I spent most of my time with a pair of the Jenner style in black, which are quite reminiscent of cat eye glasses by Gentle Monster, Prada and Chanel. I was frankly shocked that the shape of the frames seemed to suit my face, and I certainly felt as if I was emulating Jenner’s vibe.
There are a few features unique to this version of the glasses, which cost $100 more than the other two styles. First, and most noticeable, is the small gem affixed to the top right corner of the right lens, close to where the camera is. It’s a small nod to how Jenner gets hounded by paparazzi, with the way it catches light seeming like flashes of cameras. It’s also sparkly, which is part of the Kylie aesthetic, after all.
As for more functional differences, a physical one is that the adjustable nose bridge is made of metal, which makes it easier to wipe makeup off of. It’s something that was considered during Meta’s conversations with Jenner when they asked for her input on the glasses. As someone who was wearing foundation and powder when I tried these devices on, and who constantly sweats down her nose, I was very happy about this. The different material definitely seemed effective, as I noticed less makeup residue on the Starfire than on a demo Adventurer unit I tried on later.
I also really liked fiddling with the adjustable nose bridge on all the models, which were easy enough to click into place, but sturdy enough to hold their position while on my face. It was really through experimenting with the different angles that I finally realized the type of nose pad that best suits my face and keeps these glasses from slipping off.
Though it’s not unique to the new Meta glasses, I was happy to see the adjustable temple tips and over-extension hinges. I’m not a wearer of spectacles myself, having gotten LASIK about 16 years ago, so I’m not very familiar with all the different challenges that plague modern specs wearers. But compared to my experience with early (and slightly more recent) models of video-recording glasses, the trio of new Meta glasses were satisfyingly comfortable to wear for hours at a time.
One other feature that sets the Starfire glasses apart from the Fury and Adventurer: You’ll be able to select Jenner as the voice for your AI and all other spoken elements like the onboarding instructions or battery life readout. This wasn’t working on the model I wore for the session, but I tried on another pair at a Starfire-specific demo area and can confirm that what sounded like an AI version of Jenner’s voice was speaking to me. I was half expecting to hear some version of the “rise and shine” tune that Jenner was, shall we say, known to croon for a time. But I didn’t.
There isn’t much that’s very different between the Meta Starfire and its non-Jenner counterparts. The little gem on the right lens is very subtle, and only once did I notice it from behind the lens. Admittedly, in that moment I did think it was a speck of dirt and try to flick it off, but once I remembered it was placed there deliberately it faded out of my consciousness again.
It’s probably not worth taking too seriously, but I noticed that in about an hour of wear and use, the Starfire unit’s battery life went from 96 percent to about 66 percent. But I would wait until we can test units that are ready for the real world before guessing at battery life, since there are myriad factors that could cause excessive power draw in this scenario.
Translation support for new languages
Like I mentioned earlier, Meta’s translation feature now supports languages like Mandarin, Korean, Japanese and about 11 more (in addition to the original six). I had a quick conversation with Meta’s product manager Emerson Qin about Sichuan food in New York City. He spoke Mandarin to me, the Meta glasses translated his speech into English into my ears and then I replied in English. My responses would appear on his screen in Mandarin, and as I’m bilingual, I was able to verify the accuracy of the conversation.
Aside from a few small stumbles that feel very typical of modern language translation systems, Meta’s AI was able to capture the chat between Qin and I quite accurately. I was also able to get a preview of a new code-switching feature that allows people to use terms from other languages instead of having to make up or approximate names that don’t exist in certain languages. In our chat, Qin said “East Village” in English before continuing his sentence in Mandarin, and the AI translated his whole sentence in English seamlessly to me.
