Snap Specs: Hands-on with Snap's $2,195 AR Glasses
Snap spent over five years developing its first consumer AR glasses, dubbed Specs, featuring a chunky standalone design and a $2,195 price tag.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Snap is launching its first consumer AR glasses, named Specs, this fall.
- The device carries a price tag of $2,195 and over half a decade of development.
- Specs feature a bulky standalone design packed with onboard computing hardware.
- Advanced hand-tracking technology enables users to interact with virtual objects naturally.
After spending more than half a decade developing the technology, Snap is finally preparing to launch its first pair of augmented reality glasses built for everyday consumers. Dubbed Specs, the device is slated to arrive sometime this fall, following two previous generations of developer-only hardware.
Jay Peters, a senior reporter at The Verge, tested the new glasses firsthand at Snap's offices. His favorite experience was playing a virtual game of dominoes across a table with a Snap employee wearing the same chunky frames. Both users could pinch to select digital tiles and place them onto a real table, creating a shared digital experience unlike anything seen in typical VR headsets or smart glasses.
Visually, the Specs make a bold statement with large black frames available in two lens sizes: 47mm and 52mm. Unlike Meta's Ray-Bans, nobody will mistake these for ordinary glasses. The chunky build is necessary to house all the internal hardware required to function as a standalone computer, meaning they operate entirely untethered from a smartphone, compute puck, or external battery.
"It was unlike anything I’ve tried in other VR headsets or smart glasses — the ability to sit with another person and have a shared digital experience."
Jay Peters, The Verge
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Despite their bulky appearance, the Specs are surprisingly not as heavy as they look. While heavier than standard everyday eyewear, they do not drag down the face like a full-featured VR headset. They feel sturdy enough to stay on during normal walking, though they did cause a slight sag on the reporter's ears during testing.
Snap's push into standalone consumer AR glasses represents a strategic bid to untether itself from the constraints of app store monopolies and establish its own primary computing platform. However, the high price point and conspicuous form factor remain major hurdles for mass market adoption.
Operating the Specs combines elements of smart glasses and VR headsets. Users view menus, app windows, and virtual lenses overlaid onto the real world through waveguide displays capable of showing 16 million colors with high-resolution visuals. Built-in hand-tracking allows users to pinch and drag interface elements or even snap their fingers to capture photos via Snapchat.
Source: The Verge
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