Meta's new Ray-Ban glasses ship without a camera, and a reviewer at The Verge found that the omission changes how it feels to wear smart glasses in public. The audio-only frames drew no notice from dozens of people the reviewer encountered over several days, in part because they resemble ordinary eyewear. The model is offered in a retro Clubmaster style and a Wayfarer-esque Burbank style.
The review, published on October 13, 2026, argues that removing the camera addresses the discomfort many people feel around smart glasses, though it does not eliminate every privacy concern. The glasses still have always-listening capabilities for waking the AI assistant, but the wake word can be disabled in settings and replaced with a customizable button on the right temple arm. The reviewer notes there is no native way to record a conversation from the glasses, and features such as live translation must be manually started.
Meta has made privacy and data opt-out disclosures more prominent during setup than in previous tests of its glasses, according to the review. A screen explains how visual data from AI experiences is handled, and users can opt out of Meta using that data to improve AI, though voice data is still used. There is no visual data from this model, and users can also opt out of sharing what Meta calls additional data.
On software, the glasses ship with Meta's Muse Spark model, which the review describes as better than what shipped on the Ray-Bans in 2023 but still limited without a camera. Meta's Muse AI is expected to arrive later this year, though the reviewer remains skeptical that agentic AI will drive purchases. Muse Spark handles short tasks such as checking a calendar or setting reminders, and can provide local recommendations and walking directions, but the reviewer found it struggles with more complex requests.
The review highlights accessibility limits at the $350 starting price. A camera-equipped model is more helpful for low-vision and blind users, the FDA-cleared hearing assistance feature is not yet available for hard-of-hearing users, and the Meta Ray-Ban Display may suit deaf users because it supports live captioning.
The reviewer calls the glasses a good, not great, pair of open-ear headphones, citing decent sound quality but tinny treble, distorted bass at higher volumes, sound leakage and ambient noise that can drown out content. They weigh 43 to 47 grams, support prescriptions from -12 to +6, include adjustable nose pads and temple tips, and delivered two full workdays of battery life. The reviewer concludes the $350 price feels high for glasses that do not do much yet, but did not miss the camera.
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