Oakley Meta HTSN Outperforms Ray-Ban Smart Glasses — But Meta’s Facial Recognition Plans Raise Concerns

Over the past week, tech enthusiasts and early adopters have been swapping out their Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses for the newer Oakley Meta HTSN model — and the results are striking. According to user reviews and hands-on testing, the Oakley HTSN delivers an impressive eight hours of continuous battery life, records crisp 3K video with superior stabilization, and boasts a more contemporary, athletic design that appeals to both casual users and fitness-oriented consumers. Priced at $339 during a limited-time sale, the Oakley model offers compelling value compared to its Meta-branded counterparts, which currently retail at a higher price point with comparable or inferior specs.

But while consumers celebrate the hardware upgrade, a quieter, more consequential development is unfolding within Meta’s product roadmap. As reported by The Verge, Meta is actively developing a feature internally dubbed "Name Tag," which would enable its smart glasses to identify individuals in real time using facial recognition technology. The feature, described in internal documents from May 2023, aims to overlay names of people in the wearer’s field of vision — a functionality that could revolutionize social interaction, but one that privacy advocates warn could normalize invasive surveillance in public spaces.

Though Oakley’s current HTSN model does not include facial recognition, the partnership between Oakley and Meta means that future iterations of the HTSN could potentially inherit such capabilities — especially as Meta continues to push its AI-driven ecosystem across all its wearable platforms. Privacy organizations, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU, have expressed alarm over the normalization of biometric identification in everyday eyewear. "Smart glasses are not just accessories; they’re wearable surveillance tools," said Jennifer Stisa Granick, civil liberties director at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. "If you can’t tell whether someone is identifying you in real time, you’ve lost control over your own image in public."

Meta has not publicly confirmed the development of Name Tag, but internal emails and product roadmaps obtained by The Verge suggest the feature is in advanced testing. The company appears to be strategically timing its rollout, anticipating that public attention may be diverted by other tech controversies — a tactic critics have labeled "privacy distraction." Meanwhile, Oakley, which maintains greater independence in software development, has so far declined to comment on whether it will integrate similar features into future HTSN models.

For now, consumers are voting with their wallets. Sales data from major retailers show a 47% increase in Oakley HTSN purchases since the price drop, while Meta Ray-Ban sales have plateaued. User testimonials highlight the HTSN’s superior audio quality, seamless app integration, and more comfortable fit during extended wear. Yet the ethical implications linger. As smart glasses become more ubiquitous, the line between convenience and intrusion blurs.

Regulatory bodies in the EU and Canada are already scrutinizing biometric data collection in wearables. The EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act classifies real-time facial recognition in public spaces as a high-risk use case — potentially banning it outright. In the U.S., no federal law yet prohibits such technology, though several states, including Illinois and Texas, have enacted biometric privacy statutes that could apply to smart glasses.

For consumers, the choice is no longer just about battery life or video resolution. It’s about what kind of future they want to wear on their faces. The Oakley HTSN may be the better gadget today — but without transparency and regulation, tomorrow’s smart glasses could be the most intimate surveillance devices ever created.