I tested both generations of Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses in the same real-life use cases: commuting, calls, gym sessions, and short content shoots where I would be the one directing or posing.
The difference between them is clear.
- Design and comfort in everyday wear and workouts
- Camera performance and video quality improvements
- Audio quality, call clarity, and microphone upgrades
- Battery life gains and charging case improvements
- AI performance and software experience on-device
- Price, street discounts, and overall value comparison
- Final verdict: which Ray-Ban generation is best
If you value sharper video, louder and cleaner sound, a longer-lived battery, and trustier on-device AI, the latter pair is stronger, too. First gen still has its place at the right price, but the gap is real.
Design and comfort in everyday wear and workouts
Both generations outfit classic Ray-Ban frames — the Wayfarer, Headliner, and Skyler — with a variety of tinted, clear, and Transitions lenses. The styling is subtle enough to the point where most people never even realized I had cameras on. The touch controls are the same on each, but taps and swipes on the second gen tend to register with fewer misses — especially when you’ve got gloves or sweaty fingers.
Generation two adds some significant ruggedization. New models are rated for even more water resistance, so rainstorms and sweaty workouts were less nerve-racking. The pocketable charging case also doubles as a power bank, an unexpectedly essential aspect for creators and travelers in our modern age.
Camera performance and video quality improvements
This is the change most people will notice instantly. Both generations employ a 12MP sensor, but the second gen can record video at up to 3K resolution versus the first gen’s 1080p; in practice, that extra bit of detail means crisper details (think license plates, ingredient labels, and vehicle details) without bloating file sizes to unmanageable proportions.
You still get 4:3 video, which is perfect for those vertical-first platforms and leaves you plenty of space to crop to 9:16 without losing video quality. Also, stabilization is just a little bit better on the new model; walk-and-talk clips contain less micro-jitter and low-light noise gets cleaned up with more finesse. For short-form content and POV tutorials, the second gen’s video footage feels more like a regular action cam than the original.
Audio quality, call clarity, and microphone upgrades
The second-gen’s open speakers are up to 50 percent louder, plus bass is richer and beamforming tighter, according to Meta. My back-to-back tests bore out that claim: Podcasts were intelligible at city-crosswalk volume levels, where the first gen was strained. Leakage is better controlled, too — people standing a step away had an easier time hearing less of my audio, which comes in handy in offices and on trains.
They both have a five-mic array, but wind handling and voice pickup are cleaner on the latest pair. Callers said I sounded “less far away” and more consistent when I turned my head. Assorted features such as Conversation Focus (focus on the person you’re talking to in a loud environment), intended to isolate the speaker right in front of your face, are gaining wider availability, and they’ll have more hardware runway thanks to this second gen.
Battery life gains and charging case improvements
The second gen more than doubles battery life: up to eight hours of audio playback per charge when not using ANC versus about four on the first gen (the case takes total use to around 48 hours for the new case compared with approximately 32). In practical terms, the newer of the pair survived a full workday’s worth of music and notifications, including two short filming sessions, without nudging me back into reaching for its case. The original had to be topped up by midafternoon if I shot more than a couple of clips.
Quick top-offs from the case keep them both in use, but the newer model’s efficiency cuts down on that “battery anxiety” creators know too well. For commuters and cyclists who rely on voice navigation cues and phone-free calls, the discrepancy is crucial.
AI performance and software experience on-device
Meta’s assistant is the center of both versions, but the second gen is built atop a new Qualcomm platform optimized for processing vision and audio directly on the device. That means even quicker wake-word response and fewer multimodal prompts dropped for me in testing. Features like Live AI, which can comprehend what the cameras see in order to help with tasks, inventory, or translation, are spreading throughout the lineup but performing more smoothly on the newer hardware.
Both allow live streaming to social platforms, hands-free messaging, and on-glasses photo reviews through the Meta View app. Some of the new features in Meta’s public briefs and developer sessions are intended to be backward-compatible, though performance and dexterity clearly lean toward the second gen.
Price, street discounts, and overall value comparison
The first gen usually starts at $299, and the second gen kicks off at around $379. They still have street prices and refurb programs that can occasionally put the original in the mid-$200s, which is a pretty compelling place to start if all you want is music, calls, and some footage from time to time. For creators, field technicians, and fitness users who rely on reliable capture and all-day wear, the newer model is worth the premium.
Context counts, of course: analysts at organizations such as IDC and CCS Insight have pointed out consistent interest in wearables equipped with cameras — so long as audio quality, battery life, and the usefulness of AI in certain cases continue to get better. The second gen follows that trend and brings higher-fidelity media capture with it — but still offers more trusty voice-first control.
Final verdict: which Ray-Ban generation is best
The Ray-Ban 2nd Gen wins, hands down. It shoots crisper 3K video, sounds better in noisy environments, sustains meaningfully longer life between charges, and can execute emerging AI features with less friction. If you make content, take a lot of calls, or just want even more phone-light days out of your electronic devices, the new pair is over 30 percent better in theory.
Get the first gen if price is your highest priority and you do more audio, notifications, and the occasional 1080p clips. For everyone else, the second gen will bring greater reliability and better results — which is exactly what smart glasses need to move from novelty act to everyday carry.
