Snap Launches $2,195 'Specs' Augmented Reality Glasses

[kingtj1971]

I'm reading all these really negative comments just based on the looks of the glasses. But I'm just sitting here, amazed that they're up to 4 hours of claimed battery life with the whole unit contained inside the frames of the glasses themselves! To me, this is serious progress.

I mean, if these really work as claimed? Apple and others should be concerned. They're nowhere near this close to this type of product. The people who'd buy and wear a pair of these probably don't intersect with people concerned mostly with looks/fashion either. They sure look far more comfortable to wear than Vision Pro goggles.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

> * Battery only lasts 4 hours.
> * Connect them to USB-C.

Doesn't mention why anyone would ever want to wear them.

Seems dead on arrival to me, before we even talk about the price.

> automatic tinting for different lighting conditions.

That might be appealing.

Actually... if someone wanted to offer $400 prescription glasses with auto-tinting that was much faster and worked in a wider variety of lighting conditions, I'd be willing to accept a trade-off of them having a rechargable battery that that only lasts ~16 hours that I have to charge at night, with the condition that they have to work like normal prescription glasses whenever the battery is dead.

 

[jdawgnoonan]

Those make Bono's glasses in the the video for "The Fly" not look ridiculous. I would personally be embarrassed wearing something that looked like that even if I did not think that smart glasses are basically rude to wear in public.

 

[Brother Cavil]

I’m getting flashbacks to the mid-80s nerd glasses my parents would buy me.

Gotta start somewhere!

 

[ThailandToo]

If this was in place of Apple’s Vision Pro, they wouldn’t be able to make enough of them as they would sell out so fast. I want a computer that I can see through my glasses on not a gigantic thing mounted to my face. Think of Apple’s tech built into this with displays. Could be amazing and what Apple should have done instead of their $3500 flop that proves the future is cool by not small enough for now.

 

[Art Mark]

Ahhh, like the world doesn't already move fast enough around us, if bikes aren't trying to mow us all down, and unexpected speed changes, and during all this you want me paying attention to an overlay of dynamic information? Really? This is the future they have planned? Look, maybe it's great, but seriously, in a city, any big city, we we want people distracted by images and info on their glasses? Great for pick pockets I would guess.

 

[Art Mark]

I've never watched a Snap presentation. What a snooze, but the product is actually quite cool. Sure, they look clunky, but so does the original Mac Portable. The price is high, but far more reasonable than Vision Pro. Specs are a far more useful product in everyday life too, so I'd say they're a pretty decent value all things considered. Vision Pro was a product for the fans, a misguided flex. Specs are actually an early adopter product.

If Snap, a much smaller company with far fewer resources, can deliver a product this impressive, why is Apple nowhere to be seen? I also wonder what Apple will bring to the table. Jobs returning to Apple with all the vastly superior NeXT software tech really catapulted Apple ahead by 20 years. For a long time it seemed like Apple was so far ahead that no one would ever catch them...but competitors have now closed the gap. When Apple decides to enter this market, the ecosystem will be their greatest asset, not the user experience.

Impressive? Because you can, doesn't mean you should, or that it's beneficial in any way.

 

[Brother Cavil]

Impressive? Because you can, doesn't mean you should, or that it's beneficial in any way.

Lol. The benefits of a product like this are beyond obvious.

 

[jbc25]

Is everyone just becoming incompetent everywhere? WTF is this? Why would a company like Snap release a pair of glasses that look like that in 2026? What is going on here??

 

[Art Mark]

Lol. The benefits of a product like this are beyond obvious.

List three. Three that are BEYOND obvious and can't be done with a current tech device as easily. And offer a person not spending $2,100 on glasses you play games on...

 

[tivoboy]

Those look, like s.. well you know what they look like.

I’ll go on the record now, never gonna sell.

 

[subjonas]

Impressive engineering, and this looks like it can be very useful, but keep it in private spaces. As I will continue to say, I don’t want to see anything that resembles wearable cameras in public.

 

[Brother Cavil]

List three. Three that are BEYOND obvious and can't be done with a current tech device as easily. And offer a person not spending $2,100 on glasses you play games on...

Communication. Having a conversation, being able to look the person in the eye and interact normally and have it all subtitled in real-time. This is next level Star Trek universal translator stuff, the pure scifi fantasy of my childhood that I never thought I'd see in my lifetime. Are you seriously going to tell me that you can't see the BENEFIT of this use case?!

Cooking. Being able to read a recipe, watch a video, and interact hands-free and without worrying about getting a device wet or knocking it off the counter, etc. As someone who cooks a lot and tries a lot of new recipes and techniques, I would find a product like this very useful. The cooking use case is also analogous to countless other use cases. Maybe you're learning woodworking and you can follow a video as you make the cuts, etc. Being able to keep your eyes on something while following an instructional video is a huge benefit across the board.

Entertainment. Being able to wear a 10' movie screen anywhere. Immersive gaming if that's your thing. Entertainment use cases are beyond obvious and a huge improvement over a 2D screen...just as a 2D screen offered many huge improvements over a board game in a box.

Privacy. Being able to wear one's screen ensures that no one else sees what is happening. No one can look over your shoulder and see what's on your screen.

Get off my lawn!

 

[duervo]

Thought I was reading an Onion article.

Those are some ugly glasses. Yikes.

 

[MarkNewton2023]

Snap today unveiled Specs, a pair of augmented reality glasses that it describes as a wearable computer built into a pair of see-through glasses.

Specs are made from Swiss TR90 polymer that Snap suggests is "plastic titanium" because of its light weight and durability. The glasses are light enough to be "worn for hours" and two sizes are available. The 47mm frame weighs 132 grams (4.7 ounces), while the 52mm frame weighs 136 grams (4.8 ounces). Prescription lenses can be easily inserted and swapped out for sharing glasses with friends and family.

The AR glasses include cameras and sensors that feed data to AI with contextual understanding. There are two full-color high-resolution cameras, two infrared computer vision cameras, and 6-axis IMUs for inertial sensing. There are two Snapdragon chips inside, with one processor running the lenses, and the other handling computer vision.

Specs have a 51-degree field of view and a stereo waveguide display with automatic tinting for different lighting conditions. The device uses liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) miniature projectors to project images to the display. Snap compares the field-of-view to a 115-inch screen viewed from 10 feet.

Stereo speakers are included for spatial audio, and there's a microphone array for audio input. The glasses have hand tracking capabilities for gesture control, along with voice recognition and support for natural voice commands.

Specs last for up to four hours with mixed use, and there is a custom magnetic charging cable that can charge the glasses while they're being worn. They come with a charging case that supports 20 hours of use. Prior-generation Spectacles from Snap that were limited to developers only offered 45 minutes of battery.

Specs can be used for watching content like movies, videos, and TV shows, casting to a screen, writing on a whiteboard, and using the myriad existing Snapchat lenses. Specs can also connect to a computer, phone, or gaming system over USB-C to be used as a display.

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel introduced the Specs at AWE USA 2026 and showed some of the experiences developers have created with Snap's Lens Studio. Since Specs can use lenses developed for Snapchat, there are already options for placing virtual items, playing mini games, getting DIY help, and more.

Lens Studio is getting agentic development for lenses, and there are developer integrations for Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor. Lenses are able to rely on APIs from OpenAI and Gemini for AI augmented reality experiences.

Specs are priced at $2,195 with a refundable $200 deposit, and they can be pre-ordered today. They're set to launch later this fall in the U.S., UK, and France.

Snap is beating multiple other tech companies to market with AR glasses, including Apple. Apple is developing augmented reality smart glasses with lenses, but the product won't launch for several more years. Apple's first glasses, which will be limited to AI capabilities and no built-in display, won't launch until late 2027.

Article Link: Snap Launches $2,195 'Specs' Augmented Reality Glasses

These glasses are significantly better than Vision Pro that has very very gigantic form and design that looks ridiculous to wear in public places like wearing diving goggles. These Spec glasses are more natural to wear in public places and much much better than ridiculous giant Vision Pro goggles but too thick for my taste. People who like to wear thick glasses may like this product. The Spec is also fashionable. I would wait for a thinner version of these glasses, which Apple may deliver. The thinnest is better for me.

 

[TheBeverage]

This makes infinitely more sense to me than all the pairs without a screen, at least.

 

[Astuces iOS]

Whatever they can do, I call them big piece of **** made by doomscrollers!

 

[Jean Claude]

I was fast forwarding the video a bit to get to the point ... stopped on the initial demo ... but then was confused. "Wait ... is this footage from an earlier beta, like maybe 5 years ago?" No ... this is current??? Wow, what an absolute clunky mess! Seriously, everything about this product, from the UI to the hardware form factor, looks like a prototype Apple would have discarded years ago. If this is the future of AR, there's not much of a future at all IMO.....

 

[d-klumpp]

Really??? I immediately found these glasses appealing on fashionable appearance alone, thus seemingly separating me from most all the other MR comments. I'd much prefer to wear these glasses than a sad hoodie that passes for tech fashion. And they don't even seem that expensive if you're accustomed to nice frames.

 

[Brother Cavil]

I was fast forwarding the video a bit to get to the point ... stopped on the initial demo ... but then was confused. "Wait ... is this footage from an earlier beta, like maybe 5 years ago?" No ... this is current??? Wow, what an absolute clunky mess! Seriously, everything about this product, from the UI to the hardware form factor, looks like a prototype Apple would have discarded years ago. If this is the future of AR, there's not much of a future at all IMO.....

 

[Happy_John]

Communication. Having a conversation, being able to look the person in the eye and interact normally and have it all subtitled in real-time. This is next level Star Trek universal translator stuff, the pure scifi fantasy of my childhood that I never thought I'd see in my lifetime. Are you seriously going to tell me that you can't see the BENEFIT of this use case?!

Alternative - earbuds with audio translation

Cooking. Being able to read a recipe, watch a video, and interact hands-free and without worrying about getting a device wet or knocking it off the counter, etc. As someone who cooks a lot and tries a lot of new recipes and techniques, I would find a product like this very useful. The cooking use case is also analogous to countless other use cases. Maybe you're learning woodworking and you can follow a video as you make the cuts, etc. Being able to keep your eyes on something while following an instructional video is a huge benefit across the board.

Alternative - prop up a tablet / phone on the counter beside you.

Entertainment. Being able to wear a 10' movie screen anywhere. Immersive gaming if that's your thing. Entertainment use cases are beyond obvious and a huge improvement over a 2D screen...just as a 2D screen offered many huge improvements over a board game in a box.

Alternative - If you simply want a big screen experience, there are far cheaper glasses /goggles with far better resolution.

Privacy. Being able to wear one's screen ensures that no one else sees what is happening. No one can look over your shoulder and see what's on your screen.

Alternative - go somewhere more private where there aren"t people hovering over your shoulder.

Get off my lawn!

But you're not on your private lawn. You're in a public space. If you are in a public space, the space is not for you, and you can't demand other people act according only to your wishes. Because .... it's a public space. It's unreasonable to expect high levels of privacy when you're in public. Just go somewhere more private. It's no different to making a phone call on your mobile phone - if you don't want people to overhear your conversation, don't have that phone conversation around other people. The onus is on you, not on others.

 

[Jean Claude]

Impressive engineering, and this looks like it can be very useful, but keep it in private spaces. As I will continue to say, I don’t want to see anything that resembles wearable cameras in public.

Dude, you're already surrounded by cameras in public ... no one cares.....

 

[ignatius345]

When a hand-selected, well-paid model looks like a doofus while wearing them, what do you think us regular doofuses will look like wearing them? Hint: not a model.

 

[ignatius345]

Dude, you're already surrounded by cameras in public ... no one cares.....

You say that now, but wait until someone doxes you walking up the dairy aisle of a g-d Kroger. Also, I assume you're not a woman on the wrong end of the stalking machine.

Remember how we all shamed and shunned Google Glass users? This needs to keep happening.

 

[Brother Cavil]

Really??? I immediately found these glasses appealing on fashionable appearance alone, thus seemingly separating me from most all the other MR comments. I'd much prefer to wear these glasses than a sad hoodie that passes for tech fashion. And they don't even seem that expensive if you're accustomed to nice frames.

I think this speaks to just how weirdly entitled people have become. What would be satisfactory, much less amazing? In a perfect sci-fi utopia where anything is possible, sure, these are ugly. But in today's REALITY they're pretty amazing.

I scrubbed through the video because it was a snooze, but watched a few segments. I've never used a Snap product. The initial developer highlight reel looked very rudimentary, but once the new product was introduced and demoed, the progress was quite impressive. Being able to pack that much tech into those frames with several hours of battery life is no small accomplishment. A product like this was pure fantasy even a decade ago.

I don't get the negativity. I completely understand why people (myself included) thought Vision Pro was a total fail but watching that Snap demo, I actually became more convinced that spatial computing is the future.