Racing against your PR while juggling a phone, fitness watch, and tangled earbuds shouldn’t define modern workouts. The new Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses eliminate that chaos, consolidating everything you need into performance eyewear that actually works.
Battery and Durability Built for Distance
These glasses pack serious endurance with nine hours of mixed use and six hours of continuous music playback. The charging case adds another 36 hours, while quick charging hits 50% in just 20 minutes. More importantly, the IP67 rating makes them the most durable smart glasses Meta has ever produced—finally matching the punishment runners and cyclists dish out daily. Rain, sweat, and dust become irrelevant concerns.
Audio That Cuts Through Wind
Open-ear speakers pump out audio 6dB louder than the Oakley Meta HSTN, cutting through wind noise and traffic. The five-microphone array suppresses background chaos while you bark voice commands at Meta AI. You can check your Strava segment progress or ask for your current heart rate without breaking stride. The wraparound design stays put under helmets, solving the age-old cycling problem of glasses that shift during climbs.
Real-Time Stats Without Phone Fumbling
The programmable button lets you trigger custom AI prompts mid-workout—asking for split times, elevation gain, or calories burned without touching your phone. Picture asking “Meta, what’s my average power for this climb?” while grinding up a hill. The 12MP ultra-wide camera captures 3K video with workout stats overlaid directly onto footage, perfect for those post-ride Instagram stories that actually show your suffering. With 32GB of storage, you can document entire training blocks without worrying about space.
Premium Price for Premium Performance
Launching October 21 across major international markets, the Vanguard costs $499—positioning it squarely in premium sports eyewear territory alongside high-end Garmin Varia or Wahoo ELEMNT pricing. That puts it with premium Oakley racing frames, but with AI integration that transforms how you interact with training data. For athletes who already spend serious money on power meters and GPS computers, adding smart glasses to the mix makes financial sense. The real question is whether Meta’s software can match Oakley’s optical heritage in extreme training conditions.
