The Ray-Ban Stories Wayfarer are the first smart glasses from Facebook (company now called Meta) to arrive in collaboration with Ray-Ban.

Unfortunately, although the Ray-Ban Stories look pretty much like any other glasses and have built-in technology, they are very unintelligent although they are useful.

Regular Ray-Ban glasses design

Ray-Ban Stories lenses have a traditional design and the difference comes through two cameras, they have a power button next to the hinge, a button on the right leg of the glasses, includes microphones, a speaker and indicative LED lights . On the right leg it also has a section that detects touch gestures with which you control the volume and also serves to pause or play music. These gestures work relatively well, but I had more trouble pausing and playing music than controlling the volume. In addition, that touch section also allows you to answer calls.

The glasses are lightweight and it's not as easy to see that they are a bit more than traditional lenses, although they also feel a bit very cheap plastic.

It is possible that this was a choice to allow technology to be integrated without impacting its weight as much.

Not so smart smart glasses

They are not those augmented reality lenses that Mark Zuckerberg presented as a goal in F8 2016. They have nothing in augmented reality, simply their technological function that is focused on their cameras that can take photos and record video, while their microphones allow activating these same functions if you don't want to use the button on the right leg and have speakers that work like a Bluetooth headset.

Apart from this, the Ray-Ban Stories glasses from Facebook do not offer anything else, at least for the moment.

They do not have lenses that allow you to view something digitally, their detection of voice commands does not offer functions of a virtual assistant or similar and their cameras do not detect physical objects, but only capture them.

Its usefulness and quality of photos, video and sound

Despite these limitations and little intelligence, they are useful and I have enjoyed the use they offer.

The main utility that Ray-Ban Stories offer is the ability to capture photos or video at virtually any time. You can do this by pressing the button on the leg or right arm of the glasses. Holding it down takes a photo a second or two later, while pressing it once can record 30-second videos. You can also say "Hey Facebook" to be able to capture photos or videos with your voice, but for now it does not work when saying it in Spanish. The company says this works thanks to Facebook Assistant, but beyond that, it is useless today. This means that it does not work like Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa because it does not have the ability to answer any questions.

As for the sound, the glasses include two speakers, one on each leg and the sound quality is relatively good considering that they are not headphones.

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In public places, the Facebook and Ray-Ban glasses reproduce enough volume power to hear it, but the louder the experience the worse.

Similarly, the glasses have microphones that allow them to detect your voice not only for commands, but also to be able to talk on the phone like a Bluetooth headset.

The glasses correctly detect your voice, but if there is a lot of external noise, the quality drops and your voice begins to be heard further away and with less clarity.

In case you were wondering, the people near you can hear what you hear because it is a totally open design, but they do not hear it with as much clarity or power.

Cameras

The lenses of Facebook and Ray-Ban have two 5 megapixel cameras and I was honestly a bit surprised by the quality they offer for taking photos and video, but they are not close to replacing the cameras that we find in high-end cell phones.

Something to keep in mind is that you don't have a screen either, so you're not entirely sure what you're capturing in photos and video.

Logically it is what is in front of you, but you do not know exactly the limits and we often look without turning our heads enough to be totally in front.

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The sound you record is fine too, but it can vary a lot depending on external noise and whether or not it's windy when you're outdoors, for example.

Photos and videos are downloaded through the Facebook View app on your cell phone and can be downloaded manually or automatically.

The app allows you to slightly edit the photos and videos, as well as allowing you to share them to different apps, not just Facebook.

What did I like the most? 

The glasses allow you to capture photos and videos without necessarily using your hands and this helps you not miss important or special moments because you do not have your cell phone or simply because your hands are full.

Also, the sound quality it offers is very good despite the fact that you are not using headphones directly, but simply the speakers on the legs of the glasses are directed towards your ears.

With this open design, other people can hear what you are playing, but it is not loud enough to disturb others or to effectively share what you are listening to with others.

Battery life

As you would expect, the battery life is not necessarily that of a cell phone, but logically it varies a lot depending on your use.

I often managed to go from 100 to 60 or 50 percent in an hour by taking multiple photos and videos, as well as making one or two calls.

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The case allows you to easily recharge them up to 3 full times.

However, I would recommend remembering to turn them off whenever you stop using them because in my experience they stayed on in the case and when I was going to use them they had almost no battery, or were completely discharged if I did not use them for a few days.

Privacy

The glasses have LED lights to show us to not only show us that a photo or video is being captured, but also to alert other people.

In order to use the Ray-Ban Stories you need the Facebook View app on your cell phone.

You pair the glasses as if they were Bluetooth devices and you need to use your Facebook account to configure and use them.

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This can be a problem for many due to the different controversies that surround Facebook, but at least the app allows you to request that your voice commands not be stored, just as you can request not to share usage data.

Price

The price of the Ray-Ban Stories Wayfarer, as is its official name, is USD $ 299.

conclusion

The Facebook Ray-Ban Stories are interesting lenses that manage to capture relatively good photos and videos at any time without using your hands.

In addition, these glasses work as a Bluetooth headset for listening to music, podcasts or for use in calls.

Beyond this, they are simply other Ray-Ban glasses with a plastic that feels a bit cheaper than many I have seen from the company, possibly to be able to make them light.

I think that these glasses are simply an initial test of Facebook towards the virtual reality that was imagined in 2016 and that they are an important part of the metaverse concept that the company is now betting on in a significant way.

However, there are still years to go before we can have that kind of visualized product that allows us to really connect to the metaverse and the first advances in this aspect have to come through the virtual reality glasses that the company has already developed for several years.

For now, the Ray-Ban Stories are useful, but they are not necessary or close to replacing your cell phone or really extending its operation, but beyond that I think that the main concern of many is in privacy as it has become customary with any company product.

For more recommendations, deals and reviews read CNN Underscored in Spanish.

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