Snap unveils new AR glasses in a push to diversify its business model

Snap’s new AR glasses are chunkier than regular glasses; the frames are thick, and the lenses use Snap’s waveguide technology, along with “Liquid Crystal on Silicon micro-projectors,” to enable their AR capabilities. Inside each arm is a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The most noticeable improvement from Snap’s previous AR glasses is the larger field of view, which has nearly tripled, equivalent to having a 100-inch display in the room. Snap’s Spectacles use external cameras to track the world and offer hand tracking, similar to Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest headsets. Additionally, the battery life is extremely limited, lasting only around 45 minutes. Adding a bigger battery into frames of this size can be challenging. These glasses are clearly not meant for all-day use, and neither are Apple’s Vision Pro, which can be used for up to two hours with a tethered battery pack.

Snap claims the AR glasses can produce better visuals and come with a redesigned software operating system, dubbed Snap OS. Other improvements include a new user interface, which Snap says can be controlled with hand gestures and voice commands. The main menu can be pulled up in the palm of one hand, and users can simply tap on the corresponding icon to perform actions such as closing an app or returning to the lens explorer.

Like Meta, Snap has been trying for years to break into consumer hardware. (Image credit: Snap Inc.)

Snap’s latest AR glasses aren’t its first hardware product. The company has a history of experimenting with hardware and has launched smart glasses under the brand name Spectacles. However, the company has struggled to make money from selling hardware. It first debuted a pair of smart glasses in 2016; the $130 device made it easy for users to capture short, first-person videos that they could post on Snapchat. However, the product failed, and the company had to write down $40 million due to losses from unsold Spectacles. Snap once again tried to sell new Spectacles smart glasses in 2019—this time a more premium version for $380—but that too didn’t take off. In 2021, it unveiled new glasses with advanced AR capabilities, but instead of selling them to consumers, the company sold the device to developers, hinting that the glasses were more of a prototype than an actual consumer product. Beyond glasses, Snap also tried to sell a flying drone for $230, but that device was abruptly discontinued after just a few months.

But Snap isn’t ready to give up on hardware, especially when it comes to glasses with augmented reality capabilities. Although the market has yet to see a hit product, the competition in the AR space keeps getting stronger. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, continues to invest heavily in this area, and its recent long-term agreement with Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica shows a deepening push into smart eyewear by the tech heavyweight. The company has collaborated with Luxottica on two generations of Ray-Ban smart glasses, with the newest generation, launched in October last year, reportedly selling more than the previous one did in two years. Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses don’t offer AR; instead, they allow users to livestream what they see directly to Facebook and Instagram. Additionally, the glasses are integrated with Meta’s artificial intelligence assistant, giving owners the ability to ask for more information about what is in front of them.

The fifth generation of augmented reality (AR) Spectacles glasses will be powered by Snap’s proprietary operating system. (Image credit: Snap Inc)

Under CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Meta has invested billions of dollars in hardware. However, the company has yet to find success with its recent hardware efforts despite a decisive push to make mixed-reality headsets succeed in the market. The company’s Reality Labs unit, which is responsible for its Quest headsets and Ray-Ban glasses, posted a $4.5 billion loss in the second quarter. Meta plans to hold its Connect event next week, an annual conference where the company typically launches its new headsets. Experts say Meta sells its VR headsets at a loss, and Snap may also follow the same model if it plans to sell the new AR glasses to consumers.

Beyond Meta and Snap, Apple is also closely eyeing the AR market. Although it has yet to launch augmented reality glasses, the company did introduce the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset last year as a test to see if consumers are ready to spend $3499 on a device that does both AR and VR.

For Snap, getting into hardware is part of diversifying its business model for the future, including expanding its ad business. As of today, its core business is mostly driven by advertising sold on videos and chats within its Snapchat app, which has 850 million monthly active users. Investors are in a wait-and-see mode, observing whether Snap will succeed in hardware and if its bet on AR glasses will ever pay off