Snap has officially opened preorders for its standalone augmented reality glasses, named Specs, with the devices scheduled to ship this fall in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France for $2195. This launch fulfills a promise made last year by Snap CEO Evan Spiegel to deliver true AR glasses by 2026, positioning the company ahead of major tech firms in the consumer AR space.
A Decade of Development
The development of Specs represents approximately ten years of work on smart glasses and over $3 billion invested by Snap in augmented reality research. True AR glasses are defined as wearable devices capable of overlaying virtual objects and interfaces onto the real world, a significant advancement over simpler HUD glasses or displayless smart glasses.
Snap previously released two developer kits under the Spectacles name. The first, in 2021, offered a 26-degree field of view and 30 minutes of battery life. The second, available in 2024 for rent, expanded the field of view to 46 degrees and battery life to 45 minutes, though it was bulkier, weighing 226 grams.
Consumer Specs Features
The consumer version, Specs, boasts a slightly wider 51-degree diagonal field of view, comparable to devices like Microsoft’s HoloLens 2. The glasses weigh 132 grams for the 47mm frame size and 136 grams for the 51mm size, a reduction from the developer kit. While lighter than earlier AR headsets, they remain heavier than regular eyeglasses and most current smart glasses.
Specs utilize proprietary LCoS displays capable of showing 16 million colors per pixel. The device is powered by two unspecified Qualcomm Snapdragon chips: one for the operating system and applications, and another for computer vision tasks including head and hand tracking, and environment meshing. Snap has confirmed a motion-to-photon latency of 7 milliseconds, a notable improvement over previous Spectacles.
The glasses feature electrochromic lenses that can automatically adjust from clear indoors to tinted outdoors, transitioning to a darker state in approximately 10 seconds. This technology is designed to be faster and more effective than photochromic lenses, particularly in conditions like car interiors.
Software and Availability
Specs will run on Snap OS, an Android-based operating system that supports sandboxed applications called “Lenses.” These are developed using Snap’s Lens Studio software. Preloaded Lenses will include web browsing, navigation, measurement tools, a second screen for laptops, whiteboarding, and translation, alongside a contextual AI assistant. The device can also be used for audio playback and receiving phone notifications.
A Lens store will be available for downloading additional applications, some of which will be free, while others may offer in-app purchases or subscriptions. Snap has also introduced a Native Development Kit to allow developers to integrate C and C++ code for more advanced functionalities.
Preorders require a $200 refundable deposit, with the remaining $1995 due upon shipping. Snap has not yet announced international availability beyond the initial launch markets.
Mitchell Landsberg is the senior reporter for News Raise and focuses on Technology. Mitchell regularly writes about social media platforms and how influencers, industry and general people use them to communicate and make money.
