These Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses are undeniably designed for athletes.

This is something of a double-edged sword in the design department as it means you can’t use them for everyday use unless your personal fashion choices include strolling around in a visor. But when you’re on a run, powering down a slope, or pushing yourself on your next bike ride these glasses will be the ideal companion… if you have a compatible Garmin watch.

The biggest benefit these specs have – beyond their Prizm visors, which are tailored to different activities – is their IP67 which allows them to tackle all conditions. I got caught out in a rainstorm with these specs on and the Vanguard glasses weren’t bothered at all.

I had more than enough time to finish up the run I had planned and make my way home, all the while enjoying tunes and assistance from Meta AI which I could hear through the open-ear headphones.

I even successfully made a few calls. Despite the rain, wind, and cars rushing past on the road, everyone I called said I came through crystal clear. Admittedly, I did have to double-check a few times as I was so surprised – with my usual open earbuds, or even using my actual phone in those conditions, I know they’d struggle to hear me.

The footage captured by its camera is good too, thanks to the centralized snapper which can capture video in up to 3K which is perfect for sharing your fitness achievements.

That’s helped by the new autocapture tool which uses data from your compatible Garmin watch to automatically record segments of your excursion and overlay fitness data – like your pace, distance travelled and heart rate – to create a nifty video recap you can share.

However, here lies my main concern with these specs. Their health tracking integration is currently reliant on a single company: Garmin. If you don’t have a Garmin smartwatch, or you do have one but it’s not compatible with the Meta AI app, then you lose out on one of the best features of these glasses. I ran into this compatibility problem so created a handy guide you can use to see which Garmin watches are compatible with Meta AI.

Meta does usually take a slow and steady approach with integrations so my fingers are crossed we’ll see Meta play nice with other fitness trackers too. But until then, this limited compatibility makes this device feel a little less mainstream.

That said, if you are an athlete with a compatible Garmin watch then the Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses will be a superb companion. The open ear audio, Meta AI assistance providing real-time fitness data, crystal clear calls, and auto capture video recaps combine into something superb – just be prepared for the high cost.

Oakley Meta Vanguard: price and availability

The Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses are launching on October 21, 2025 and are available to buy in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, and many European countries with plans to expand to more countries like Mexico and Brazil soon.

At the time of writing they cost $499 / £499 / AU$789 no matter which model you get. This makes them pricier than Meta’s Oakley HSTN and Ray-Ban smart glasses – ignoring its new Meta Ray-Ban Display specs.

In exchange you’ll get specs with louder (6dB louder) open-ear speakers, a more durable design (they’re IP67 rated rather than IPX4 for dust and water), and a slightly longer battery life than those two aforementioned models.

The design also feels more sporty, plus there’s the Garmin integration – though that necessitates a compatible device.

• Value score: 3/5

Oakley Meta Vanguard: design

You can pick up the Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses in one of four design variations equipped with a colored Prizm lens – a black frame with a 24K lens, black frame with a Road lens, white frame with a Black lens, or white with a Sapphire lens.

Otherwise the specs of all four are identical. The lens forms a large visor which covers both eyes, there’s a large camera that sits above your nose, and each pair comes with three nose clips sizes so you can adjust the fit to suit your face.

You’ll also find three buttons on the frame; on the left (as you wear them) is the power button, while on the right you have the camera button, and a programmable action button. The latter can activate Meta AI, automatically activate a different capture mode like slow-motion or hyperlapse, or access an accessibility feature (alongside a few other effects).

The Prizm lenses are Oakley’s sports-specific visors with color patterns designed to boost the contrast of your vision during different sports. The red Road visor version I tested are ideal for runners and cyclists because they help you see changes in the road and trail in front of you – like signs, cracks, and terrain changes.

They’re also the least shaded of the lens options available currently, meaning I can use them just fine on overcast days as long as it isn’t nighttime. If you live somewhere with a lot more sun you might prefer the Prizm lenses which provide more shade and similar contrast effects, or the Black lenses if you don’t care about contrast – the Sapphire lens is also good for the sun, but is tailored to water sports and skiing.

If you like the sound of a couple of different lens options you’re in luck. For the first time with its smart specs Meta’s Oakley Vanguards boast swappable lenses – so you can change between these available options, or some soon-to-launch alternatives like a low-light visor, as and when you need. Provided you buy the extra lenses that is – they’ll cost $85 (around £65 / AU$130, exact regional pricing is TBC).

They’re well suited to different conditions regardless of your lens type. I’ve run in sunnier weather and a rainstorm just fine – I did need to wipe the visor when it was wet, but no more than I would my regular specs, and at least the glasses didn’t fog up.

During the rain I was glad for their improved IP67 rating. This means they can survive harsh outdoor weather (just don’t swim in them), so on my rainy run it meant I didn’t need to rush home because I was worried my tech would get ruined – just because it was cold and miserable.

If they do get wet, however, Meta advises you dry them off before using the charging case.

Speaking of which, the bulky charging case safely stores your specs and boosts their roughly nine hours of battery life – six with continuous music – with up to an additional 36 hours. It can quickly charge your specs to 50% full in two hours.

As I said, it isn't the slimmest case so you’ll get a drawstring bag case, which is ideal for taking on your excursion if you want to put the glasses away during a break or cool down and not scratch the visor.

During all my tests these glasses stayed comfortably and securely on my face.

• Design score: 5/5

Oakley Meta Vanguard: Features

If you know much about Meta’s smart glasses already you’ll be familiar with the core features these specs borrow; we’re talking open-ear audio, an in-built camera, and Meta AI assistance. I’ll cover the quality of the camera and speakers in the performance section down below, but here I’ll focus on the AI and the new trick the Vanguards have up their sleeves: Garmin integration.

Meta AI can, provided you have your phone nearby and are connected to the internet, offer real-time answers to your queries. Simply say “Hey Meta” and you can get started.

On my other Meta smart glasses I love the AI when I’m a tourist, but on these Vanguard frames it’s instead my personal fitness coach. I’ve asked for some quick exercise tips so I can try to boost my running performance and endurance, and healthy snack advice so I know what to grab from the convenience store as I jog past to enjoy as a post-workout treat.

It also enables hands-free controls. I like to focus on my runs, and find I can do that more easily if I just call out to the Meta AI to change tracks in my playlist, or give me my fitness data, compared to swiping on the frame or looking down at my wrist.

This fitness data comes from my Garmin watch. For this review I borrowed a Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2) which is one of a selection of compatible Garmin devices (mostly watches, but a few bike computers too) that can beam real-time data to the Vanguard glasses.

While in a fitness activity – like a run – I can get real-time updates on my heart rate, my running pace, distance travelled, and how well I’m hitting my goals which is super handy. Plus, for those of you who care just as much about sharing your fitness successes as you do about actually getting fit, you’ll love autocapture.

When enabled, autocapture will take a short video every split (either every lap, kilometer or mile based on your preferences), as well as at key moments like when your heart rate jumps up because you’re pushing hard, or at a new elevation high, to name a couple of examples. The Meta AI app will then process these shots and overlay your Garmin data – like your pace and distance traveled – which you can then share as a montage or sequence of stories.

As you can see in the example above, it also gave my footage an automatic title, and tells you what Garmin watch I was wearing.

I think it’s really neat, it’s just a shame these fitness data integrations – which feel somewhat essential to the glasses’ identity – are locked to some very specific fitness devices.

While a lot of athletes will rely on Garmin tech, some will prefer their Samsung Galaxy or Apple watch (or another option from list of the best fitness trackers). Others simply may not have one of these options – even some recent Garmin launches don’t support on-watch apps (a necessity for this Meta AI integration).

Meta does like to roll out these interconnected app features slowly so we may see other brands join the fray down line, but right now I’m left feeling like a device agnostic system – perhaps one which leans heavily on a phone app rather than a smartwatch app, or a more widely-available smartwatch app – would be a more elegant and better solution.

• Features score: 3.5/5

Oakley Meta Vanguard: performance

These glasses performed really well in areas I think athletes will appreciate – that is to say, music and call clarity.

While I can’t test Meta’s claims that you can be heard over 30mph wind – during Meta Connect Mark Zuckerberg said “you can basically be standing in a wind tunnel and still come through clearly on the other side” – I can say that what initially sounded like a vast overpromise now seems like a very real ability of these specs after my tests.

I went out to run in a rain storm (unintentionally, admittedly) and not only could I always hear my music through these open-ear speakers (while also being able to pay full attention to my surroundings as nothing was covering or inserted into my ears) the microphones – by all accounts – picked me up crystal clear.

I never had trouble activating Meta AI, and even when I was jogging alongside a road with cars whizzing past – being buffeted by heavy rain and strong winds – the folks I called all said they couldn’t tell I was in a storm. The noise cancellation was, as one person described, "fantastic."

I know my other open earbuds, and maybe even my phone, wouldn’t have competed with that noise based on my experience with them – so I’m very impressed with the Vanguard’s capabilities.

Jumping back to the audio, while not on par with more dedicated earbuds or headphones audio quality-wise, this comfy open-ear, all-in-one solution was excellent at keeping me motivated with music while keeping me aware of my surroundings – as I wasn't blocked off from the outside world in any way, sonically speaking.

I’ll also shout out the camera.

While the single shot photos are more on the ‘okay’ end of the spectrum quality-wise, the first-person videos look great and pick up the audio really well – even if a lot of them simply capture me huffing and puffing into the mics.

Because of this high quality I love the autocapture montage the app creates, and plan to always share it with my Strava posts going forward.

• Performance score: 5/5

Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses Scorecard

Should you buy the Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Also consider

How I tested the Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses

To test these smart specs I made sure to run with them a few times. The first few times I used them without a Garmin watch to test their capabilities if you don’t have a compatible fitness device, and then I ran with a Garmin Epix Pro Gen 2 to find out how much of a difference it makes.

I ran in different conditions, though I wasn’t able to run at night as the lenses aren’t well suited to running in the dark.

First reviewed October 2025

Xreal One Pro: One-minute review

After testing the Xreal One glasses I declared them the best smart glasses you could buy, and as you’d hope from an upgraded model, the Xreal One Pro glasses have just bested them.

Overall the specs are more similar than different, but the ways in which they do differ make a world of difference.

The larger 57-degree field of view allows for a bigger image – perfect for a private movie night – and the image quality is better too, thanks not only to the Pro model using the latest Sony micro-OLED displays, but also to a new optic engine which allows the specs to achieve a higher 700-nit perceived brightness, and reduces distracting reflections and blurriness.

On top of the upgrades you can also look forward to the same solid audio tuned by Bose engineers, 120Hz 1080p visuals, an electrochromically dimmable lens backdrop, and a sleek design which helps make the Xreal Ones and now the Xreal One Pros excellent.

There are just two downsides. For one, the Xreal One Pro glasses are 3g heavier than the Xreal Ones at 87g, which is admittedly a fairly minor difference. The bigger issue is that they’re pricer – these glasses will set you back $649 / £579.

Factor in add-on costs like the $199 / £189 Xreal Beam Pro, prescription lenses (if you need them) and extra adapters (like an HDMI to USB-C cable), and the complete Xreal One Pro package can get very expensive. You don’t need these add-ons, as the Xreal One Pro glasses come with enough in their box to use them with a wide range of compatible devices, but they're a lot better with add-ons like the Beam Pro.

That said, the Xreal One Pro are meant to be a high-end offering, and you can absolutely see what you’re paying extra for. That's why they've cemented themselves as one of the best smart glasses of 2025.

If you have the cash to splash you’ll be delighted by what the Xreal One Pro offer as an entertainment and productivity device. If, however, you’re on a budget there are more affordable options that offer excellent value for money, even if they’re not able to match the Pro’s highs.

Xreal One Pro: Price and Availability

• Costs $649 / £579
• On the pricier side of things, but boast high-end specs

A pair of Xreal One Pro glasses cost $649 / £579 which puts them on the higher end of the smart glasses spectrum. For that you’ll get the glasses, a USB-C to USB-C cable, a cleaning cloth, and a hard carry case.

If you’re looking to improve them you can grab the Xreal Beam Pro for $199 / £189. It’s a phone-like Android device with nifty features like a camera setup for 3d spatial photography, easy access to a suite of apps for downloading and watching shows, and two ports so you can use your glasses and charge the Beam Pro at the same time.

There’s also the Xreal Eye for $99 / £99. Right now it is just a camera for snapping some simple photos, but it slots into the glasses comfortably and might allow for some other exclusive features in the future.

• Value: 4/5

Xreal One Pro: Design

• New optical design is best yet
• Comfortable to wear for hours
• Offer electrochromic dimming

At a quick glance the Xreal One Pro glasses look almost identical to the base Xreal One specs.

They both resemble typical sunglasses with a few noticeably technological features. For a start one arm has a USB-C port at the end so you can use a cable to tether the spaces to a compatible USB-C device (like a phone, computer, or console).

They have the same button layout – a button on the top of the right arm to quickly swap into transparency mode, as well as a brightness control button (which adjusts the electronic dimming, and the brightness of the image) and a red menu control button on the bottom.

There’s even the same interchangeable nose clips and hard carry case, though their cleaning cloths are different colors (the Pro uses a gray cloth while the regular model uses black).

But one obvious change is the optical setup.

Smart glasses like this use lenses to reflect an OLED screen into your eyes so you can see the screen and what’s going on behind it. The Xreal One Pro glasses have a new shape of lens which is flat and thinner, rather than being chunky and more triangular in shape.

This means the resulting image is disrupted by fewer reflections caused by light from the world around you, and it’s able to boast a wider field of view to boot (giving you a larger virtual image, more on that below).

It’s also easier to look through these lenses when the screen isn’t in use than with the Xreal One glasses. Previously transparency mode was good for simply quickly checking your surroundings, whereas now I’m comfortable moving around while wearing the Xreal One Pro glasses in this mode.

• Design: 5/5

Xreal One Pro: Performance

• 700-nit bright 120Hz full-HD image
• Bose tuned audio from in-built speakers
• 57-degree field of view provides a giant virtual screen

The Xreal One Pro glasses deliver a truly superb performance that’s a Pro-worthy upgrade over the base Xreal One glasses.

This is thanks to the new optical engine I touched on above as well as new Sony OLED panels which combine to deliver some top-notch stats.

You’re getting 700 nits of perceived brightness (100 more than the Xreal One) which helps to further improve contrast and make bright scenes dazzle – qualities which are further aided by the black backdrop provided by the outer lenses with electrochromic dimming.

The field of view is now larger too, at 57-degrees. This makes the virtual screen much larger at a max size of 171-inches – for comparison the 50-degree Xreal One boasted a max screen size of 147-inch.

It’s further enhanced by the optical engine’s reduced blurriness and lack of reflections. The old shape of lens used by other smart glasses can reflect light from the outside world into your eyes distorting the image. Thanks to its new design the Xreal One Pro has far fewer reflections which makes for a far superior viewing experience.

If I’m ever travelling with a pair of smart glasses again, it’ll be these – no doubt about it.

As for the audio the Bose tuned sound is just as impressive as it was with the Xreal One glasses.

That is to say at home you’ll be fine just relying on the glasses’ in-built speakers but while travelling you’ll want a pair of headphones – not only to reduce the noise from the outside world, but reduce the noise your glasses cause.

Headphones are still an upgrade when using the smart specs at home, but with the Xreal One Pro glasses (as with the Xreal Ones) they don’t feel like a necessity for a good sonic experience.

Thanks to its plethora of upgrades the only remaining gripe is still that the image quality is still only 1,080p (full-HD) rather than 4K. 4K is a barrier other smart glasses have yet to cross, and frankly the image looks pretty darn good even at this lower resolution and runs at 120Hz which is nothing to sniff at.

• Performance: 5/5

Should you buy the Xreal One Pro?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

How I tested the Xreal One Pro

I tested the Xreal One pro glasses over a couple of weeks and predominantly used them with the Xreal Beam Pro, my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, and my computer.

I would also frequently use noise cancelling headphones with them as I love to wear them when travelling, but I made sure to test their in-built speakers in a range of environments to judge their performance.

I also directly compared them with the Xreal One glasses to get a sense of the upgrades the One Pros deliver.

• First reviewed: June 2025

Xreal One: One-Minute Review

I’ve tested my fair share of AR smart glasses in the past few years, and the Xreal One glasses might be the best smart glasses I’ve tried.

Xreal’s expertise shines through with these specs, which not only boast an impressive full-HD 120Hz OLED image with vivid colors, impressive contrast, and a 600-nit brightness, but also solid audio courtesy of Bose.

Headphones will still deliver better audio, but these smart glasses don’t feel incomplete without a pair of cans – something I can’t say of their rivals.

Though if you’re picking up the Xreal One you’ll probably also want to grab Xreal’s Beam Pro – a smartphone-like companion device that adds features like easy spatial photo capture without an iPhone 15 Pro, and two USB-C ports.

The Beam Pro starts at $199 / £189 for a model with 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM, and while it’s not technically required it compliments the Xreal One so well that it feels like you’re missing out without it.

You can also connect the glasses to a suite of compatible USB-C devices instead like most smartphones, laptops, and game consoles (though for the latter you might need an add-on HDMI adapter). It’s perfect for watching your favorite show or playing a game on a giant virtual display, or for working privately on sensitive work documents in the office, or while you’re traveling, as only you can see your screen.

At $499 / £449 the Xreal One are approaching the pricier end of the scale, but with solid specs these glasses justify their cos, and are worth picking up if you want premium performance.

Xreal One: Price and availability

The Xreal One is available to buy in the UK and US from Xreal.com for $499 / £449.

This puts it at the mid-range price for AR glasses – it’s more expensive than older and more budget-friendly options like the Xreal Air 2 and RayNeo Air 3S, but less expensive than high-end standalone AR glasses like the Xreal Air 2 Ultra, and the upgraded (and soon to release) Xreal One Pro.

• Value: 3.5/5

Xreal One: Design

• Wired USB-C connection
• 82g, comfy for long stretches
• Electrochromic dimming shades

The Xreal One doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to Xreal’s AR glasses design. That is, at a glance it looks like a pair of sunglasses – albeit with a thick frame and large displays situated behind the lenses.

Just as on other wired AR specs the USB-C cable feeds into a port at the end of the left arm, and can be connected to a suite of USB-C devices that support DisplayPort – or to other devices with the right cables and accessories like an HDMI-to-USB-C cable.

Meanwhile the right arm features all of the buttons. On the bottom of the arm you’ll find a Red button which when pressed switches between Anchor mode and Follow mode (which anchors the screen in space or has it follow you as you move your head), and a brightness bar – you make the screen brighter, or change the electrochromic dimming intensity between three levels.

On top you’ll find a small black ‘Quick button’ for toggling between your display and dimming settings and transparency mode – which takes away your screen and resets the lenses to clear, so you can see what’s going on around you.

There are no volume controls on the specs, so you’ll need to rely on your device’s audio controls.

During my tests I only really used them on max brightness with the dimming turned up to full, as this created the best viewing conditions, though the transparency mode toggle came in handy a few times, and when using the Xreal Ones in a dark environment it was handy to turn the brightness down a tad so there wasn’t as much glare.

To find the best fit for you there are three arm angles so you can tilt the screen, and three nose pad options, so you can have the glasses sit correctly on your face. In my testing, after adjusting the specs I was able to comfortably wear the glasses, which weigh just 84g, for hours at a time with no trouble.

The Xreal One glasses also come with a cleaning cloth and a hard carry case so you can keep them clean and easily transport them and their cable.

• Design score: 5/5

Xreal One: Performance

• Impressive Bose audio
• Full-HD, 120Hz image at 600-nit brightness
• Pairs with a plethora of USB-C devices

Instead of beginning with the visual quality of the Xreal One (which is great by the way – more on that in a moment) I want to start this section by praising their audio. Normally, smart glasses audio is bordering on bad – the small open-air speakers produce a hollow sound that's passable for watching films, but a pair of headphones often feel like a necessity rather than an optional add-on. Thanks to Bose engineered sound that’s not the case with the Xreal One specs – the audio performance is one of their best features.

They’re not perfect for music, but compared to the Xreal Air 2 there's a stark improvement. This makes the immersive movie and TV show watching experience significantly better without requiring any headphones, meaning the specs feel like a more complete package out of the box. What’s more they seem to be less leaky than on previous models – audio can still be heard by people sitting close by, but it’s a lot better.

Now for the visuals. The Xreal One specs boast a 1080p image produced by Sony Micro-OLED displays that boast a peak 600nits perceived brightness, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a 50-degree field of view.

The end result is an image that looks really good. Yes it’s only Full HD quality but the colors are beautiful, and the excellent contrast is super-handy when you're trying to follow the action in dark scenes (though you’ll need the brightness set to max).

I’ve been using the smart specs to stream Daredevil: Born Again (it’s superb by the way), Invincible season 3 (also great), and play games using my PC and PS5 by connecting them to the specs via HDMI adapters.

The high refresh rate and low lag help to ensure that games look smooth, and it was a blast to watch the action unfold on a giant 147-inch virtual screen.

While using them with my PC I also gave the specs a whirl for working. Having your documents laid out on a larger monitor was certainly handy, but one big advantage I found was these specs are excellent for working privately, especially while traveling. I could be writing up an embargoed story on a train or flight, and because only I can see my virtual laptop screen I don’t have to worry about people looking over my shoulder and seeing any information they aren’t meant to.

I just wish the Nebula app for Mac wasn’t still in beta, and that the also in-beta Windows app was easier to find (I had to go through Reddit rather than Xreal’s own website).

While you can use the Xreal One glasses with a plethora of USB-C devices, by far your best bet is the Xreal Beam Pro. It’s a smartphone-like add-on that's built by Xreal to be the perfect companion to its glasses, and the company has thoroughly succeeded in that regard. If your budget can stretch to purchasing the Xreal One and a Beam pro in a bundle, do it.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

Should you buy the Xreal One glasses?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Also consider

How I tested the Xreal One glasses

I spent a few weeks testing the Xreal One specs for different use cases – gaming, entertainment, and productivity. I mostly used them at home on my couch, in bed, or at my desk, but I also made sure to take them with me on a couple of flights I took, and also used them during my commute a few times to get a sense of their capabilities in different environments.

I hooked them up to my PC, PS5 and smartphone (a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6), but my main connected device of choice was the Xreal Beam Pro. It’s the ideal companion for Xreal’s AR smart glasses, and worth picking up if you’re buying the Xreal One.

Read more about how we test.

• First reviewed March 2025