Originally published on ColdCaseTech.
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Then vs. Now (News report): Then: Meta announced Ray-Ban Meta Audio, camera-free smart glasses, in September, according to Wired. Now: Wired reviewed the glasses on 2026-10-24 and reported that the lack of a camera is the only big change from Meta's other glasses.
Wired published a review on 2026-10-24 of Ray-Ban Meta Audio, the camera-free smart glasses Meta announced in September (Wired). The reviewer wore them on a run in Los Angeles, using voice commands to get turn-by-turn directions from the Meta AI agent while music played (Wired). According to the review, the lack of a camera is the only big change between these glasses and Meta's other glasses (Wired).
Key Facts
| Item | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Product | Ray-Ban Meta Audio, camera-free glasses announced in September | Wired |
| Main difference | No camera, compared with Meta's other glasses | Wired |
| Navigation | Reviewer reported it was not perfect but got them back | Wired |
| Visual data option | Introduced by Meta in September 2026: an option to stop visual data from smart glasses interactions from being used for AI training | Engadget |
Timeline
- 2026-10-24: Wired published its review of Ray-Ban Meta Audio (Wired).
- 2026-10-25: Engadget published a guide to four privacy settings for Ray-Ban Meta glasses (Engadget).
Details (as Reported)
Wired reported that the reviewer slapped hands against the glasses frame to boost the volume and asked for directions back after getting lost, and that the music dimmed while the assistant gave directions (Wired). The review states that navigation has long been available in Meta's smart glasses (Wired).
People have found camera-enabled glasses creepy, and the review says they have been used to record people without consent (Wired). Some users shared techniques for removing the indicator light, and Meta released a software fix that disables the cameras entirely if the light has been tampered with (Wired). Wired also reported that Meta tried to put facial recognition on the glasses, first denied it, later admitted it and removed it, and that the company was sued in September over its facial recognition systems (Wired). Meta insists that the public pushback did nothing to encourage it to release audio-only glasses (Wired).
Engadget reports that in the US, users can no longer prevent Meta from storing recordings of their AI voice interactions in the cloud, though saved recordings can be deleted manually (Engadget). With Cloud media enabled, Meta can keep copies of photos and videos on its servers for up to 30 days (Engadget). Meta says ordinary gallery captures are not used to train its AI models or serve ads (Engadget).
In September 2026, Meta introduced an option to stop visual data from smart glasses interactions from being used for AI training (Engadget). Engadget reports that after a user opts out, Meta still processes images to answer queries but will not keep that data for AI training or make it available to human reviewers for product improvement (Engadget). Users with more than one pair of Meta glasses must change the setting on each pair (Engadget).
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What Is Not Yet Confirmed
- Engadget reports that Meta has not specified whether features beyond visual reminders might be affected when the visual data option is turned off (Engadget).
Sources
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