I tried the Meta VR glasses that are about to break the internet – this is the headset Apple should have made
True virtual reality glasses that look good enough to wear in public, the Meta VR Glasses could be its biggest success yet
Quick Summary
Meta has revealed its next generation VR glasses. The new slim and lightweight design make them easy to wear outside the house and they now feature eye tracking and hand control, removing the need for separate controllers.
Running a similar operating system to the Quest, they can play games, show movies in IMAX format and even be used for work. Priced at $1299, they are headed right into Galaxy XR territory.
Meta is offering a slicker VR solution that makes the Meta Quest 3 look like a child’s toy. Aimed at the Samsung Galaxy XR and Apple’s Vision Pro, the Meta VR Glasses provide that fully immersive VR experience, as well as augmented reality options, all from a pair of specs that wouldn’t look out of place in Three-Body Problem.
Virtual reality glasses are nothing new. In fact, with the growth of smart glasses, they were starting to feel a little redundant. Google, Snap and Meta itself all offer smart glasses with colour screen projections to check emails, follow navigation, and live translation. The advantage of these is that you can wear them anywhere.
While Samsung’s latest Galaxy XR, and Apple’s Vision Pro headsets are far more advanced, offering a full computer on your face, they are not best suited for leaving the house in. Though, people did try with the Vision Pro, to hilarious results.
What the Meta VR Glasses offer is a headset that not only has that high level of performance, but can also be worn comfortably for long periods, either at home or in a public setting.
I got to try the glasses for myself in an exclusive preview in London ahead of the Meta Connect event.
So much more than smart glasses
The Meta VR Glasses look more like a pair of large wrap-around glasses than a VR headset, and weigh just 100 grams. This has been achieved by moving the battery and compute power into an attached puck, which can sit on your belt or in your hand. This gives you up to three hours of continuous usage, but supports 45W fast charging, or can even be plugged straight into a USB-C port for continuous use.
The glasses themselves feature a 5K infinite display using micro OLED panels. Thanks to the ultra-compact pancake lenses, they sit no further from your eyes than normal glasses, with the position of the lenses being fully adjustable to your face (prescription lenses attach magnetically if needed). It feels almost like putting on an eye mask, but once on, you can see the world through the cameras and get access to the operating system.
Control is via voice, hand or eye, so there are no controllers in the box – it is still compatible with previous Meta Quest controllers, however. For gaming fans, the good news is that the Meta VR glasses are backwards compatible with all Quest games and apps. Plus, 75 existing games have been optimised for hand control.
I played a new version of Beat Sabre using my hads as controls and it worked extremely well. Using your fingers to tap into apps and bring up menus takes a little more practice, but combined with the eye tracking, is very impressive.
There’s also the ability to log on to Xbox Cloud gaming and access hundreds more games, using a Bluetooth gamepad or by connecting directly to a handheld gaming device and creating a virtual screen.
Watching movies
Perhaps the biggest use case for the Meta VR Glasses, though, is movies. Not only do they have Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos built in, they are the first IMAX Enhanced certified glasses, allowing you to watch blockbusters in their intended IMAX expanded ratio.
They also offer what Meta is calling VR Enhanced Cinema. In partnership with Disney, it provides immersive surround sound when you’re watching the virtual screen in the glasses. Currently, the movies include Marvel’s The Avengers, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Star Wars: A New Hope.
I tried a clip from Avengers: Infinity War, which was like watching the movie from the same spaceship surroundings as the characters were fighting on-screen. It certainly adds to the experience.
There are further options through the wide range of streaming apps, including both 2D and 3D content. Plus, you can watch immersive sports, with front-row seats at over 100 sporting events, in partnership with ESPN.
Productivity
As we have seen with other VR headsets, including the Quest, the Meta VR Glasses can be used for work, giving you a big screen wherever you are. You can connect your laptop (Mac or PC) to the VR Glasses, and use your keyboard and mouse as normal, thanks to the full-colour passthrough from the cameras, but then use a large external screen – or multiple screens – to work from.
My favourite productivity feature, though, has to be the virtual keyboard, which can appear on any flat surface. It allows you to type as if a keyboard were there and appears to be almost latency-free.
Video calling uses hologram technology to create a photorealistic digital version of you, which can be shown to others during calls, and if you’re calling someone else wearing Meta VR Glasses, they will appear as a hologram in front of you.
The Meta Glasses are due to go on sale in Spring 2027 with a US price of $1299.99. There’s no word yet on UK pricing and availability, but I suspect it will follow shortly after for a similar dollar-to-pound price.
