The Oakley Meta Vanguard, a performance-oriented set of smart specs built for runners, cyclists, and multisport athletes, has been unveiled by Meta. The model, which costs $499, combines Oakley’s sport optics with Meta’s camera, audio, and on-device AI capabilities to function as a virtual coach, action camera, and hands-free communications device while you train.
Functional design for speed and protection
It ditches the dual exterior camera pods of earlier Meta eyewear in favor of a single, over-the-eye shield lens that puts you better in line with high-speed sports and wide field-of-view capture. Oakley’s wraparound frame and use of PRIZM lens technology are designed to cut glare and enhance contrast while also aiding in wind and dust deflection, crucial for group rides or open road runs.
All hardware buttons are placed underneath the frame so as not to interfere with helmets and hats. The chassis is IP67-rated, which means it’s dust-tight and capable of immersion in water to one meter for brief periods of time under the IEC 60529 standard. That’s the burliest rating on any Meta glasses so far and should withstand sweaty tempo runs, rainy commutes, and post-ride rinses.
Cameras, audio and AI optimized for training
A 12‑megapixel camera with a 122‑degree field of view captures footage up to 3K video and provides athletes a dramatic, immersive perspective of wide road coverage that can be seen for both the left and right eye at the point of playback. The view is great for anticipating a route, reconning a race day, or capturing first-person clips without dealing with a chest or helmet mount. The wide frame also gives you plenty of headroom for creative editing and cropping vertical footage.
Open‑ear speakers are six decibels louder than the Oakley Meta HSTN, Meta said. A 6 dB boost essentially doubles acoustic power, and thus clearer audio at speed without sealing the ear canal — handy when you want to stay aware of traffic and course marshals. A five‑microphone array homes in on wind reduction for calls, messaging, and voice interactions with Meta’s AI assistant.
An on-frame programmable button can be used to call up a customized AI prompt set in the Meta AI app.
Imagine one-press commands such as:
- “Pace check”
- “Read last split”
- “Start a video at kilometer markers”
It’s a small but significant move toward context-aware coaching that doesn’t involve pausing to mess around with a watch or phone.
Battery prepared for endurance and fast charging
Meta rates the battery life in the Vanguard at up to nine hours of typical usage or as long as six hours of music playback. The included case provides another 36 hours of charge, and a rapid top‑up will get you to around 50% in about 20 minutes. For practical training, it’s adequate for long Saturday rides, marathon builds, or double sessions with time to recover at the cafe stop.
Live stats with Garmin and creator tools for Strava
Sticking with the athletic bent, the Vanguard can also pair with Garmin smartwatches to request core metrics such as heart rate and pace while on the go. The utility is self-evident: rapid glances without looking down can lead to improved safety, especially when in dense packs or on technical trails.
And for post‑workout storytelling, Strava integration allows athletes to overlay performance metrics on photos and videos shot with the Vanguard before sharing in their feed. Look for cleaner, more actionable POV clips — a steady diet of which should be helpful to creators, coaches who want to show their athletes what the competition course will look like, and teams compiling training blocks or event recaps.
Colors, configurations, and initial and future markets
The Oakley Meta Vanguard comes in four frame and lens pairings:
- Black with PRIZM 24K
- White with PRIZM Black
- Black with PRIZM Road
- White with PRIZM Sapphire
The rollout will cover these markets at launch:
- The United States
- Canada
- The U.K.
- Ireland
- France
- Italy
- Spain
- Austria
- Belgium
- Australia
Additional markets to follow at a later date:
- Germany
- Sweden
- Norway
- Finland
- Denmark
- Switzerland
- The Netherlands
How Vanguard fits into Meta’s broader sport strategy
The Vanguard is parked next to Meta’s lifestyle-oriented Ray‑Ban line, but it leans hard into the performance side. A combination of Oakley’s sport ergonomics with louder open‑ear audio, wind-aware microphones, and direct ties to Garmin and Strava, Meta is catering for a use case where traditional earbuds (or action cams) might be cumbersome.
Analysts at IDC have pointed out an increasing interest in hands‑free capture and coaching for endurance athletes, a category they say open‑ear audio also aligns with safety best practices advocated by road safety organizations. If Meta can provide enough of a user-friendly voice control and robust optics feed at speed, perhaps the Oakley Meta Vanguard might be an everyday training partner that combines music, metrics, and media — without requiring yet another device to mount or charge up.