Meta also has some trust issues, stemming from this user privacy practices and it is occasional data leaks.

“Meta is not the most trusted technology brand, shall we say, by far, when it comes to privacy and data security,” said Ben Hatton, a technology analyst at CCS Insights. “That’s probably holding the market back. If Meta is the only player, and Google can come in and say, it’s all on the device, it’s all safe, it’s all stored inside your device, then a lot of heads can be turned.”

The area where the Meta has the most leverage is in style play. Its partnership with EssilorLuxottica—the parent company of Ray-Ban and Oakley—has helped it create smart glasses that generally look like something people would be happy to wear in public. the notable exception is the design of the new Meta Display glasses, which still get some style points even though they are bulky, somewhat inappropriate, and definitely “computer glasses.”

Google’s new glasses also almost look heavy and weird. More than a year ago, Google showed its Android XR platform to some thickly framed chonks, and the Google glasses that appeared recently news articles and the new demo videos this month’s shot is almost the same. (Google promised us our own demo soon.)

Google’s collaboration with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster can also provide frames with a more attractive aesthetic, but the glasses will probably have fewer features than the more powerful models from Samsung and other Android XR partners.

“I don’t think Meta has a problem right now,” Urbani said. “Google is good as a tech company, but there’s a lot they need to know about fashion and selling glasses.”

Google’s broader goal with its smart glasses effort is to expand Android XR as a platform. Even if Google can’t create the fashion element, its software will attract a third party that can.

“No one wants to ship a pair of glasses and build an entire operating system and basic AI model to use it,” Sag said. “I think people want to make glasses that have an operating system that already exists and have an application ecosystem that is already established.”

So when are you going to put on those new Google glasses and start pinging Gemini, taking hands-free video calls, and calling Ubers from your face?

“I really expect them to be out by the middle of the year,” Hatton said. And maybe even before that. “If they carry sunglasses as a form factor, you probably want them in the spring so people can start thinking about buying them for the summer.”