Meta just dropped the price on its original Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses to a record-breaking $238.99, making this Black Friday the perfect time to snag AI-powered eyewear that's nearly identical to the newer Gen 2 model. The 20% discount across Amazon, Best Buy, and Target puts cutting-edge wearable tech within reach for mainstream consumers.
Meta just made its smartest wearable accessible to the masses. The company's Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are hitting their lowest price ever at $238.99, down from $299, as retailers roll out their most aggressive Black Friday deals. The timing couldn't be better - just weeks after Meta launched the Gen 2 model, consumers can now grab the original for 20% less.
Here's the kicker: you're not missing much by going with the older model. Both generations pack the same 12-megapixel camera, five-microphone array, and AI-powered features that made these glasses a surprise hit when they launched in 2023. You can still snap photos with voice commands, livestream to Instagram, or ask Meta AI to translate street signs in real-time across Spanish, Italian, French, and other languages.
The deal is hitting simultaneously across Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, suggesting coordinated holiday pricing that likely won't last past Cyber Monday. For context, these glasses rarely drop below $270, making the current $238.99 price point genuinely remarkable for a product that was $299 just months ago.
What makes this deal particularly smart is the software story. Meta confirmed that upcoming features rolling out to Gen 2 - including slo-mo video recording, hyperlapse modes, and the new "conversation focus" audio enhancement - will also reach the original model through software updates scheduled for fall 2025. The company's also expanding real-time translation to include German and Portuguese, according to internal roadmaps shared at Meta Connect.
The only meaningful upgrade in Gen 2 is battery life. The newer model delivers eight hours of continuous use compared to four hours on the original, plus the charging case provides two full days of additional runtime versus 32 hours on Gen 1. For most users who aren't recording hours of video daily, the original's battery performance remains perfectly adequate.
Retail analysts are calling this Meta's bid to expand smart glasses beyond early adopters. The $238 price point puts Ray-Ban Meta glasses in direct competition with premium traditional sunglasses while adding legitimate AI capabilities. Unlike previous smart glasses that felt gimmicky, these deliver practical features like hands-free photo capture, navigation assistance, and real-time translation that solve actual problems.
The competitive landscape makes this deal even more significant. Apple continues developing its own smart glasses, while Google has hinted at returning to the category after Google Glass. By pricing aggressively during Black Friday, Meta is clearly trying to establish market leadership before larger tech rivals enter with competing products.
For shoppers considering the jump to smart glasses, the original Ray-Ban Meta represents the sweet spot between price and functionality. You're getting the full AI experience, quality Ray-Ban build, and future software updates that'll keep these glasses competitive for years. The $60 savings over retail pricing makes this feel less like an experimental purchase and more like a genuine value play in the premium eyewear market.
This Black Friday deal represents the best opportunity yet to experience AI-powered smart glasses without paying early-adopter prices. With identical core features to the Gen 2 model and guaranteed software updates through 2025, the original Ray-Ban Meta glasses at $238.99 offer genuine value in an emerging product category. For anyone curious about the future of wearable AI, this price makes the jump from curiosity to ownership surprisingly easy.
