Like other recent glasses from Meta, the audio-only frames feature 6 mics and open-ear speakers. Music, podcasts, and phone calls sounded just as good as my Gen 2 glasses. A unique feature of the audio-only glasses is that the microphones are located in slightly different locations. There are now two microphones on the front of the frames, replacing those that were integrated into the nose pads of previous models. The other four are on hand. This new placement doesn’t seem to affect things, however. My friends and family told me that I had a clearer voice on calls when I wore audio glasses, compared to my second-generation AirPods Pro.
The other major advantage of audio-only glasses over other models is battery life. Meta says the frames can last 12 hours on a charge with “mixed use” and up to six hours of continuous audio playback. I didn’t experience a complete battery drain, but I still had almost 50% battery left after five hours of streaming audio and an hour-long phone call. If you don’t listen to music or podcasts for hours, the glasses will easily last all day without needing to recharge.
Karissa Bell for EngadgetEven though there’s no camera, you can still use most of Meta AI’s features, including live translation and walking navigation. Meta also plans to integrate its AI agent, Muse, into its glasses, so the audio images will also serve as a channel to your personal agent once the update rolls out. (The company said it would expect this in the “coming months.”)
One thing that frustrated me about Meta’s implementation of its assistant on the audio-only glasses is that the action button is so limited. On other frames that have the control (Meta Glasses, Oakley Meta Vanguard Sunglasses, the Ray-Ban Meta Optics line, and Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 frames), there are many options for what this shortcut can trigger. Some of these are camera-related, but many others are not, like muting calls or playing music.
But on audio-only images, there are only two options for what this button can do. If you select “Music”, recommended playlists will play or you can set it as a shortcut to activate Meta AI. The latter is useful if you don’t like saying “Hey Meta” in public, but you can’t configure it to trigger a specific prompt like you can on other glasses. You also can’t use the button to answer or mute calls, which could be a useful shortcut for the audio-only glasses.
Karissa Bell for EngadgetIt’s an annoying limitation and I don’t understand why Meta would limit what the single goggle button can do. The good news, however, is that this issue can likely be fixed in future software updates. So hopefully we can get a little more action button functionality in time.
Gn tech
