Ray-ban Meta Wayfarer Review

[Non-RX MSRP $316 in shiny black with green lenses, I paid … substantially more for prescription in shiny black.]

[Tl;dr: I’m genuinely surprised by how much I like these. Are they great, audiophile-grade headphones? Nope. But that’s not their use case, and not what they’re designed for. For what they’re designed for, they’re surprisingly excellent.]

Scores:

Cost-agnostic: 8 out of 10 Denalis (for their use case)

Cost-sensitive: 6 out of 10 Denalis (for their use case)

Intro. Years ago, I made a lot of fun of one of my friends for wanting the original Bose headphone sunglasses. I didn’t see the point of combining the two products; I had long been committed to Oakley for glasses, sunglasses, and prescription sunglasses, and while I owned and enjoyed a number of pairs of Bose headphones, I didn’t understand why someone would want to tie themselves to a combined product.

Fast forward to this year, where I found myself with some FSA funds that I needed to use, and in a world where I basically no longer wear non-reading prescription glasses so I can’t just do what I normally do, which is buy another pair of prescription sunglasses. A friend had just gotten a pair of Meta Wayfarers when switching her family cell plan to a new carrier and was enjoying them, so I decided to see if I could use FSA funds for a pair. The answer, it turned out, was not unless they were prescription, but I could do a neutral lens with progressive reading lenses in them.

I had low expectations and figured they would be something I’d use for a month, either write a neutral review or not write about them, and they’d go in a drawer with the half-dozen other pairs of prescription sunglasses that I don’t use anymore. However, it turns out that they’re PERFECT for one of my major use cases: walking Denali during the day.

Non-headphone functionality: It’s fun, but also seems likely to have limited mileage. You can do things like ask them what you’re looking at and they’ll use Meta’s AI platform to analyze what is in view, and it’s surprisingly good, but that’s also a functionality I won’t use very often. The cameras themselves seem to be fine, but are also prone to being blocked by hats or hands or any number of other things. The pictures and videos are decent, and it’s fun to be able to snap a picture of Denali doing something funny without having to take out my phone.

Sound. It’s worth first noting that these are entirely open ‘headphones’; the small speakers are on the temples near your ears rather than in them, so there is exactly zero noise filtering or isolation, and anyone near you WILL hear your music (or phone call, etc.). They’re not good in a loud environment, or a quiet shared environment. They do, however, let you hear the world around you perfectly well which is a real advantage for some kinds of activities (like walking around a neighborhood or on low-traffic streets).

I’ll also point out that the sound is highly dependent on your headwear; I mostly have worn these walking around Olympia in the fall and winter, so wearing a beanie or a rain hood. I would say that the sound benefits greatly from both, as they seem to balance out the sound and increase the apparent volume.

The soundstage/stereo separation is surprisingly good. On “So Much To Say” by the Dave Matthews Band, the acoustic guitar is distinctly off to the left, while Dave is singing in the middle of your head. On “Love Can Damage Your Health [Laid Mix]” by Telepopmusik, it sounds like the rhythm guitar part is panning back and forth around your head, though on some better music platforms it sounds like it’s revolving around you and I miss that sensation with the Meta Wayfarers.

The bass is also surprisingly good. It’s not going to blow your socks off, and you of course won’t get any bass rumbling in your chest, but especially when wearing a hood or a hat, it’s really quite nice. You do lose a lot of the lower end of the bass line in Janet Jackson’s “Got ‘Til It’s Gone,” but even many of my audiophile headphones don’t do super well with that track. As the volume goes up the bass gets a little splattery on Massive Attack’s “Paradise Circus”, but that’s not unexpected from a pair of very small speakers.

Mid-range is a real strength. Erykah Badu’s voice on “Afro Blue” is clear and crisp, as is Amelia Meath’s on “Coffee.”

Treble is, you guessed it, also surprisingly good. Crisp and sharp without being sibilant or harsh. You can hear the sharp attacks of the full range of horns on “Intro” by Brasstracks without it being overbearing, and the distorted highs on Vampire Weekend’s “2021” sound exactly like they should.

Noise canceling. Lol. You will hear EVERYTHING around you. They’re entirely open, with small speakers sitting next to your ears rather than in them.

Spatial audio. Nope!

Controls. This is one of the weaknesses of the platform; in theory the touch controls should do everything you want them to do, but in practice they’re super sensitive to environment. Both when wearing anything that touches the frame (like, say, a hat), or when damp (and it’s Olympia, so they’re always damp), the touch controls are finicky and prone to failure. The physical button is great and consistent, but also only triggers photos or videos (and is maybe too easy to inadvertently push when putting on a hat). The voice controls are … fine. It’s hard for me to remember to say “Hey Meta” instead of “Hey Siri”, particularly when streaming from an iPhone or Apple Watch, but both of those devices offer pretty good controls so I end up mostly using the Meta Wayfarers for the Meta features (like asking them what I’m looking at, etc.).

Connectivity.  The glasses connect via a combination of Bluetooth (music, internet searches, etc.) and wi-fi (transferring photos or videos to your phone). Bluetooth is a terrible protocol for music, but it’s pretty par for the course. The wi-fi is a little hit or miss, especially when you’re not near the home network you use to set up the glasses. I end up getting my Wayfarer photos in batches when I come home.

The charging case connects via USB-C, which I appreciate. They seem to charge reasonably quickly, though the battery life leaves much to be desired (about 4 hours of active use according to Meta, more like 60-90 min for many people on the internet).

Comfort. Wayfarers aren’t designed for all faces, and for me they’re a tiny bit tight. I’ve worn Oakleys for decades though, and I don’t find the pressure particularly discomforting (and it means they’re pretty solidly on my head). The sunglasses themselves are surprisingly light, though the case is MUCH heavier than I would have expected.

Construction. They’re solid. They’re plastic-framed Ray-bans, and they know what they’re doing. I will be curious to see how they hold up over the years, but I’m going to guess the hardware fails long before the frames themselves.

Appearance. They’re Ray-ban Wayfarers. You either like the style or you don’t; I grew up listening to the Traveling Wilburys and thinking that Roy Orbison was pretty cool, so they suit my style just fine.

Someone who looks really close can see the cameras in the temples, but I’m going to guess that no one will really notice unless you’re taking a picture or shooting a video (where a non-defeatable light shows on the front, as a safety/privacy/anti-creep feature).

Value/Comparisons. They’re certainly not cheap at slightly more than $300, but not terrible for what you get. The current version of the original Wayfarer runs almost $200, and the New Wayfarer is more like $220, so you’re paying another $80-100 for the smart functionality. I would put the sound quality of the Meta Wayfarer about on par with the 3rd generation of the AirPods, which you can get for less than $100 now on sale (around $150 at Costco). So, for around $350 you could get a pair of Wayfarers (or a pair of mid-tier Oakleys) and a pair of AirPods, with more flexibility and much better battery life. That does mean you’re managing two different things, but that’s not a huge disadvantage.

Overall. I probably wouldn’t buy these new if I didn’t have FSA funds to use; I have plenty of pairs of headphones and sunglasses that I like more than these, and it is one additional device that I have to keep charged and available. That said, I throw them in my work bag because they’re pretty perfect for walking around a city or a country road where you want to have some awareness of your surroundings, and there is still something pretty cool about smart glasses. If Meta/Ray-Ban can figure out a better battery life and can get the controls more consistent (maybe more than one physical button?), these will be a useful product and not a fun lark.

BUT, overall I owe Ben Kempenich an apology. I get it now. They’re pretty cool.

#reviews #headphones #meta #rayban #anc #spatialaudio #meh #2024 #99noir #meze #sunglasses