Meta's next smart glasses get a display and an $800 price tag

Meta is getting ready to put a real screen in front of your eyes.

According to Bloomberg, the company plans to unveil its next-generation smart glasses, codenamed Hypernova, this September. The biggest upgrade over the hit Ray-Ban series is the addition of an actual heads-up display.

Meta originally planned to price Hypernova at $1,000 or more, but reportedly decided to drop the starting price to $800, before adding prescription lenses or custom styles.

A built-in screen and a wrist controller

Unlike current smart glasses that rely entirely on audio and voice, Hypernova brings visual feedback into the mix.

According to reports, the glasses feature a screen embedded into one of the lenses to show apps and alert notifications. To navigate the interface, Meta is pairing the headset with a specialized wrist accessory designed for device control.

Rumors also point to a smartphone-grade camera setup and voice-activated AI queries. Frederick Stanbrell, head of wearables for EMEA at IDC, told CNET that Hypernova could very well represent the first generation of hardware Mark Zuckerberg envisions to eventually replace smartphones.

While Hypernova still relies on a tethered phone for now, the form factor clearly points toward an independent post-phone future.

The smart glasses race heats up

Meta’s push into displays comes on the heels of major retail momentum.

EssilorLuxottica, Meta’s partner for Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses, announced in July that Ray-Ban Meta shipments surged over 200% in the first half of the year. Current Ray-Ban models retail between $200 and $400, while Oakley models reach up to $500.

EssilorLuxottica leadership publicly called glasses the next computing platform where AI, sensory technology, and health infrastructure will converge.

Competition is already lining up. In May, Google announced partnerships with eyewear labels Gentle Monster and Warby Parker to build glasses powered by Android XR and its Gemini AI, aiming for an assistant that sees what users see.

Why it matters

We think Hypernova represents Meta’s transition from smart audio frames to real augmented reality computing. For consumers, an $800 entry point is a steep jump from the $300 Ray-Bans, making this a device targeted squarely at early adopters and developers rather than everyday buyers looking for stylish shades.

From an industry perspective, trimming the price from $1,000 down to $800 shows Meta knows it has to keep hardware pricing somewhat grounded while introducing unproven form factors like wristband controllers. By shipping a heads-up screen this September, Meta puts immense pressure on Google’s Android XR partners to prove their ecosystem can deliver real commercial hardware instead of concept partnerships.

However, single-lens displays and multi-device wrist setups carry real usability risks. Proving that glanceable notifications on your face are worth three times the price of a standard pair of audio glasses will be Meta’s biggest challenge yet.