This week, Snap held a launch event for Specs, the $2,195 augmented reality glasses coming later this fall, and revealed a lot more about the glasses’ features.
But when Snap first announced Specs over the summer, the reaction probably didn’t go as planned.
The glasses’ design was mocked pretty hard on social media, and the price tag gave a lot of people sticker shock. But unlike Meta Ray-Bans, which start at $379 and are geared toward creators, Snap is targeting an entirely different type of customer.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel told Mashable in June that the glasses were made for early adopters and developers, not the general public. “We’re really gonna start with the developer community…And then we’ll extend beyond that, with the early adopters and folks who see a lot of value in specific use cases — whether they’re trying to improve their golf swing or whether they just want to work on the road and still bring the benefits of that large display or monitor.”
Unfortunately for Snap, the Specs launch arrives at a very awkward time.
Meta’s smart glasses have been heavily criticized over privacy concerns, and as Mashable has covered, the Meta Ray-Bans have been embraced by unscrupulous creators and creeps who harass and record strangers. That’s sparked a backlash against the technology, and the criticism has been loud enough that Apple is reportedly delaying its own smart glasses launch.
But while I definitely can’t afford Specs, I think the critics are missing the point. Snap said the company filed more than 7,000 patents in developing Specs, and I suspect that’s where the real value is.
What are Snap Specs?
Snap Specs are AR display glasses. The dual-display glasses feature proprietary liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) technology and custom optical waveguides. When watching a movie on the glasses, it will look like you’re watching a 115-inch screen about 10 feet away.
Credit: Snap
If you aren’t familiar with AR glasses, they’re fundamentally different from Meta Ray-Ban glasses, with their built-in cameras for content creation. AR glasses are more akin to virtual reality, and these devices are essentially wearable computers that can project a virtual screen into the world around you (for starters). However, unlike all other AR smart glasses, Specs aren’t tethered to a phone or laptop by a USB-C cable. They’re fully wireless.
I’ve tested about a dozen smart glasses (I’m still waiting to try Specs), but more than anything else on the market, the Specs remind me of the Apple Vision Pro, another pricey product that’s received a lot of ridicule. Apple has reportedly backed away from its plans for a Vision Pro 2, and the device never really caught on (probably because of the $3,499 price tag). However, having tested the Vision Pro, I can tell you it’s legitimately one of the coolest, most unique products I’ve ever used.
Snap repeatedly refers to the Specs as a computer, and that’s really what they are. Like the Vision Pro, you can look through the lenses to see and interact with the world around you, but you can also project a giant virtual display into your field of vision. The AR technology can also project graphics into your environment, such as real-time navigation instructions. As another example, the Specs can perform live translation in up to 60 languages, so you can maintain eye contact with someone while translated closed captions appear in your field of vision.
Mashable Light Speed
Credit: Snap
Augmented reality done well always feels a little bit like stepping into a science-fiction movie, and the Specs are in a category of one right now.
Snap faces an uphill battle in selling Specs, but does it matter?
No, I’m not talking about the price tag. Or the privacy implications. I’m talking about the vibes.
For a computer, they’re impressively light, compact, and wireless. But for glasses, they’re undeniably chunky.
Snap must have heard the complaints about the product’s design. In a video promoting its “Visionaries” collaboration with artists who designed custom apps and experiences for the glasses, two out of four of them praised the glasses’ style.
“When I looked in the mirror, I wasn’t mad at how I looked. I thought they looked good on me,” said musician Jack Harlow in the promotional video.
“The first kind of impression of these glasses is, like, so fashion,” said Jung Ho-yeon (aka Hoyeon), a South Korean model and actress.
But selling the public on the design may be a tougher sell. There’s a reason Samsung and Google are working with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker on their own smart display glasses, coming later this year.
However, in an interview with CNET’s Scott Stein, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel emphasized these glasses probably won’t be worn all day like regular glasses.
“I’d still think of them today as a computer, and it’s going to be more session-based,” Spiegel told CNET. “Almost like a pair of reading glasses you put on to get something done. But I don’t think we’re far away from lighter, less expensive and far more capable versions.”
And, as I mentioned above, Snap doesn’t seem to be targeting the average customer. They’re making a big bet that AR smart glasses will become the product of the future, and planting a flag (and more than 7,000 patents) in this space. At its September launch event, the company also announced the launch of Specs Intelligence, an agentic, personal AI tool for accomplishing everyday tasks and working across devices.
Of course, at least some people will need to buy the Specs.
To promote the new glasses, Snap hosted a big keynote-style event on Sept. 16, and the company will be opening a Specs showroom in Los Angeles where people can demo the product starting Oct. 1.
Snap said the glasses will ship later this fall in the United States, the UK, and France; you can preorder the glasses now for $2,195 with a $200 refundable deposit.
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