Not so smart without a smartphone connection: Why its difficult to defend smart glasses

Summary

Whether used as a sports and fitness aid, or as an entertainment device, smart glasses are cumbersome, distracting and useless without a smartphone app

Last November several runners and cyclists in India were genuinely excited about the Oakley Meta Vanguard. The AI-powered smart sunglasses were integrating Garmin and Strava -- the two most popular things among those who live the active life, including recreational and professional athletes. For a pair of sports goggles priced at ₹52,300, the endurance sports community was the perfect target audience, happy as they are to spend astronomical amounts of money on their hobby.

However, the Oakley Meta Vanguard ran into a bit of bad luck in India as the pair arrived here only in the second quarter of 2026, while it was launched worldwide towards end of last year. In the interim, Meta's smart glasses made the headlines for all the wrong reasons, and ended up earning themselves the unenviable nickname of "Perv Glasses." Despite all the well-known drawbacks and bad press, I was curious about the sports app integration and, weather permitting, used the Oakley Meta Vanguard for a couple of months.

Design & flaws

The AI-powered Vanguard sunglasses have the unmistakable sporty design that Oakley is known for. It's a wrap-around one-piece visor running across the width of the face with a notch on the nose bridge where the camera sits. It also holds a white LED light next to the camera that glows whenever a picture is being clicked or a video is being recorded.

There is another LED light on the inside visible from the corner of your eye on the edge of the right stem which also glows whenever the camera is active to let the user know if the camera is functioning whenever prompted. The stems of the sunglasses are home to speakers, sensors, microphones, touch controls for volume and music playback, and physical buttons to click photos. The speakers sit right where the stems rest on the ears and these speakers are more powerful than those on the Ray-Ban Meta glasses making them loud enough even in crowded places.

However, with the stems and the bridge holding so many components, Oakley Meta Vanguards are rather heavy at 66 grams compared to the regular Oakley sunglasses that, on average, weigh less than half at 30 grams. The stems are also thick, which makes long use (say finishing a 2-hour half marathon or long run/ride) literally painful.

Not so smart without a phone

I downloaded the Meta AI app on my phone, paired the smart Oakleys and set them up as instructed. This whole process was quite easy. I had already connected my Garmin and Strava accounts to my Meta AI account during the set-up and downloaded the Meta AI app on my Garmin watch.

I went for my run with my Garmin and the smart sunglasses. I thought the Vangaurds would tell me the pace, distance run, or elapsed time whenever prompted. Of course, it did none of that. I started with enquiring about my pace. It played a chime and asked me to connect my phone and open the Meta AI app. I tried playing music from my Garmin, but my smart glasses, and by extension its speakers, weren't connected to my watch so I couldn't. Any bluetooth headphones readily connect with Garmin watches capable of playing music.

Turns out the Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses are not so smart without a phone to be tethered to. The only thing it can do without the phone is click pictures and record videos. The Garmin and Strava integration is not in real time either. What actually happens is that Meta AI pulls the workout details from Strava and Garmin and then lets you superimpose the statistics on pictures/videos taken during the overlapping time.

Real world response

The backlash against these smart glasses has been widespread. Most sports, including cricket, have banned them from the ground of play, training sessions and dressing rooms. Content creators hoped to make good use of these smart glasses but thanks to the bad rep these smart glasses have earned due to men using them to secretly record and harass women, the backlash against them was swift and many influencers lost followers as soon as they posted content created using the "perv glasses." Apart from the backlash, the novelty value of the smart sports goggles also fades quickly.

So, if you are planning to buy sporty smart sunglasses remember that they tend to get uncomfortable with prolonged use, are heavy, are expensive, raise eyebrows, violate privacy and even the kids get bored of them rather quickly. The resolution of pictures and videos isn't great either and you never know what you have captured till you open the app on your phone and check. Also, Oakley Meta Vanguard are only as smart as the app on your phone.

Shrenik Avlani is a freelance writer and editor.