Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stumbled through the live debut of the company’s latest line of Ray-Ban smart glasses on Wednesday, as technical glitches derailed his on-stage demo and undercut the launch of the $800 flagship model.
The Facebook founder’s big demo at Meta Connect 2025 went off the rails Wednesday when the $800 Ray-Ban Display glasses repeatedly misfired on stage, forcing Zuckerberg to blame “bad Wi-Fi” as the audience laughed.
Zuckerberg was on stage and joined virtually by chef Jack Mancuso, who asked the glasses’ AI for step-by-step help making a Korean-inspired steak sauce. Instead, the AI wrongly assumed ingredients had already been combined, jumped steps and repeated the error when he tried to restart.
“The irony of all this whole thing is that you spend years making technology and then the Wi-Fi on the day kinda… catches you,” Zuckerberg chuckled, telling the crowd “it’s all good.”
It wasn’t. Later, when he tried to answer a video call using a neural wristband paired with the glasses, Zuckerberg failed multiple times before giving up — while the ringtone droned on in front of hundreds of attendees and streaming viewers.
The flop overshadowed what was meant to be Meta’s splashy unveiling of its three-tiered lineup: the flagship Ray-Ban Display ($799), an upgraded Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 ($379), and a sport-oriented Oakley Meta Vanguard ($499).
The devices promise hands-free photos, real-time translation, and Meta AI–powered assistance, with the Display model featuring the company’s first consumer lens-integrated screen.
All three go on sale Sept. 30.
Despite Zuckerberg’s stage struggles, early reviewers praised the Display glasses as the best of their kind, with one tech writer saying they “feel like the future.”
The $799 Ray-Ban Display is Meta’s first pair of consumer glasses with a see-through, high-resolution display built directly into the lens — bright enough to shine at 5,000 nits and sharp at 42 pixels per degree.
The tiny screen can beam texts, maps, and images into your field of view, with live captions and real-time translation popping up like sci-fi subtitles.
Instead of buttons or voice prompts, the glasses are controlled by a new “Neural Band” wristband that reads muscle signals from subtle finger movements.
Battery life runs about six hours on mixed use, and the glasses come with Transitions® lenses so they work indoors and out.
The $379 Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 upgrades the original model with a 12-megapixel camera capable of 3K video at 60FPS, a doubled battery life (up to eight hours, with 48 more in the case), and classic Ray-Ban frames in new colors like Cosmic Blue and Mystic Violet.
Meta AI now “sees” through the glasses, offering real-time directions, conversation mode for noisy environments, and on-the-spot translation.
The $499 Oakley Meta Vanguard is the sport model — rugged enough for sweat and water, with an ultra-wide 12-megapixel camera, five-mic array, louder speakers, and quick charging that hits 50% in 20 minutes.
