Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer (Gen 2) Review

Somehow, I avoided wearing glasses until I was 36 years old. I had seen optometrists, I have a prescription, and I wore cheap prescription glasses for nighttime driving. But it wasn't until 2026 that my eye doc said, "You really should be wearing glasses all the time."

I started by buying a handful of cheap glasses from Zenni Optical. Everyone agreed I looked best with some wayfarer knock-offs, so I splurged and re-ordered it with all the bells and whistles: transitions, anti-smudge, anti-reflective, anti-scratch, etc. After a transition period, I grew to really like them!

In the past, I was aware of the Meta glasses but never wanted to wear glasses simply to use its features. But recently they went on sale, and since I am a glasses-wearer now, I started looking at some reviews and decided to pull the trigger. Since they're prescription, I could use an HSA to pay for them. They were also on sale, so I splurged yet again and got the transitions, anti-glare, etc. After owning them for a couple weeks, I really like them!

The Good

I enjoy taking pictures and videos without fumbling with my phone. The pictures and videos aren't as good as a phone camera, but the readiness of quickly pushing a button outweighs it often enough that it's now my "default" way to capturing pictures.

The camera is on the wearer's left side while the right side is a light that signals you're capturing pictures and videos. It makes it a little challenging to line up some shots, and I notice I end up taking pictures with a lot of "empty space" at the top of the photo. But then again, I'm capable of taking videos I could never do one-handed.

The speakers are higher-quality than I expected, and the volume is comfortable enough to listen to music and watch videos without disturbing people around me. It's nice to be able to watch videos when I'm out and about without relying on subtitles or carrying a separate pair of earbuds with me.

A bonus benefit is wearing them while riding my motorcycle. I once owned a motorcycle helmet with built-in Bluetooth speakers, but they were useless above 25 mph because the wind noise drowned them out. The speaker volume in my glasses auto-adjusts when I pick up speed, and it's very helpful to have turn-by-turn directions without mounting my phone to my motorcycle. I can even take phone calls while riding!

As regular old glasses go, they're fine. They're a little thicker and heavier than my pair from Zenni. It took a couple weeks to adjust to the weight on my nose and learning how to twist my neck while driving to see around the blind spots. The light-to-dark-to-light transition speed is faster than my old pair. 

The Bad

The battery life is almost good enough. With heavy usage, it will die in the early evening. Actually knowing the battery life involves either checking the battery percentage in my phone's native Bluetooth settings (multiple swipes/taps away), or invoking Meta AI and saying "battery." It answers quickly, but I would prefer a home screen widget I could quickly glance at.

At least when the battery dies, they are temporarily "just glasses." Sorry for the convenience. Fortunately it charges pretty quick in the case. However, keeping track of the glasses and case is a hassle. No case, no charging. I also wish they could integrate with Google's Find My so I can ask one of my various smart speakers, "Find my glasses/case."

This lack of integration with native Google features is another downside. Because these glasses are created by Meta, you have to download the full, bloated Meta AI app to use them. I think Google could do a better job natively integrating this across its platform. It would be killer to interact with the Gemini assistant with all its integrations than the Meta AI which interacts best with Meta apps like Instagram and Whatsapp. I don't use those apps that much.

The Mid

If you want to show somebody a video on your phone, the sound will come through your glasses. If you disconnect the glasses from Bluetooth, they will reconnect automatically. You have to take your glasses off and fold them up to stop it. 

Sometimes I bump the touch panel on accident when hugging somebody or playing with the kids. This will start playing some music (you can configure it to do nothing), so I have to quickly tap it again to stop.

I don't use the Meta AI very much. It's fine to ask for trivia ("How old is Tom Brady?") but not that useful otherwise. I would love to have it create reminders and add events to my calendar, but that's relegated to my Google smart watch. There's a momentary cognitive tax to process what I'd like to do (set a reminder vs ask trivia) before I know which smart device to invoke. First world problems, I know.

Unlike my Pixel Buds, I can't connect it to multiple devices. It would be nice to connect to my laptop AND my phone, so I could use the microphone for work meetings, and then seamlessly switch to playing music from my phone. That said, the battery life would suffer even more than it already does, so it's not a deal breaker.

It's Meta. They're probably mining my data six ways from Sunday. I've already sold my digital life to Google because these days you have to pick a tech giant and live in their ecosystem to reap the benefits. I don't want to expand that surface area, but I want the glasses' features, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I thought these glasses would fly completely undercover. For the most part, they do, but when I talk to somebody during any substantial conversation, they ask, "Are you wearing Meta glasses?" After I promise I'm not recording, it's fun to talk about the features. 

Because they're prescription, there's no resale value. But even then...

I'll probably get the next version

I'm already thinking about the features I want in the next version: keep the same form factor, improve the battery life, let me integrate with Google, and maybe even make them lighter!