The year is 2023, and much has changed since the dark ages of the early 2000s. There are far fewer boy bands, and some cars are electric. Perhaps most importantly, glasses are no longer just glasses.
Camera glasses have existed for some time now, but they’ve really begun to take off as of late. They serve the same purpose as action cameras, like a GoPro, but don’t require any special attachment mechanisms to keep on your head.
They might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of decluttering, but they sure beat lugging around a digital camera.
What You Should Know About Camera Glasses
- Capable of capturing both photos and videos
- Helps avoid the distraction of holding a camera (or phone)
- Typically contain an LED light to indicate recording
- Various designs, including some indistinguishable from regular glasses
- Requires phone to transfer content
There aren’t too many camera glasses on the market, but with their growing popularity, we expect much to come over the next several years. If you’re looking to capture memories from a first-person perspective, try out a pair today!
The Best Camera Glasses of 2023: At a Glance
Ray-Ban Stories
Coolest Feature: The camera quality is pretty good, plus it helps that it’s fashionable as well.
Review: Ray-Ban Stories Dish Up Fashionable First-Person Storytelling
Key Features
- 60 second maximum video recording limit
- 1184 x 1184 30fps video resolution
- 2592 x 1944 image resolution
- Dual 5-megapixel cameras
- Two open-air speakers
- Three microphone array
Why We Chose It: As far as camera glasses go, the Ray-Ban Stories are, if nothing else, the best option for people who want their glasses to look like glasses. The Wayfarer is a timeless style that complements various aesthetics, from hipster to business casual.
SPY’s Tech Editor, John Velasco, said that the Ray-Ban Stories are unique for offering a distracted-free way of capturing life events. One simple press of a button is all that it requires to start recording. We really were impressed by its high dynamic range, audio clarity, and crisp details on sunny days.
The Ray-Ban Stories boast a solid 6-hour battery life, more than enough to capture memories on a day trip, and come with a case that can charge them three times over. We also appreciate the voice assistant integration that allowed us to start recording by speaking voice commands.
Ray-Ban’s Stories glasses also fall into the Bluetooth sunglasses category. They have an impressive open-air speaker design that gives you earbud-level performance, while allowing you enough awareness of the sounds in the world around you.
If you want your sunglasses to help you make calls or listen to some tunes, the Ray-Ban Stories are equipped to handle them while you’re taking a causal walk outside or driving in your car.
Snap Spectacles 3
Coolest Feature Besides the quirky style that’s sure to garner attention, it shoots video at a faster rate of 60 FPS (frames per second).
Read More: We’re Calling It, Pop-Up Sunglasses Are Cool Again
Key Features
- Dual HD cameras
- Four built-in high-fidelity microphones
- Charging case for up to four charges
- 3D photo and video recording at 60fps
- 1216 x 1216 video resolution
- 1728 x 1729 photo resolution
Why We Chose It: Next, we have Snapchat’s signature camera glasses, the Snap Spectacles 3. These glasses won’t fool anybody, but they’re actually pretty stylish in their own way and will undoubtedly get you noticed. The Snap Spectacles come with several features that are even more unique than how they look.
The Snap Spectacles 3’s flagship feature is the 3D effects and viewing capabilities, allowing you and your friends to enjoy a POV ‘snapsterpiece’ with the included viewer or through VR.
The Spectacles come with high-fidelity microphones and dual HD cameras that allow you to record photos and videos at an impressive 60 FPS. This is important because it’s one of the few to capture at this faster rate, offering smoother looking footage with a lot of motion. For video editors, this gives them the ability to be more creative by slowing down the footage later in post.
Also included is a charging kit consisting of a cable and a case for charging on the go.
Oho Sunshine Camera Glasses
Why We Chose It: You’ll be able to use it outside in the rain because of its water-resistant construction.
Read More: The Best Bluetooth Sunglasses Prove We’re Living in the Future
Key Features
- One 1080p HD camera between the eyes
- Impact resistant
- Water-proof
- 1920 x 1080 photo/video resolution
The Oho Sunshine camera glasses are our pick for POV photographers on a budget. At less than half the cost of the Snap Spectacles 3, the Oho Sunshine glasses might not have all the frills, but they’re fantastic in their own right.
These camera glasses from Oho are ideal for surfers, bikers, or anyone using them in high-intensity situations. They’re the first sunglasses in the world to receive an IP66 waterproof rating and feature impact-resistant frames and lenses. The battery life leaves a bit to be desired, with only 60 minutes of recording time per charge. Fortunately, the Oho Sunshine camera glasses can record while charging on a power bank.
Additional features of the Sunshine camera glasses include 1080p Ultra-HD video recording, a simple one-button operation, and 32 GB of built-in storage capable of holding about five hours of video.
When you’re done recording, you’re obviously going to want to take a look at your new photos and videos. You can upload them to a cloud service like Shutterfly, iCloud, or Facebook Memories; you also have the option of storing them on a hard drive or a memory card.
How We Chose The Best Camera Glasses: About Our Testing Process
Even though the selections are largely limited, we looked at the following areas below when ranking the best camera glasses of 2023.
- Camera: The quality matters. We gave points to camera glasses that offered sharper photos and videos, did a better job at stabilizing footage, and had frame rates that were 30fps at the minimum.
- Design: They shouldn’t look geeky or feel cheap. That’s why we value the way they look because you should look cool while wearing one.
- Ease of use: Capturing content shouldn’t be a chore, which is it’s wonderful when camera glasses are intuitive to use. Furthermore, we also looked at how they transferred the content to another device.
What Are The Different Kinds of Enhanced Glasses?
Nowadays, your glasses can do anything from playing music to taking pictures. It’s a practical and stylish way to get more function out of your eyewear, but where should you start? There are four subcategories of enhanced glasses:
- Bluetooth Glasses: They primarily allow you to listen to music or make phone calls with speakers built into the frames.
- Camera Glasses: There’s a camera integrated somewhere in the frames of the glasses to let you take photos and videos.
- Augmented Real (AR) Glasses: This emerging category is still relatively new, but growing for the utility that augmented reality glasses promise — virtual monitors generated and turn-by-turn navigation instructions generated in front of you. They’re often bulkier and require additional power.
- Smart Glasses: These glasses combine many features of the three listed above, but they’re more distinct for providing instant access to voice assistants like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant.