Meta Ray-Ban Display is a milestone in smart glasses. They look normal, have all the best features of non-display Meta AI glasses, and add a single display in the right lens. The Neural gesture band provides a revolutionary new input method that feels natural, but the monocular display can be jarring for videos. Gestures work incredibly well, but there's not enough to do even after nearly a year.

Two years ago, I tried Meta Orion. It was the first AR glasses that didn't feel compromised. Meta debuted Ray-Ban Display at last year's Meta Connect in September. They made the right concessions for good-looking frames at a good price. Now, a year later: have they been worth it?

Ray-Ban Display retails for $799 at stores like Best Buy. They support a narrow prescription range. The full-color display in the right lens reduces weight and battery use, with no warping or light bleed found in Even Realities G2 or Memo Mind One. Lumus makes the waveguide displays for privacy and clarity.

Meta's software is more robust than any other smart glasses platform. It integrates with Garmin and Strava, and supports WhatsApp and Instagram. Viewing Instagram feeds is novel but visually tiring. Reading messages, navigating, checking notifications, and controlling music are perfect examples of how this hardware shines.