I Tried Meta's New Oakley Smart Glasses In My Production Studio - My Verdict As A Content Creator

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When I saw that Oakley and Meta's collaboration connected nan HSTN Limited Edition smart glasses pinch improved 3K video for $499, I was excited they mightiness beryllium nan cleanable brace of POV glasses for nan studio. 

Oakley's sport-forward creation isn't my favorite, but I could easy place immoderate artistic shortcomings if they nailed my superior usage lawsuit of easy, hands-free signaling for my smartphone reviews and how-to content. 

Also: I spent a play pinch Meta's caller Oakley smart glasses - they hit my Ray-Bans successful each way

The vertical-only shooting style is perfect for social: Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. They're a one-button, point-and-shoot solution creators will crave. However, nan aforesaid things that make them awesome for that usage case, for illustration max three-minute clips, automatic colour grading, and highly compressed record sizes, besides undermine them for nan workplace workflow. Let's return a person look.

The studio/workflow clash

Jason Howell/ZDNET

The vertical-only video format is nan azygous biggest obstacle, and I was alert of that limitation going in. The glasses connection up to 3K solution astatine 2203x2938, astatine 30 fps. Switching to horizontal requires cropping and scaling wrong Adobe Premiere, which drops nan solution down to astir 1700 x 956. In a 4K timeline, nan footage appears soft and noticeably little detailed, particularly alongside autochthonal 4K material.

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While I much aliases little expected that, I was little prepared for nan dense compression algorithm applied to nan recorded footage. The HSTN video files look noticeably processed to support record sizes mini for speedy transfers from nan glasses to nan connected smartphone, and nan results person a peculiarly "digital" quality. 

That intends crunchy textures, over-sharpened edges, and overseas colour artifacts. In 1 example, leaves of a character against a agleam entity showed bluish fringing wherever greenish should be. I besides noticed a subtle rippling of inheritance content, peculiarly successful nan ultra-wide periphery of outdoor shots. 

Outdoor footage is overly saturated and unnatural.

Jason Howell/ZDNET

Color grading is tuned to popular connected societal media -- for illustration headphones that hype nan bass alternatively of going for a balanced reproduction. In nan studio, reds bloom, opposition is exaggerated, and tegument tones skew unnaturally pink. The footage is breathtaking for casual viewing, but not arsenic an meticulous reference. This became moreover much challenging erstwhile that contented was positioned adjacent to much balanced output connected nan timeline.

Understanding limitations

Clip magnitude caps astatine 3 minutes, which is simply a coagulated prime for short-form videos, and a awesome measurement to guarantee creators threat and spell without getting bogged down successful lengthy edits. For workplace applications, however, this complicates nan signaling of long-form demos and lengthy b-roll seizure sessions.

The deficiency of immoderate benignant of unrecorded monitoring capacity intends you can't corroborate framing until aft import. I had a fewer instances wherever I thought I'd captured something, only to observe nan footage was missing erstwhile I was fresh to sync everything to my Pixel 9 Pro.

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Colors pop, but are besides a small unnatural.

Jason Howell/ZDNET

The ultra-wide lens is simply a awesome prime for outdoor, action-cam applications. It's awesome for capturing a consciousness of space, but it tin distort objects close-up. The camera's position successful nan top-left area of nan framework took maine immoderate getting utilized to arsenic well, but successful a short magnitude of time, I was capable to find nan correct area to seizure hands-on footage within. Without that adjustment, nan merchandise often sat excessively acold to nan correct of my footage.

Retrieving footage from nan glasses is mostly beautiful seamless, though it does create a secondary measurement erstwhile shuffling contented to nan edit thrust connected my Mac Studio. 

All media lives successful soul retention connected nan glasses until it's explicitly transferred wirelessly via nan Meta View app to nan connected smartphone. 

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With nary removable paper and nary nonstop USB-C drag-and-drop capability, media guidance is simply a multipronged process. It's not difficult, and nan files are mini because of nan compression utilized astatine record, but it does return a spot of other prep earlier clips tin beryllium dropped into a project.

My verdict

Jason Howell/ZDNET

The truth is, these glasses were ne'er marketed arsenic workplace tools. They were designed for athletes, adventurers, and creators who want an easy measurement to drawback immersive POV clips successful action-oriented environments. They would beryllium perfect for large events, for illustration wandering astir CES successful Las Vegas, live-streaming to Instagram, aliases unboxing a merchandise for TikTok, wherever contented value isn't being scrutinized arsenic overmuch arsenic timeliness. Their unafraid fit, responsive controls, and share-ready footage make them earthy for off-the-cuff societal content.

In a master accumulation environment, however, nan trade-offs outweigh nan benefits. They tin still person a spot successful my kit for low-effort b-roll aliases behind-the-scenes POVs for vertical-native platforms, but they won't switch a dedicated camera successful immoderate superior sprout wherever value is key.

Also: Meta Ray-Bans vs. Oakley: I tested some smart glasses, there's a clear winner

The Oakley Meta HSTN Limited Edition are an awesome social-first gadget, but I wouldn't urge them for workplace production. If your extremity is to station fun, move clips consecutive to your audience, you'll emotion it. If you want to provender it into an edit bay alongside your main camera footage, hole for a batch of compromises.

Follow my latest tech reviews and projects crossed societal media. You'll find maine connected YouTube at YouTube.com/@JasonHowell, connected X (formerly Twitter) at @JasonHowell, and connected Instagram at Instagram.com/thatjasonhowell.