At Meta Connect 2025 on Wednesday, the company unveiled its new Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses that are geared toward runners, cyclists, and other athletes. The glasses retail for $499 and are launching on October 21.
Meta Connect is the social networking giant’s biggest conference of the year, where it unveils smart glasses and VR headsets.
The glasses feature a large unified front lens, instead of having two cameras positioned at the top corners of the frames, which is in previous Meta smart glasses and the Oakley Meta HSTN model. The new glasses can capture video in up to 3K resolution and feature a 12-megapixel camera with a 122-degree wide-angle lens.
The Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses feature a programmable button that can trigger a custom AI prompt, which you can set up using the Meta AI app. Meta notes that all of the buttons on the smart glasses are located underneath to allow athletes to wear helmets comfortably while using them.
The Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses have up to nine hours of battery life, or up to six hours of continuous music playback. The glasses come with a charging case that can provide an additional 36 hours of charge on the go. Meta notes that users can quickly charge the glasses to 50% in 20 minutes via the charging case.
Meta says the open-ear speakers, which are six decibels louder than Oakley Meta HSTN, are the most powerful speakers yet on any of its glasses. They also feature a five-microphone array optimized to reduce wind noise while on calls, messaging, or using Meta AI with your voice.
The glasses have an IP67 dust and water-resistance rating for use during intense workouts, the highest yet of any of Meta’s smart glasses, according to the company. Meta says the wraparound design of the glasses features Oakley PRIZM Lens technology, which is designed to block out sun, wind, and dust.
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Keeping with the athletic theme, the glasses can be integrated with Garmin smartwatches. Users can ask the smart glasses for stats such as your heart rate and pace while running, cycling, or participating in other activities. They can also integrate with Strava; users can graphically overlay their performance metrics onto videos and photos captured with Oakley Meta Vanguard and share them directly to their Strava community.
The glasses are available in four frame and lens colors: Oakley Meta Vanguard Black with PRIZM 24K, Oakley Meta Vanguard White with PRIZM Black, Oakley Meta Vanguard Black with PRIZM Road, and Oakley Meta Vanguard White with PRIZM Sapphire.
Oakley Meta Vanguard will be available in the United States, Canada, U.K., Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. Meta plans to launch the glasses in Mexico, India, Brazil, and the United Arab Emirates later this year.
Wednesday’s announcement comes three months after Meta unveiled its Oakley Meta HSTN smart glasses. At the time, the company said the smart glasses were its “first product for athletes and fans alike.”
Meta also unveiled Wednesday its new pair of Ray-Ban smart glasses with a built-in display for apps, photos, and directions alongside a wearable wristband to control them. Additionally, the tech giant announced its new Ray-Ban Meta 2 with up to 2x the battery life of the previous model and 3K Ultra HD video capture.
