Meta Ray-Bans: My New Favourite Device, With a Dark Problem

If you're reading this, you've probably already seen my video on the Meta Ray-Ban AI Glasses Gen 2. It's been roughly a month now, and I'm still in love with them. Unfortunately, I'm also growing more and more annoyed at the publicity they're getting — but more on that in a moment.

What I Still Love

First, the audio. In the format we've got, nobody around me can tell I'm listening to music, or even that I'm using ambient sounds in the background. The bass still isn't up to scratch, but for what I actually use them for — commuting, or walking around the shopping centre — the quality is spot on.

Second, recording video this way beats a mobile phone or a dedicated camera, hands down. I find I'm more in the moment. At my mother's birthday recently, I was able to give her a present and a hug, whereas in the past I'd have had a phone in one hand and been fumbling with everything else in the other.

Where Meta AI Fits Right Now

One thing I've actually stopped using is Meta AI. I've still got it turned on for calls, controlling music, and messages, but I'm not using the AI features day to day at the moment. Having looked into the Limitless AI pendant and Meta's acquisition of the company, I think there's more useful AI functionality coming in a future update.

The Update Everyone's Waiting For

Speaking of updates — a lot of people have moved to v126, but probably like me, you haven't actually seen any of the new features yet. I've spoken to support and had a look on X and other platforms, and it seems it's just queued for a wider rollout.

Two features I'm genuinely excited about:

Dynamic Photo, which I'm guessing will work a bit like Live Photos on iPhone — a brilliant addition if so. And HDR photos, which is a great example of what a software update alone can do: same hardware, reportedly much more detail.

The Dark Problem

Now, onto the issue I mentioned at the start. On social media, I keep seeing people talking down about anyone who wears these glasses — name-calling, real disrespect. But the problem isn't them, and it isn't us who wear the glasses. The actual problem is the small number of people trying to defeat the recording indicator light so they can film covertly.

Just like with drones, a handful of idiots ruin it for the rest of us who are genuinely enjoying the technology, and we all end up tarred with the same brush when someone does something indefensible.

The wider issue is that some creators seem to think this is fine. Not people with any obviously nefarious intent — just regular creators showing others how to cover the light and record covertly. I can't find any justification for that, and it makes things harder for the rest of us using these glasses properly.

I have to stop myself from getting too defensive here, given I'm one of the people wearing them, but a couple of points are worth making. Using the glasses properly, the indicator light is genuinely obvious — and anything you want to record, you have to be looking directly at. Compare that to a phone, action camera, or any other dedicated camera, which can be angled away, held down by your side, or hidden in a pocket entirely.

There's also no equivalent indicator light on a phone. By that logic, people should arguably be far more concerned about the thousands of phone cameras pointed in their direction every single day.

Still Wearing Them

In my last video about these glasses, I said I'd got used to wearing them in public — and I still am. But as more bad publicity surfaces, I do occasionally second-guess whether people are staring, especially when I'm tapping the side to pause music or using Meta AI to send a message or take a call. It's not going to put me off. I'm still going to enjoy them.

The next video on these glasses will come after my upcoming holiday, where I'm hoping to get some good footage — possibly some go-karting, which should be a laugh.

Head over to the YouTube channel (link below) — follow, subscribe, comment, all that good stuff. Thanks again for the support, and as always, have a good one.