Meta Ray-Ban 2nd Gen glasses launched: 5 big upgrades you need to know

Meta introduced the new Ray-Ban (2nd generation) glasses at the company’s annual Connect event on Thursday. The new glasses come with upgraded cameras, hands-free live-streaming, superior microphones, live translation, and support for Meta AI.

​Here are the top 5 things you should know about the Meta Ray-Ban (2nd Generation) glasses:

​1) Improved video recording:

​The 2nd Generation Meta Ray-Ban glasses can capture videos in up to 3K Ultra HD quality with support for ultrawide HDR and “more than twice as many pixels as the previous generation.”

​Meta says that it will also provide two new settings for hands-free filming in the glasses later in the year: hyperlapse and slow motion.

​2) Battery life:

​The Ray-Ban Meta glasses (Gen 2) come with improved battery life over their predecessor, with Meta claiming that the glasses can last up to eight hours on typical use. In contrast, the first-gen Meta Ray-Ban glasses offered a battery life of 4 hours on typical use and up to 3 hours 20 minutes on audio playback.

​The new Ray-Ban Meta glasses can charge up to 50% in just minutes and also come with an additional 48 hours of charging on-the-go via the provided charging case.

​3) Amplify speaker’s voice with new Conversation focus feature:

​Meta has announced a new feature for the Ray-Ban 2nd-gen glasses called Conversation focus, which uses the open-ear speakers on the glasses to amplify the voice of the person they are talking to and helps distinguish it from the ambient background noise of the surrounding they are in. The new feature isn’t available on the glasses at launch but will “soon” be added to them via a software update.

​4) Live translation:

​The Ray-Ban Meta 2nd Gen glasses come with support for live translation in more languages. The glasses now support German and Portuguese as well, and Meta says they will soon be able to handle back-and-forth conversations between six languages. This feature will work even when the user is in Airplane mode, as long as they’ve downloaded the language pack in advance.

5) ​More frames:

​The Ray-Ban glasses are now available in more styles, with the classic Wayfarer look now paired with Skyler and Headliner styles.

​The Ray-Ban 2nd Gen glasses are priced at $379 and are available to buy in most countries where the original Ray-Ban was available. Indian users, however, will have to wait for the launch of the new glasses, with Meta announcing that they will be available “later this fall.”