Meta is building a 110-gram mixed reality headset

Strapping a half-pound plastic brick to your face for hours isn't anyone's idea of a fun afternoon, which is why headset makers are racing to shrink their hardware into something you might actually want to wear.

Meta is developing a smaller mixed-reality device that looks like a chunky pair of glasses, codenamed Puffin, according to a report from The Information. However, don't expect to buy one anytime soon. The project might not arrive until 2027, assuming it even survives the prototyping phase.

Shedding weight by offloading the battery

Sources told The Information that the glasses could weigh around 110 grams.

That puts Puffin right in the sweet spot between Meta's featherweight Ray-Ban smart glasses and the bulkier Quest 3 headset. While heavier than normal sunglasses, it is drastically lighter than full-blown VR headsets.

To hit that slim profile, Meta is reportedly ditching the all-in-one design. The device may rely on a tethered external pack housing both its battery and processor, taking a page straight out of Apple Vision Pro's playbook.

On the hardware front, the glasses are rumored to feature pancake lenses for a thinner silhouette, video passthrough to keep users connected to their physical surroundings, and hands-free control via hand and eye tracking.

Pivoting away from bulky headsets

This development comes right on the heels of Meta reportedly killing off La Jolla, its planned high-end mixed reality headset meant to take on Apple.

Instead of doubling down on heavier, premium headsets, Meta seems to be shifting its bets toward more comfortable form factors. Alongside Puffin, the company is also gearing up to demo its Orion true AR smart glasses at its Connect conference this September.

Why it matters

We think this pivot says everything about where mixed reality hardware is actually heading.

The real barrier for mainstream spatial computing has never been a lack of pixels; it has always been physical comfort. A 110-gram frame could finally make extended productivity sessions bearable without neck strain, though living with a tethered pocket battery pack remains an annoying trade-off.

For the broader industry, Meta canceling its high-end headset in favor of Puffin confirms that the Vision Pro-style ski goggle category is running out of steam. Moving forward, the battleground is shifting toward lightweight, wearable silhouettes.

It looks like Meta is trying to find a happy medium between basic audio frames and cumbersome headsets. That approach is smart, but with a 2027 target date, it also shows just how difficult it still is to pack frontier optics and compute into an everyday pair of glasses.