Meta locks essential Ray-Bans feature behind a paywall, even though it's on the glasses not the cloud
A Meta One subscription will be required to use one of its smart glasses' best features
Quick Summary
Meta has locked one of its smart glasses features behind a monthly subscription.
Conversation focus helps users hear conversations more clearly, yet will now only be available to those who pay for Meta One Premium.
The Ray-Ban and Meta collaboration has been pivotal in the acceptance of smart glasses, and the pair have expanded and improved their devices over time.
New features have been added, and although Meta is also now going it alone with its own designs, they have become synonymous with the tech category. It was only a matter of time though, before the tech giant started to look to monetise the growing segment further.
One of the more interesting features announced when the Gen 2 Ray-Ban Meta glasses were launched was Conversation Focus. It's an "AI-powered" tech solution that uses the beam-forming microphones on the glasses to isolated and amplify voices of the person you're looking at.
This is great during meetings in crowded situations, and is especially useful for those with hearing difficulties.
However, it us now being locked behind a paywall.
It has been revealed that if you want to use the Conversation Focus feature in future, you'll need to pay for a Meta One subscription – even though the function works on the device itself, rather than through a data connection to the cloud.
A Meta One Premium plan enables some paid services through multiple apps and devices, such as Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, as well as Meta AI and AI glasses. But, as reported by 9to5Google, it is also being applied to this specific on-glasses feature.
Other AI features should still work without the subscription, but the paywall does seem weird in this context. And basically, those who specifically bought Gen 2 Meta smart glasses for the feature may be dismayed that they'll now have to pay extra just to use it.
Meta One Premium was first announced in May, but is rolling out now. It costs $19.99 per month in the US and my own pair of Gen 2 glasses will no longer work with the Meta AI app until I update them. The subscription rollout is part of that update.
While this seems to be a current trend across AI devices – with many other brands adopting monthly subscription models – maybe it's something that will make you consider which pair of smart glasses to adopt. After all, you might not care enough about the AI tools in WhatsApp or Facebook to justify the additional cost.
