{"id":607608,"date":"2025-12-02T15:06:29","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T15:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/607608\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T15:06:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T15:06:29","slug":"i-love-the-second-gen-meta-ai-glasses-newbies-should-buy-the-first-gen-meta-black-friday-deal-and-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/607608\/","title":{"rendered":"I love the second-gen Meta AI glasses. Newbies should buy the first-gen Meta Black Friday deal, and here’s why"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meta wants to clear out stock of its first-generation Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses. It’s launched Black Friday deals for its old Wayfarer models, with its G15 Green and Clear Wayfarers at $238 ($60 off)<\/strong><\/a> and its more popular Matte Black Wayfarers with Polarized Graphite lenses at $263 ($66 off)<\/strong><\/a>. Meta glasses have never gotten a major sale in the 2+ years since launch, making this a rare opportunity.<\/p>\n

In some ways, this deal is a trap. Meta just<\/strong> launched its Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) glasses<\/a> and Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses<\/a>, both of which I gave glowing reviews. I particularly loved how Meta improved battery life this generation, while the first-gen models have shorter battery life by comparison.<\/p>\n

Here’s the problem: the new Ray-Bans start at $379, or $409 with polarized lenses, while Vanguard launched at $499, and I don’t expect either device to get a major discount until 2027, based on past history. If you’re shopping for your first smart glasses, it makes much more sense to buy the first-gen glasses for less and see if you like them or not; they’ll last you until Meta’s third-generation glasses in a couple of years.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

If you compare the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 vs. Gen 1<\/a>, the difference isn’t as stark as you’d assume. The photo resolution and FoV, storage space, IPX4 water resistance, mic and speaker quality, Wi-Fi\/ Bluetooth connectivity, and apps are unchanged, while the weight is virtually the same.<\/p>\n

The new glasses do give you a video resolution boost from 1080p to 3K and a couple of extra hours of battery life. But is it worth spending an extra $150 or so for the 2nd-gen polarized glasses, just to get these two perks?<\/p>\n

\n

\"A\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Michael Hicks \/ Android Central)<\/p>\n

Equally important, Meta has already brought its best second-generation features to its first-gen glasses, making them feel new. Vanguard glasses introduced Garmin integration<\/a> in October, autocapturing videos at important race moments and reading out your health stats from your wrist; Meta brought this feature to Gen 1 glasses<\/a> the next month.<\/p>\n

Likewise, Vanguard glasses added improved video stabilization algorithms to make in-motion sporty videos look smoother, and Meta brought the feature to first-gen glasses in November<\/a> without telling anyone. Meta isn’t interested in gatekeeping its features to make you upgrade, which means you can buy the last-gen Ray-Ban deal without any FOMO.<\/p>\n

The shorter battery life, you’ll have to live with. But smart glasses fans lived with the 4-hour maximum for two years; you can too to get this Black Friday price! Or, if you can’t, splurge on the full-price newer glasses without regrets!<\/p>\n

Black Friday quick links<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Meta wants to clear out stock of its first-generation Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses. It’s launched Black Friday deals…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3162],"tags":[53,16,15,3243,3244],"class_list":{"0":"post-607608","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-virtual-reality","8":"tag-technology","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom","11":"tag-virtual-reality","12":"tag-vr"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115650599134430007","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}