I compared both generations of Meta Ray-Ban glasses, and here's my buying advice for 2025

How much does a difference of two years make? It depends on how you look at the latest Meta Ray-Bans.

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The Meta Ray-Bans are arguably the most successful AI hardware product in the past three years, with enough momentum to encourage Mark Zuckerberg to spend 80% of this week's Meta Connect keynote discussing the past, present, and future of smart glasses.

Also: I used the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, and they offer 2 breakthroughs to take us beyond smartphones

While much of the fanfare was reserved for the new Ray-Ban Display glasses, which feature a waveguide system that projects visual cues, navigation pathways, a camera viewfinder, and more, the second generation of the original Meta Ray-Bans also launched. In many ways, they succeed their predecessor with meaningful upgrades. But you'll want to note the drawbacks ...