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Snap finally debuts its long-awaited AR glasses, Specs, and, oof, they aren’t cheap
At a spatial AI convention in Long Beach on Tuesday, Snap unveiled its long-awaited consumer smart glasses, Specs. Priced at $2,195, they are available for preorder on June 16 with a $200 refundable deposit, and are expected to ship this fall in the U.S., the U.K., and France. This price places them above most Meta Ray-Bans (starting at $350) but below the Apple Vision Pro ($3,500). Snap has been developing Specs for over a decade, but its last consumer version was in 2019; subsequent iterations were developer-only. Earlier this year, Snap spun off a new company to focus on bringing the product to market. Visually, Specs resembles slightly bulkier goggles, with all computing on the device—no puck or tether. It runs on two Snapdragon processors, offers up to four hours of continuous battery life, and a charging case extends that to 20 hours. Features include games with shared multiplayer via “EyeConnect” (activated by eye contact), video viewing (51-degree field of view, 16 million colors), point-of-view recording, internet browsing, productivity apps, and email. A standout feature is contextual AI: look at an object and ask about it to pull up information. The glasses come in two sizes: a 47mm model weighing 132 grams and a 52mm model weighing 136 grams, heavier than Meta’s Ray-Bans but far lighter than the Apple Vision Pro. Privacy protections include a built-in LED light that glows while recording, and user control over data storage. Snap’s earlier demo in Las Vegas showed fun apps and impressive AI, but the device was heavy and ran hot; the final version appears slimmer. Specs enters a saturated market led by Meta and joined by Google, aiming at tech enthusiasts, developers, and studios with deep pockets. The high price reflects the industry’s ongoing struggle to turn curiosity into profit; even Meta loses money on AR. Snap faces its own challenges: a wobbling stock, declining North American user engagement, and lack of consistent profitability, alongside recent layoffs. Whether Specs can turn this around remains to be seen.