextension hinges helped a lot with overall comfort, and I didn't have issues with the glasses pressing uncomfortably around my ears like I do with many other frames.
I also appreciated that the frame styles felt a bit more subtle than previous versions. The "Scriber" frames I tested were still larger than the glasses I would normally choose for myself, but the color scheme felt more natural than the brightly-colored or super-dark styles Meta has had in other lines. I had multiple people tell me they had no idea I was wearing smart glasses rather than "regular" Ray-Ban frames.
Meta has also improved the battery life slightly compared with the other Gen 2 glasses. While the older Gen 2 model gets "up to 8 hours" of battery life, according to Meta, the Blayzer and Scriber frames are rated for "more than 8 hours." Battery life in general is very dependent on what you're doing, some features will drain it a lot quicker. But I found I was easily able to wear my Scriber frames for well over 8 hours without charging. That's with intermittent audio from the open-ear speakers and occasional Meta AI use.