Snap's Specs cost $2,195 and put a display in both lenses

If you want AR glasses that work without a phone or a computer attached to them, there is now a price on that: $2,195. GSMArena reports that Snap's Specs are standalone glasses, and the Wi-Fi version is expected to ship this fall.

The more interesting part is what is in the lenses. According to The Verge, Snap has beaten competitors like Meta to shipping glasses with displays in both lenses, which is what delivers a true AR effect rather than another flat screen floating in front of you. Snap describes the waveguide displays as showing 16 million colors and sharp, high-resolution visuals, without specifying the resolution.

The field of view is 51 degrees, which Snap says looks about as big as a 115-inch screen viewed from ten feet away. The Verge's reviewer found the same number was the main limitation, with digital elements slipping out of sight during the demos.

In a shared AR dominoes game, the reviewer could select a virtual tile with a pinch and then move a hand to drop it, watching it snap into place on a real table.

The hardware list is long for something you wear on your face: a TR90 frame in 47mm narrow and 52mm wide sizes, dual Snapdragon processors, six microphones, open-ear stereo speakers, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a magnetic 5-pin charging interface, and prescription lens support. Control is by voice and gesture. The camera indicator light sits in the center of the glasses rather than off to one side, where Meta puts its privacy light.

There is also an AI chatbot assistant, which The Verge's reviewer described as slow and inconsistent in limited use. One voice command for funny cat videos took roughly 15 seconds before a YouTube page with search results appeared.

A version with a cellular-connected case costs $2,395, and GSMArena notes that Snap has an exclusive with Verizon here. Data plans start at $10 per month for existing Verizon customers and $20 per month for everyone else. Verizon has not given a shipping date.

The Verge refers to a full four-hour battery cycle, and the reviewer did not wear the glasses long enough to say whether they start to feel uncomfortable across one.

Snap spun the Specs division off early this year. The company has spent more than half a decade on the technology and produced two earlier generations that only ever reached a small number of developers, so this is the first pair aimed at people who are not building for it. Snap says the vision is to make computing more human.