Meta Ray‑Ban Smart Glasses 2 add 1080p 60fps video and launch in the UK on June 5 starting at £329
Meta and Ray-Ban released the second-generation Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses in the UK in late 2023, with prices starting at £379, according to The Independent. The new model features 1080p video recording at 60 frames per second, enhancing the camera and audio capabilities compared to the first generation.
The second-generation Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are currently available for purchase in the United Kingdom, with prices starting at £379, according to The Independent and Ray-Ban’s official UK website. This follows their initial global launch in late 2023. Boots Opticians, a UK retail partner, lists the glasses starting at £399 when sold with prescription lenses, reflecting retail pricing rather than Meta’s official base price. No major UK retailer or official Meta source confirms a £329 starting price for the Gen 2 model, despite some earlier reports suggesting this figure.
The Gen 2 Ray-Ban Meta glasses feature a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera, an upgrade over the first-generation model, and support video capture at “3K” resolution, which uses approximately 6.5 megapixels of the sensor.
Some product briefings mention 3K Ultra HD video recording at 60 frames per second, along with upcoming hyperlapse and slow-motion modes, but UK-specific Meta documentation and retail listings currently specify 1080p video capture at 30 frames per second as the standard mode. The glasses also offer improved battery life, with up to eight hours of use on a single charge, doubling the endurance of the first generation. The accompanying charging case provides around 48 hours of additional battery life, compared to roughly 32 hours for the previous case, according to Meta and third-party reviews.
Meta’s smart-glasses lineup includes two distinct models: the camera- and audio-focused Ray-Ban Meta glasses, including Gen 1 and Gen 2 versions, and the newer Meta Ray-Ban Display model, which incorporates a 600 × 600-pixel micro-LED display embedded in the right lens. The Display model functions as a heads-up display for notifications, maps, messaging, captions, and translation. Meta has confirmed that the Display glasses will launch in the UK in early 2026, following a U.S. release scheduled for September 30 of the same year, according to Road-to-VR and Meta’s product pages. This timeline contradicts earlier reports suggesting a June 5 UK launch for any new Ray-Ban Meta model.
Both the Gen 2 and Display models share core hardware components, including the Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 platform, a multi-microphone array, voice control capabilities, and the 12-megapixel camera system. The Gen 2 glasses do not feature an in-lens screen but include on-device and cloud-connected Meta artificial intelligence, enabling features such as Conversation Focus and live translation across multiple languages. Some translation functions operate offline, catering to travelers. The Display glasses extend these AI capabilities by providing real-time captions and foreign-language translation as subtitles visible within the lens.
Retail availability in the UK includes the official Ray-Ban website and Boots Opticians, which announced plans to stock six Ray-Ban Meta frame styles in 201 stores nationwide starting July 30. Boots emphasizes the combination of style, AI, camera, and audio features, with options for prescription lenses that require Ray-Authentic lenses for fitting. Meta’s brick-and-mortar rollout for the Display model will begin in the U.S. at Best Buy, LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut, and Ray-Ban stores, with a global expansion including the UK planned for early 2026. No specific UK telecom or electronics retailers have been named for the Display glasses launch.
Privacy concerns have been raised in external reporting about the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, including the potential for disabling LED indicators to enable “stealth mode” recording and experimental AI features such as Name Tag, which identifies people via facial recognition. These issues highlight ongoing debates around surveillance and consent in the use of smart eyewear.
Meta’s Gen 2 Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses aim to serve social-media-centric and creator workflows, offering hands-free photo and video capture, live streaming, calls, messaging, and translation. The Display model adds augmented reality elements through its micro-LED screen, expanding use cases to include on-screen content previews and contextual information. The Gen 2 model’s improved battery life and camera capabilities mark a significant upgrade over the original generation, while the Display glasses introduce a new tier of smart eyewear with integrated visual displays.
