When you buy through affiliate links in our content, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Learn 
Meta is lowering the entry price for AI glasses in what appears to be the clearest sign yet that the company wants to turn smart glasses into an everyday device for the masses.
On June 23, the company introduced its new Meta glasses in partnership with EssilorLuxottica, with prices starting at $299. Buyers can choose from 26 style combinations, and the glasses are compatible with prescription lenses.
As one might expect, Meta’s latest smart glasses come packed with features, including hands-free photo and video capture, open-ear audio, live translation, pedestrian navigation, and Meta AI powered by Muse Spark. However, not all of those features will be available at launch.
While the feature list is impressive, it’s the price that’s got everyone talking. Meta isn’t waiting for full-fledged augmented reality glasses to be ready for prime time before trying to convince the public to incorporate AI eyewear into their daily lives.
Instead, the company’s strategy seems to be pushing a lighter, cheaper version of the idea into the market now, while Apple, Google, Snap, and other competitors are still trying to decide what the next big personal tech device should look like.
If things go as planned for Meta, AI glasses could become the gadget people turn to for quick photos, live translations, walking directions, music, and everyday questions instead of picking up their smartphone.
Meta Is Trying to Own the First Everyday AI Device
With a starting price of $299, Meta’s new glasses cost much less than the $800 Ray-Ban Display glasses it introduced last year and are well below Snap’s $2,195 AR glasses.
Price is important because smart glasses face a unique set of hurdles as they try to become as widely accepted as phones, laptops, and smart speakers. They have to work as technology, but also be something people are willing to wear on their faces throughout the day.
It looks like Meta may have had this balancing act in mind when it designed its new lineup. The marketing of these smart glasses emphasizes their style, fit, prescription support, and retail availability instead of asking consumers to buy into a full AR future today.
Like Meta’s earlier, more expensive smart glasses, the new lineup is built with EssilorLuxottica. However, this launch puts Meta’s name front and center instead of relying on Ray-Ban or Oakley branding to carry the product.
Looking at market data, the window appears to be wide open. Research firm IDC expects display-less smart glasses shipments to reach about 13.6 million units in 2026 and 27.3 million units by 2030.
Meanwhile, Counterpoint Research, another market research firm, reported that global smart glasses shipments grew 139% year over year in the second half of 2025, with Meta expanding its share to 82%. That lead gives Meta a chance to define the category while its rivals are still playing catch-up.
Smart Glasses Still Have to Win Over Everyone Else in the Room
Smart glasses may be having their moment, but that doesn’t mean everyone’s convinced they’re a good thing. If the smart glasses experience were confined to the person wearing them, that would be one thing. The problem for many critics is that these spectacles can affect everyone around them.
Meta’s own NameTag facial recognition feature has already raised concerns about how AI wearables could impact people who don’t even use the technology. With cheaper smart glasses on the way, the issue becomes even more immediate.
As AI eyewear becomes more common, so does the chance that a random bystander will run into people wearing devices that can capture, hear, and interpret the world around them.
It’s easy to see the camera on a phone, and a laptop camera only points in one direction. Smart glasses are different because they move the camera, microphone, and AI assistant into a device that can look like ordinary eyewear. All of this creates a social problem as much as a technical one.
Researchers studying camera glasses have already found a gap between what wearers are willing to do and what bystanders expect.
In one 2026 study, bystanders consistently asked for more transparency and protective measures than those wearing camera glasses were willing to provide. In sensitive situations, 65% to 95% of bystanders said they would take steps to protect their privacy.
Meta says its glasses come with privacy settings and built-in safeguards for people around the wearer. Still, widespread acceptance of smart glasses may come down to whether this eyewear is useful to the people wearing it without making those around them feel watched.
Also in Consumer Tech News
Apple’s Mac and iPad Price Hikes Are Now Official
Apple has raised the prices of some of its most popular devices, including the MacBook, iPad, HomePod, and Apple TV models.
The move comes just one week after Apple CEO Tim Cook warned the company would no longer be able to shield customers from the soaring costs of memory and storage chips driven by insatiable demand from AI data centers.
Customers will now pay $1,299 for the MacBook Air with 512GB of storage, compared to its previous $1,099 price tag, while the MacBook Pro with 1TB of storage increased to $1,999 from $1,699. The iPad Air with 128GB of storage also rose to $749 from $599, among other changes.
Wall Street seemed to interpret Apple’s price hikes as a sign of what could be coming down the line for the rest of the hardware industry. Apple shares fell nearly 5% after the announcement, while Dell dropped more than 8%.
OpenAI Limits Early Access to Its Next Advanced ChatGPT Model
OpenAI will reportedly limit the initial release of its GPT-5.6 to a small group of government-approved customers. The news was first reported by The Information, which said the Trump administration had asked OpenAI to stagger the model’s release due to security concerns while early customers are vetted on a case-by-case basis.
CNN reported that the White House asked OpenAI to restrict the release of its upcoming model to a small number of approved partners. That makes the latest GPT model’s roll out very different from earlier ChatGPT upgrades, which typically made their way to paid subscribers before being released to the wider public.
Most ChatGPT users won’t be impacted by the change. However, the White House’s move seems to indicate that powerful AI models are becoming too sensitive to release like normal software updates.
Samsung’s Latest Budget Phone Gets More Expensive
Samsung’s new Galaxy A27 5G won’t be quite as easy on the wallet as earlier versions. The tech giant’s latest budget phone will be available in the U.S. on July 14, with pricing starting at $349.99, which is $50 higher than last year’s model, Engadget reports.
Considering the phone comes with a 6.7-inch display, a 5,000 mAh battery, a Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 processor, 128GB of storage, and six years of security updates, the price increase probably won’t be a deal breaker for most consumers shopping for a cheap yet capable smartphone.
However, The Verge reports that even though the price has gone up, some of the specs have been downgraded, including lower-resolution selfie and ultrawide cameras and a lower water-resistance rating.
Google Finance Gets a Standalone Android App
Google Finance is available as a dedicated Android app for the first time. Instead of checking their investment portfolios from the Google Finance homepage, users can now track real-time market data, live financial news, and AI-powered Key Moments from the app.
The company is also adding AI research tools, which could make it easier for casual investors to understand company news, market swings, and earnings updates without digging through multiple sources.
An iOS version will arrive later this year, but for now, Android users are getting the first look at Google’s more AI-heavy approach to personal finance.
