Blog Archives
One Week with Meta Raybans: Audio and Camera Insights
Original Purchase Date: October 3, 2024 (used for one week as of this writing)
One week of use is not enough to determine if these glasses live up to the hype, but I have racked up a solid list of what I like about them, and where they can also be frustrating. The glasses are great headphones, first and foremost. Wearing headphones that I don’t have to think about (like putting in airpods) means I listen to more music, more podcasts, and even more audiobooks. I find myself listening to Instagram Reels with the sound on now, where before I just watched in silence.
The camera is also proving to live up to my expectations. Taking pics and videos without touching my phone is a BIG DEAL. Keeping me in the moment, while still capturing a snapshot in time. I’ve also experimented with 1st person video for my cocktail club, the Runaway Anchor, and that works nicely. On the “half empty” side of things, the transition lens is not as dark as I had hoped, leading me to still switch to old fashioned shades when it’s really bright, and the AI assistant has been spotty (though I haven’t used it that much…yet). At the moment I am very happy with my purchase, but only time will tell if these truly become part of my day-to-day life, or if they end up just being another piece of tech I use from time to time. And if they only end up being headphones, I’m not sure that’s a total win.
I own several pairs of very nice headphones (including Airpod Max) and I can confidently say that these glasses are my new favorite headphones. If kept at 50% volume, people around you cannot hear what you are listening to, and when you crank up the volume full blast, you can enjoy music and podcasts while mowing the lawn (tested last weekend). The quality of the sound is certainly not on par with the big “over-ear headphones”, but that’s not the point with the Meta Raybans. The point here is all about access. How easy is it to just hop in and out of your audio content. I no longer have to put Airpods in and out all the time, or look for where I put my Airpod Max headphones. With the Meta Raybans, I am always wearing my headphones, while at the same time, I’m kind of never wearing my headphones. It’s trippy, and unlike much of the technology changes over the past 5 years, it’s kind of life altering. I interact with audio on a different level now. I sneak little snippets of music and podcasts all the time, where before I would have to dedicate time for listening to audio sources. I also listen to audio in Instagram Reels and News stories because accessing the audio is just a tap away, and I never did that before these glasses.
The audio is turned on and off with a single tap on the right side. Sorry all you left-handers out there, this is a right-handed device for now (sigh). Two taps will advance the track for music and three taps will go back a track. Touch and slide forward to increase volume. Touch and slide backwards to decrease the volume. That’s it. Whatever audio source you are using on your phone will be controlled by tapping. Switching between things like podcasts, audible and music is a little clunky at the moment. Spotify support is supposed to get better, and you can have a default service when you ask for music (mine is Apple Music). But you can’t ask for an audiobook on Audible to start right now. That’s also an update that is said to be coming in the near future.
There is also a touch and hold audio feature that will start a designated music source (amazon music, apple music, spotify or calm). I have that set for Spotify, as I have better playlists there (curated by my kiddo). It’s a bit random at the moment, and I use the feature for my “I don’t know what I want to listen to right now” moments. So that’s it for the headphones part.
The camera is what got me to pull the trigger on this purchase. The idea that I could grab pics when I’m doing something fun without the usual “phone fumble” was exciting to me. Think about it. If you see something cool and want a pic, you do this: take out phone, wake it up, open camera app, point camera at thing you want picture of, push the capture button, turn off phone, put phone back in pocket. That’s a lot of steps. And the moment you capture is through a viewfinder (as in your phone screen)! With the Meta Raybans your eye is the camera, and the capture is just a single tap (or a voice command of “Hey Meta take a photo” if your hands are occupied or perhaps in the pic). I even managed to snap a pic of a book I was holding, by pushing shutter and quickly putting the object into the frame (see pic).
The camera is easy to use. Tap the button to take a picture (again, on the right side only!!) Hold the button to take a video (default is 1 minute, but can be increased to 3 minutes in the mobile app). I discovered quickly that if you are wearing a baseball cap the camera will see it, and you get a notification that the “camera is blocked”, but only after you are done shooting the video. So I ended up turning my hat backwards when I use the camera, which isn’t a great look, but it is functional. I don’t do a lot of “out in the world” videos, but I’ve shot a few to show different light impacts on filming (I’ll share those videos in the future, when I deep dive into the cameras). For now, I’m much more interested in the “point and shoot camera” but again, the hat brim will get in the way…
The quality of the video and images is great. Not as good as most current mobile phones, but still great for their intended purpose (quick snaps of what you’re doing, without the need to grab your phone). The audio capture is also great. I’ve made a couple cocktail videos that worked nicely, and I did a recording while singing and playing the piano that turned out nicely too (I will not be sharing that video though!) Time will tell how much I continue to use the camera. It’s worth noting that you can set up the mobile app so when you import images and video from the glasses they will copy into your phone’s photo library too. And if you delete the images in the Meta Mobile app, it will ask if you’d like the library copy deleted too. That is very handy and keeps down the image clutter!
Alright, that’s enough good stuff. What about the bad stuff, right?!? Much like the new iPhones, the AI elements of the Meta Raybans are pretty basic, but promise updates “soon”. The command is “Hey Meta” and then you can ask basic questions. Weather and Timers work great (just don’t use the British voice assistant or you’ll get Celcius for weather). You can “google things” with some success. I was able to ask for the hours at a local restaurant before heading out the door (some day maybe I can get on the wait list with a quick voice command…) But, all in all, the AI is more of a gimmick, than a feature I use often. But I truly haven’t kicked the tires to hard yet, and plan to do that in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned.
The one AI element that has been most interesting to me is “tell me what I see”. When you ask this you will get a detailed description of what is in front of you. Down to pretty detailed elements. Then you can ask it to write a poem about what you see. Here the pic and poem the glasses came up with when I looked at my home desk. When the features update to include actionable questions, that’s when this tool goes from gimmick to useful. But we are not there quite yet. I am hopeful.
I’m just a little over a week with these Meta Raybans smart glasses, and so far I’m really impressed. A friend of mine, who is a fellow Meta Raybans owner, responded this way when I said I was really enjoying the glasses so far. “I know you’d love them… they are so in line with your tech values”. That is really true. I do not like my smartphone. I do not like staring at screens. I think it’s better when we put our tech aside and just be in the world. But realistically, we are stuck the mobile internet on our person at all times. So any tech that keeps my hands empty and data easily accessible is definitely “in line with my tech values”. And so far, these glasses are doing it. Now I just have to see if my usage is sustainable, and not just the excitement of something new. I’ll be back with more posts in the future, as I examine daily use and dig into specific features in much more depth. Till Next Time…
Review – Beats “Studio” Headphones
The mere mention of the words “Beats Headphones” is likely to cause an emotional response, from those who spend any amount of time committed to listening to music. Usually two camps will form. Those who think Beats are awesome, and those who think Beats are overpriced junk. While both camps have good points to make, the insistence of adhering completely to one opinion over the other only causes further confusion about what exactly these headphones are, and whether or not they are really worth the pile of cash it takes to procure them. I’ve had a pair of Beats Studio headphones for a couple of months, and I’d like to share my opinion about these polarizing headphones. Please bear in mind that I am a music head not an audiophile. It’s important to understand the difference, to know where I’m coming from as I review these “cans” (it’s easier to type “cans” than “headphones”).
Musichead: “Someone who is an avid music listener. They listen to music ALL the time, and usually are the type of people who know about the latest music, and they are always trying to put you on to a new artist.: (urban dictionary)
Audiophile: “A person enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction. Audiophile values may be applied to all stages of music reproduction: initial audio recording, production process, and the playback.” (wikipedia)
So the audiophile cares much more about the quality of recording, whereas the musichead’s focus is on the music itself (based on lyrics, vocal quality, etc). Beats offers several models of headphones, at varying prices, from the “urbeats” earbuds for $90 to the “Beats Pro”, which go for $360. My model is the Beats Studio (wired), which will run you $299.
The Cup Half Full
The Beats Studio headphones offer great sound. I say that as a musichead, and also as a guy who spent the past five years with either Apple earbuds or $15 Sony cans. Those options gave me good sound. They weren’t junk. The Sony’s were actually surprisingly good, but over time they have started falling apart, which isn’t surprising considering how cheap they were. If you want great sound, without the perfection an audiophile looks for, you will be pleased with the Beats Studio headphones.
These cans are “over-the-ear headphones”, meaning your ears will be nestled down inside the soft “leather” of the earpads. I tried the “Sol Republic” headphones, which uses an “on-ear” design, but I found that they were pinching my head to the point that after 30 minutes or so I had a headache. Moving to the Studio design, I’ve found that I can wear these headphones for six straight hours without any discomfort, and that is a huge selling point for this design of headphones. The Sol Republic’s offer great sound (on par with Beats) but that on-ear design wasn’t working for me.
The Beats Studio’s offer noise-cancelling, which is internally powered. I’d never used this type of headphone before, and I really like the functionality. While not entirely noise-cancelling, the headphone completely cancel out all “white noise/ambient sound” and muffle everything else. I work in an office complex, and I finally feel like I’m not surrounded by a bunch of people. The noise-cancelling function is powered via micro-USB, providing up to 20 hours of listening between charges. This is both a good and bad thing. The older models required batteries, which would have to be changed frequently. But the charging design means that when you’re battery is drained, not only will the noise-cancelling not work, but the cans will not work entirely. So now you have another device to manage in regards to battery life and charging schedules. You can also use the headphones as glorified earmuffs, as they have a physical power button on one ear, allowing you to engage the noise-cancelling piece without actually playing music. I use that feature more often than I thought I would. 
A couple of notes about the case, and design for travel. The headphones collapse to make them easier to carry around. That said, they are still pretty big headphones, so even in their collapsed state, they will take up a good chunk of your bag or purse. Beats includes a carrying case. It looks like a big egg and it’s intention is obviously to protect the headphones, not make them any easier to pack in said bags. The case is just large enough to house the collapsed cans, the headphone cable, and the charging cable/wall charger).
Finally, a great feature of these headphones is the detaching cable. By not hard wiring the cable into the headphones themselves you will have a much easier time replacing the cable part should they become damaged (it happens!). Also the cable functions as the “power button” for battery element of the cans. When you put the plug-in place the battery starts, as does the noise-cancelling. Pull the plug, and you’ve effectively, turned them off.
The Cup Half Empty
First off these headphones are certainly a premium product. You are paying for the name brand and the “cool factor” that is associated with the Beats line. I was actually avoiding these headphones strictly because I didn’t want to give into the hype. I have audiophile friends, who insisted that there are cheaper cans with better sound. I just needed to do some homework. But I didn’t want to do some homework! I’m a musichead. I just wanted to listen to the music, and have the sound be “great but not perfect”. I tried many pairs on before settling on the hyped up/admittedly over-priced Beats headphones. And I have no regrets.
The need to manage charging, as mentioned, can be a bit of a pain. And the case is large, meaning it’s always in my computer bag. If you want a small set of headphones, these are not the one’s for you.
Finally a note about Apple’s purchase of Beats. The headphones come with both a standard audio cable, and an enhanced cable with phone buttons and volume. That enhanced cable will only work with iPhone/iPad devices. If you are on Android, or using any other type of music device (any Walkman listeners out there?), you might as well chuck that extra cable out, because the standard cable is the only one that will work for you. This will only become more the case, as Apple integrates the Beats line into their portfolio of products.
The Whole Cup Summed Up 
The Beats Studio headphones offer a great music listening experience (assuming you aren’t too picky about perfection). Noise-cancelling, both while listening to music and even when unplugged is awesome. Finally, the design works very well for long listening sessions, which for me was the most important factor. Are Beats headphones overpriced? Of course they are; all name brand products are. You can certainly get a Hawaiian Shirt for less than the $120 they charge at Tommy Bahama, but people often buy for brand. Beats are no different. So if you are a musichead looking for a great listening experience, and you’ve got the extra cash or Christmas money, consider these as a decent option. I’ve definitely found them to be superior to anything I used previously, and I am enjoying my music every day. And there are other advantages to them as well…
Note: If you are looking for a cheaper options, here are a few good sets, that won’t even set you back $100, let alone $300.
Have a Cup of T(ech) 