Up until now, the only way to charge the Meta Ray-Bans was to take it off and put it away in the case – this rather absurd-looking accessory sidesteps that issue by giving your specs a USB-C charging port to keep you perpetually plugged in. The price of that cool feature, however, is that you’ll look awkward as hell.
Dubbed the Metaport, this accessory gives your smart-glasses a theoretically infinite battery life, while giving you a Johnny Bravo-style raised eyebrow. It snaps to the arch if the top of your glasses, plugging into the connector points underneath the nose bridge. The accessory then routes a cable all the way to the side, with a USB-C port at your left temple. If anything, it’s a classic example of how tech and fashion are sometimes at absolute odds.
Designer: TheXuit
The Meta Ray-Bans are amazing – I can attest to the fact as an owner myself – the only problem is that they don’t last beyond 3-ish hours. Even if you aren’t using the camera or the built-in speakers, the Ray-Bans drain fairly fast, given that the batteries inside the temple stems are fairly small, and there’s honestly nothing you can do to make them bigger without making the Ray-Bans heavier or uglier.
The Metaport snaps onto your glasses, bypassing the battery issue by literally giving you a USB-C port. This means you can hook a power bank to the smart glasses, sort of emulating how the Vision Pro headset has a separate power bank that connects to the side. The problem, however, is that the Metaport’s only solution is to alter the spectacle’s silhouette – which as you can see presents a unique fashion problem. It makes you look like you’ve got a perpetual raised eyebrow.
What I always loved about the Meta Ray-Bans were the fact that they were indistinguishable from existing spectacles. The Google Glasses were hideous, Snap’s Spectacles looked half-decent, but Meta and Luxottica absolutely nailed the fusion between tech and trendiness. That being said, you really can’t cram a 2,000 mAh battery into a pair of spectacles without some crazy advancements in battery tech. The current Meta Ray-Bans have a battery that’s just a mere 154mAh, and that only gets you so far if you’re someone who wears/wants a pair of glasses that can serve you all day.
As weird as the Metaport looks, it’s so far the only practical solution out there. My only request is that the makers ditch the plastic housing for something a little more sleek, causing minimal interference to the spectacles’ overall design. The beauty of the Meta Ray-Bans was that nobody really knew you were wearing smart glasses – the Metaport, as noble as its purpose is, makes things extremely obvious.
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