Facebook Introduces New Ray-Ban Stories Smart Glasses

Facebook and EssilorLuxottica (Ray-Ban) have revealed—and launched—new Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses, available now starting at $299.

According to the official announcement, Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses have been designed to make mundane (but important) smartphone tasks easier. Phone calls, taking photos, recording videos, and listening to music all can be handled by what looks to be a normal pair of sunglasses. Ray-Ban Stories also can pair with the Facebook View iOS or Android app to make content sharing easier.

Ray-Ban Stories boasts a pair of 5MP cameras that can be used to snap pictures or record up to 30 seconds of video at a time when you press the capture button. Or, if you're using Facebook Assistant, you can go hands-free with voice commands instead.

Open-ear speakers have been built into the temples, and an array of three microphones has been installed for clearer sounds in videos and phone calls. Facebook also claims that it uses "beamforming technology and a background noise suppression algorithm" to further enhance call quality.

The new smart glasses also come with a portable charging case, which, when fully charged, will provide you with an additional three days of use, according to Facebook.

There's a built-in LED that will light up when a photo or video is being taken to notify anyone nearby, which Facebook says is intended as a privacy feature. It's also installed a power switch that will deactivate the cameras and microphones. At the same time, it also admits that Ray-Ban Stories are collecting data like your email address, battery status, and Wi-Fi connectivity by default. And if you use Facebook Assistant for voice commands, your voice logs also are archived by default.

If you're interested in a pair of Ray-Ban Stories, you can find them now in a variety of colors and styles like Wayfarer, Meteor, Round, and more. There's also an option to add prescription lenses, if needed. Most styles and colors are priced at $299, with some going as high as $379, and you should be able to find them in select retail stores across the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Ireland, and Italy.