Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2: First 20 Things To Do

Quick summary: These are the settings I change first on the Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer Gen 2. Almost everything lives in the Meta AI app: tap the glasses icon at the bottom right, then the gear in the top right. I’m assuming your glasses are already paired.

From the glasses screen

1. Pause notifications: there’s a pause button right on the glasses screen. You can also just say “Hey Meta, pause notifications.”
2. Live translation: tap the translation button and Continue. Hold your phone up while you talk so the other person can read along. Say “stop live translation” or tap and hold the touchpad to end it.
3. Switch between glasses: if you own more than one pair, swipe across the top to pick which one you’re setting up.

General

4. Updates: in Updates, turn on automatic updates or check manually. Updates come every month or two and add a lot of features for free.
5. Software version and serial numbers: General > About shows the version you’re on (I was on 18.2 when I made this) plus the serial numbers for the glasses and the case, which you’ll need for a return or repair.
6. Rename your glasses: tap the name at the top, type a new one and hit Save.
7. Restart, unpair or reset: the same area walks you through a force restart, unpairing and a factory reset.
8. Wi-Fi: connect the glasses to Wi-Fi so they can download updates on their own.

Meta AI

9. Turn off the wake word to save battery: this is the big one. Keeping “Hey Meta” listening all the time uses a lot of battery, and turning it off nearly doubled my battery life. You can still press and hold the side of the glasses to talk to Meta AI.
10. Wake sound and follow-ups: choose whether you hear a sound after the wake word, and whether the mic keeps listening for a moment so you can ask a follow-up question without saying “Hey Meta” again.
11. Voice and speed: in Language and voice, change how fast it talks and pick a voice. Tap play to preview them. I like the Awkwafina voice.
12. Updates over cellular: updates are small, so I let them download over cellular data.

Apps

13. Communication apps: connect WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Facebook or your phone’s messages so new messages are read out to you. You can also turn on announce calls, and set how long “pause announcements” lasts (up to 8 hours).
14. Touchpad default and music apps: under App connections, choose whether touch-and-hold opens Meta AI, starts Spotify, or does nothing. Set your default app for music, podcasts and radio.

Media and audio

15. 3K video: under Media > Video settings, change Full HD (1080p30) to High resolution (3K30). Honestly, I didn’t see a big difference in my comparisons, and 1080p lets you record more and saves battery.
16. Video length and auto import: set the default video length to 1 or 3 minutes, turn on auto import while charging so photos and videos move to your phone when the glasses are in the case, and clear the cache to free up space.
17. Audio: I keep auto-pause when you take the glasses off on, and turn adaptive volume off so they stay loud everywhere.

Device settings

18. Early access and the notification light: turn on early access (beta) if you want the newest features first. Set the notification LED brightness. I use low, and you see it in your peripheral vision.
19. Wear detection, mic and privacy: keep wear detection on, use microphone troubleshooting only if people can’t hear you, and review your voice activity log and data sharing under Glasses privacy. Early access requires sharing additional data.
20. Lock, Be My Eyes and detailed responses: phone unlock only lets the glasses be used while your phone is unlocked. That’s good protection, but it can be annoying. Be My Eyes (a free app) lets a volunteer see through your glasses to help if you’re blind or have low vision. Detailed responses makes Meta AI describe things in more detail.

Controls to know

• Swipe forward or back on the side to raise or lower the volume.
• Tap to play or pause, and double tap to answer or hang up a call.
• Press the capture button for a photo, press and hold for a video, and tap it again to stop.
• Live AI: say “Hey Meta, start live AI” and ask about what you’re looking at. Say “stop live AI” when you’re done.

If you have a bigger head, go with the larger size. If you need prescription lenses, VR Wave sells inexpensive replacement lenses (clear, tinted or sunglasses). Use code gtv10.

Get them

• Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 and Oakley Meta glasses from Meta
• VR Wave prescription lenses for Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 (code gtv10)