Improved Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses could land in 2025 – with a much requested upgrade

Meta reportedly making Ray-Ban glasses with a display
Tipped to land in 2025
Won’t be Orion, but Meta’s next step to consumer AR specs

While the consumer version of its impressive Meta Orion AR glasses prototype isn’t due to land any time soon, we might get a taste of what’s to come from the AR revolution next year as reports suggest we’ll get new Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses next year which incorporate “single small in-lens screen.”

That’s per the Wall Street Journal who says “a person familiar with the project” suggested that the Ray-Ban update is due in 2025, and that it could launch alongside the sensor wristband that early testers have used to control Orion.

The report added that while Meta wouldn’t confirm if this heads-up-display feature would be coming, a viewfinder that could show basic information like notifications was a much-requested feature according to Alex Himel, Meta’s vice president of wearables.

We should take rumors with a pinch of salt, but the display-equipped Meta Ray-Bans were previously teased back in 2023 by a leak from The Verge which revealed Meta’s internal roadmap – a roadmap which pegged 2025 as the release year for these glasses.

This is also a good sign for people wanting to get their hands on Orion, as that same leaked roadmap said full-on AR smart specs would drop in 2027. Assuming Meta is on track with Orion that means we could be wearing them in only two years, which feels almost too soon for the AR revolution.

As for when we might see the display packing Ray-Bans, sometime in September or October is most likely given Meta’s typical release schedule; it usually likes to showcase new hardware at Meta Connect which lands in that slot nearing the end of the year. It could always mix things up in 2025, but expect to be waiting a few more months for this improved smart glasses if they are indeed on the way.

Ray-Ban Meta Glasses

Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses come with a variety of frames, lenses and colors. (Image credit: Meta)

A display upgrade, or battery downgrade?

Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses have been one of the best – if not the best – gadget of the year for me. Technically they landed in 2023, but their Meta AI upgrade which only landed this year took them from interesting novelty to easily the best AI wearable out there, and an easy option to include in our best smart glasses guide.

AR functionality, even something basic such as a single HUD, would vastly improve their usefulness. And if the upgrade can come without a price increase – admittedly unlikely – or at least not a massive one, and maintain the stylish design of the current model, then I could see these upgraded specs easily supplanting everything else out there.

My only concern would be battery life. The current glasses only have a four-ish hour maximum based on usage, and a display (even a simple small one) could eat into that. Though Meta would be aware of this and may have designed new and improved batteries to ensure your glasses don’t switch off after two minutes, and at least if they do run out of charge you can always rely on them as a pair of stylish specs.