Meta’s first smart glasses with a display are going to be launched in September. Bloomberg reported that the current price of these glasses starts at 800 dollars. The price has dropped from an initial expectation of over 1000 dollars. This change is partially due to Meta’s acceptance of lower profit margins to boost consumer demand.
Meta plans to release this year a smart glasses model with a small monocular HUD, code-named Hypernova. It can be controlled by gestures through a surface electromyography (sEMG) neuro wristband that the company has been developing for years, and will be sold together with the glasses. The HUD can be used to display time, weather, notifications, preview photos, provide navigation, show voice translations in the real world, and also choose to display Meta AI’s responses in text rather than audio form. Due to the added display, Hypernova weighs about 70 grams. In comparison, Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses launched in 2023 weigh 50 grams and have a starting price of 299 dollars.
According to previous Bloomberg reports, Hypernova will also come with more advanced cameras compared to current smart glasses, and further strengthen the design concept of “an AI chatbot on your face”. Meta is also developing the next-generation product, Hypernova 2, which will feature two screens and is scheduled to be released in 2027.
Developing new hardware has always been quite challenging, requiring a balance between fashionable appearance, practical functionality, and affordable price. Meta’s combination of artificial intelligence with Ray-Ban glasses has achieved remarkable results. In 2023, Meta’s collaboration with Ray-Ban to launch Ray-Ban Meta, which focuses on photography, voice assistant, and lightweight AR, was popular due to its high cost-performance, with global sales exceeding one million pairs and becoming a consumer hit.
Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses look similar to ordinary glasses, with no wires, excellent bone-conducting audio and microphone performance. They can be used for activities such as playing music, receiving phone calls, taking photos and vertical video clips, and sharing through mobile phones. The AI functions, aided by the cameras, can help users observe and translate the surrounding world. However, battery life is a weakness, with the Ray-Ban smart glasses only lasting a few hours on a full charge and requiring the accompanying charging case for constant charging.
According to data from consulting firm Counterpoint, global sales of smart glasses have doubled in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year. Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses dominate in terms of shipments. Research firm ABI Research estimates that the total sales of smart glasses will reach 3.3 million units in 2023 and will grow nearly threefold by 2026, forming a market worth $7.8 billion.
During Meta’s second-quarter earnings call, when Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was asked if smart glasses will ultimately replace smartphones, he did not give a direct affirmative answer but strongly implied that it is a crucial part of the vision for Meta Reality Labs. “I always believe that glasses will basically become the ideal form factor for artificial intelligence,” Zuckerberg said.
According to market research firm MarketBeat, Zuckerberg likened the future of AI glasses to contact lenses. During the call, he said that not using contact lenses to correct vision would put people at a disadvantage in everyday life, and similarly, not wearing AI glasses in the future could potentially put them at a significant cognitive disadvantage compared to others.