Snap launches $2,195 Specs AR glasses, betting its future on life after smartphones
Snap's consumer AR glasses, Specs, cost $2,195, ship this fall in the US, UK and France, and the company says they are the beginning of the post-smartphone era.
The unveiling at AWE
On Tuesday, Snap introduced Specs at the Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, California. CEO Evan Spiegel called the launch "the beginning of a new era in computing." Preorders started immediately on specs.com, with a refundable deposit of $200 (Wired reported $220). The glasses will ship this fall in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, and are priced at $2,195.
Hardware that stands alone
Specs are a fully self-contained wearable computer, with no need for a phone or external puck. They weigh 132 grams in the 47mm size and 136 grams in the 52mm size. The display covers a 51-degree field of view and renders 16 million colours using a proprietary liquid crystal on silicon system. Battery life is four hours, and the charging case provides an extra 20 hours. The lenses can go from clear to tinted in 10 seconds. Snap has not disclosed display resolution, brightness, RAM, storage, or camera specifications, a notable omission for a product at this price point. A privacy LED glows when either the visible light or infrared cameras are recording.
AI and developer ambitions
The glasses rely on an AI assistant built in partnership with OpenAI and Google that can answer questions about objects the wearer sees, translate languages, and surface contextual information. A feature called EyeConnect triggers shared multiplayer AR experiences when two Specs users make eye contact. For developers, Snap is updating Lens Studio with support for AI coding tools including Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, and Cursor.
Specs will become meaningful because of the lenses you build.
Competition in a crowded market
Snap is entering a field already occupied by Meta, whose Ray-Ban smart glasses cost between $200 and $500, and whose Quest VR headsets range from $300 to $600. Apple's Vision Pro, a considerably heavier headset, launched at $3,499. Google and Warby Parker are expected to release smart glasses this fall but have not announced pricing. Snap positions Specs as a middle option: lighter and less immersive than a headset, but more powerful than simple smart glasses.
- Meta Ray-Ban
- 200 $
- Meta Quest
- 300 $
- Apple Vision Pro
- 3499 $
- Snap Specs
- 2195 $
A risky pivot for Snap
The launch comes as Snap faces financial pressure and investors urging a focus on its core advertising business. Spiegel argues that only by embedding computing into the physical world can technology become more human.
If we don't succeed in bringing computing into the world we live in, it will be very difficult to make it more human.
The company is backing its conviction with a large marketing campaign featuring celebrities Jimmy Butler, Imogen Heap, Hoyeon, Jack Harlow, and Kaia Gerber.
We can put this technology into as many hands as possible.
Yet the absence of a confirmed app lineup and detailed hardware specifications raises questions about readiness. Snap says it will share more about apps later this year.
