Samsung's Galaxy Glasses already have hot competition from new Meta Glasses

Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram, etc, today unveiled a major shakeup for its smart glasses strategy.

It has launched an in-house designed line simply called Meta Glasses that offer more styles and most importantly, are cheaper than the Ray-Ban and Oakley-branded models.

The latest Meta Ray-Ban models start at $379. The new Meta Glasses line starts at $299. They've been built in partnership with EssilorLuxottica and do not carry branding of any eyewear company. Not that Ray-Ban or Oakley will mind, they're both owned by EssilorLuxottica anyway.

Customers can choose from 26 styles across a range of colors, lenses, and frames. Meta has also brought some glamor to the lineup with a co-designed oval model called Meta Glasses by Kylie.

These are functionally quite similar to the existing Meta models with only one major difference. These are Meta's first smart glasses to offer the entirely reimagined Meta AI experience powered by the company's latest Muse Spark model.

This is as clear an indication as any that companies that are developing intelligent eyewear feel the need to fuse both fashion and affordability. Samsung's first foray into this segment involves a partnership with Google, Qualcomm along with eyewear brands Gentle Monster and Warby Parker.

The company is also developing a Galaxy-branded offering that it may launch in the second half of this year as the Galaxy Glasses. With the competition heating up and Meta offering far more styles and capabilities, the Galaxy Glasses will surely have their work cut out for them.