teaThe Oakley Meta Vanguard is a new display-less AI glasses designed for running, cycling, and action sports with deep integration between Garmin and Strava, which could make it the first smart glasses for sports that actually work.
A product that replaces running glasses, open-ear headphones, and a head-mounted action camera in one, it’s the latest product from Meta’s partnership with sunglasses giant EssilorLuxottica, owner of Ray-Ban, Oakley, and many other popular brands.
But while the popular Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer camera-equipped AI smart glasses are designed for general leisure use, the Vanguard is unashamedly a sports eyewear, designed for moving quickly and capturing your efforts.
That makes them the most expensive screenless AI glasses, starting at £499 (€549/$499/A$789), above the £399 Oakley Meta HSTN and the £379 Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer.
Vanguard doesn’t look like your typical smart glasses. It’s clear that Meta brought the technology, but Oakley brought the design, fit, and finish. The massive wrap-around visor, arms, and three-point fit system mimic the great Oakley Sephara sports glasses, so no matter how hard you shake or sweat, the 66g frame glues to your head and fits snugly under your helmet.
You can choose from two frame colors and four contrast-enhancing lenses, but there is no prescription lens option. A small button near the hinge on the left arm allows you to turn the glasses on and off, allowing you to use them like sunglasses.
There’s a speaker hidden in each arm that points towards your ears for listening to music, calls, or Meta’s AI chatbot. This is one of the best sounding open ear speakers you can get and is loud enough to be heard even over road or wind noise. They can’t match a set of earbuds for bass, but they’re great for listening to music while running or walking. Five beamforming microphones block out background noise very effectively when making calls or talking to AI, even on busy roads.
The right arm has a touch panel that allows manual control of playback and volume. The music pauses when you take off your glasses, and the volume automatically adjusts to match background noise levels, making it a great choice while hitting the road.
specification
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size: 136x120x59mm
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weight: 66g (258g case)
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Waterproof: IP67
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camera: 12MP/3K ultrawide
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speaker: stereo open ear
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mike: 5-microphone array
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Battery Life: 6 hours of music playback (30 hours with case)
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Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3, WiFi 6
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save: 32GB
The central camera takes reasonable quality 12-megapixel photos and very stable video up to 3K resolution for up to 5 minutes. You can also shoot hyperlapses, which are a series of action shots linked into one fast clip, or slow-motion videos at up to 120 frames per second at 720p.
The camera can’t compare to high-end phones, but it’s very good at capturing the action, similar to the typical mid-range action cameras that people strap to their bodies. Press the camera button to take a photo, or press and hold to take a video. Or, you can ask Meta AI to take photos or capture videos hands-free.
All of these features, including basic voice controls for music, auto volume, volume, playback, and camera, work when connected to any Bluetooth device, such as a running watch. However, to use advanced AI features, you’ll need to connect the glasses to an Android or iPhone running the Meta AI app.
You can use the camera to ask Meta AI questions like you would any other chatbot, including what it’s seeing. You can identify plants, translate text, and generally ask questions about the world around you. It’s very handy for converting distance and speed between metric and imperial runs, but it doesn’t perform as well as Google’s Gemini on your phone.
You can also message, send photos, and call friends hands-free from your glasses using your phone or one of the Meta apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram.
Vanguard’s best feature is its excellent integration with the latest Garmin running watches and bike computers. Garmin’s free Meta AI app connects to the Meta AI app on your phone so you can research your stats in real time during your activity by simply asking questions.
The AI can tell you individual metrics like speed, distance, heart rate, cadence, and more, and you can even ask for “My Stats” to tell you all the information you need at that moment, straight from Garmin. It also reads out your speed or other metrics for each lap, mile or kilometer, and uses a small LED to the right of the eye to indicate if you’ve reached your goal during a speed or heart rate zone workout, turning red if you’re out of zone.
With Garmin integration, the camera can also automatically capture your walking, hiking, running, or riding workouts. Shoot a 5-second video every kilometer or mile, or whenever you reach a certain milestone, such as a sprint finish burst or your heart rate rises on a steep incline. Once it’s done, the Meta AI app links it to a highlight reel with manually captured video when the user returns. You can then overlay your workout stats, including distance, speed, elevation, time, heart rate, and power, and send them to the Meta app or Strava to automatically add them to your existing workout posts.
The whole thing works fantastically, and while you might not want to make a video of every run, having it automatically capture the highlights of your race without you having to do anything is a huge bonus.
Capturing all this video will shorten your battery life. During the hour-long run, which included listening to music and several conversations with the Meta AI, I used 14 5-second videos, 13 minutes of 1080p/30fps video, and 14 manually taken photos, ending the run with the glasses’ battery remaining at 25%.
It should last a full marathon with auto-capture turned on, but you may need to be careful with extended shots to fully complete the 26-mile distance.
For those who don’t use Garmin, the Meta AI app integrates with Apple Health, Google Health Connect, or Strava to pull data from other watches or bike computers, including Apple Watch and Coros devices. However, metrics overlaid on video are more limited and do not allow automatic capture or mid-run statistics.
sustainability
Glasses batteries retain at least 80% of their original capacity for 500 full charge cycles. Replacement lenses (£69), charging cases (£139) and nose pads (£10) are available, but the glasses cannot be repaired and the batteries are not replaceable, so they end up being disposable. The glasses do not contain recycled materials and Meta does not operate a trade-in scheme or issue an environmental impact statement for its glasses.
price
The Oakley Meta Vanguard is priced at £499 (€549/$499/A$789).
For comparison, the Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer (2nd generation) costs £379, the Oakley Meta HSTN costs £399, the Oakley Sphaera costs £191 and the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 costs £169.
verdict
The Oakley Meta Vanguard are the best sports smart glasses I’ve tested. They are very expensive, but it is very clear that they were designed for running and sports by real runners.
By focusing on what runners, cyclists, and adventure sports people want – a fit that doesn’t stop, lenses that actually block wind in your eyes, decent water resistance, loud open audio, long battery life, and good controls – this product would be great without a bunch of more fancy features.
The nose mounted camera is very good and could easily replace an action cam for many people. The microphone continues to work at lightning speed, and Meta’s built-in AI is always helpful in answering any interim questions that pop into your mind.
But the most important feature is its integration with Garmin, which provides statistics along the way and automatically highlights your route from the camera. It’s really easy, but you have to carry your phone with you while running, which is a bit of an inconvenience. Links to Strava and other fitness apps are also available to non-Garmin users.
If you ditch your phone and use it directly with your watch for music listening, basic voice commands for auto volume and volume, playback, and camera will still work.
The extremely high price is difficult to afford, but the biggest problem is the non-replaceable battery. You can replace the lenses and nose pads, but like most earbuds and other smart glasses, they are not repairable, so they lose a star.
merit: Big, great lenses, secure fit, well-balanced and loud open speakers, noise-canceling camera, IP67 waterproof, long battery life, good case, excellent Garmin integration, good links to Strava and other fitness apps, interchangeable lenses and nose pads.
disadvantage: It’s very expensive, impossible to repair, requires a phone for most advanced features, and is overkill for just audio when running.