Review: Facebook Ray-Ban Stories glasses

Loaded with cool tech as well as something new - fashion - see the video of how Facebook’s Ray-Ban Stories glasses look and feel.

Smart glasses failed to take off after being released onto the market on multiple occasions. Google introduced the Google Glass which appealed to tech heads but scared others while Snapchat had impressive technology in Spectacles on a platform that is sinking.

Will Facebook be the first to provide smart glasses to the masses and be accepted?

Facebook was smart when it announced its smart glasses.

The Ray-Ban Stories glasses leverage something no one else prior has used; fashion. Wearables are like jewellery, they’re very visible. Sunglasses, smart or not, need to look good and you should want to wear them.

The Ray-Ban Stories come in more than 20 styles and lens variations and they accommodate all colours and lens types. Rather than design a new sunglasses look, Ray-Ban is using existing successful styles such as the Wayfarer with the technology integrated.

Setting up the glasses with the Facebook View app takes less than a minute.

Sitting in a case which doubles as a battery, the Stories look like a very normal pair of sunglasses. The glasses sport two 5MP cameras on the sides and small speaker grills on the arms. The power switch is inside the left arm while on the other side there is an indicator light that is visible to the wearer and anyone looking at the glasses. The indicator light tells all parties that a video or photo is being captured.

Setting up the glasses with the Facebook View app takes less than a minute.

The app carefully guides you, providing information about appropriate use and how to download images and videos. Put the Stories on, and you will be surprised how light they are at under 50 grams.

They feel like typical sunglasses, not a gadget.

You can stream music to your Stories using Bluetooth when you leave home for a walk, and the sound is acceptable.

Comparing them to the Bose Frames which are similar from an audio point of view, the Frames outperformed the Stories thanks to the thicker arms on the glasses that house better speakers.

The Ray-Ban Stories glasses leverage something no one else prior has used — fashion.

I was surprised how well the three beam forming microphones performed when a phone call came through. I found that the microphones performed better than holding the phone to our ears.

The two-camera system is controlled using a button on top of the right arm. You can also use voice commands, for example “Hey Facebook, take a photo”.

The glasses will immediately trigger a snap in a rather square format. “Hey Facebook, take a video” will initiate a 30-second video recording.

Up to 500 photos or 35 videos can be stored on the Stories before you’ll need to synchronise the glasses back to your smartphone and upload the media.

You can’t perform live broadcasts on Facebook or Instagram as you can with a smartphone and this brings a level of comfort from a privacy point of view.

Content captured on the Stories must be seen on your smartphone before you make the decision to share it.

You get your first glimpse at the captured content once you synchronise the glasses with Facebook Views. Photos are acceptable but not comparable to those you capture with a premium smartphone. Videos are good quality too. The video stabilisation performed well when riding a bike or running.

I loved using them when playing with the family at the park and creating video of the moment. Using a phone to take a photo usually pulls you out of the moment, Stories allows you to stay in it. Your kids will appreciate it.

Facebook Views allows you to edit clips and create a montage of your day or a group of moments captured. You can share photos or videos to any social media platform, your email client, messaging apps or save them to your library.

You are not restricted in what you can do with the content but you can’t synchronise the Stories straight to a computer or directly to a social platform.

Battery life is estimated at around three days with moderate use but heavily depends on what you do with the glasses.

I had no problem getting through three days while using all features.

Up to 500 photos or 35 videos can be stored on the Stories before you’ll need to synchronise the glasses back to your smartphone and upload the media.

At $449 the Ray-Ban Stories are around $200 more than non-smart versions of the same sunglasses. There will be price differences when you factor in prescription lenses or transition lenses.

The Ray-Ban Stories isn’t the most high tech gadget I’ve seen. It is version one and Facebook’s partnership with Ray-Ban will help the public accept the smart glasses.

However privacy is ever present as a potential issue. It would be easy to imagine glasses like these conducting facial recognition of people you meet, or identifying products you view in a store.

I’ll be watching closely to see how this latest attempt at smart glasses works out but Facebook is off to a great start.

Geoff Quattromani is the founder of OfficeforTomorrow.com and News Corp contributor. Continue the conversation with Geoff on Twitter at @GQuattromani.