AR glassesSnap Unveils Specs AR Glasses as Spiegel Bets on Post-Smartphone Computing
Snap ($SNAP) unveiled Specs, its first augmented reality glasses built for the general public, priced at $2,195 with a $200 refundable deposit and set to ship this fall in the US, UK, and France.
CEO Evan Spiegel debuted the device at Augmented World Expo 2026 in Long Beach, pitching it as the successor to smartphone-era computing. "Almost 20 years since the launch of the iPhone, people are ready to think about computing differently," [Spiegel told CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/16/snap-unveils-specs-ar-glasses-ceo-evan-spiegel-bets-on-post-smartphone.html).
Specs are [fully standalone](https://newsroom.snap.com/introducing-specs-augmented-reality-glasses), running on two Snapdragon processors with no external puck or tether required. The 47mm model weighs 132 grams and the 52mm model weighs 136 grams, with removable inserts supporting a range of prescriptions.
The display delivers a [51-degree field of view](https://www.techcrunch.com/2026/06/16/snap-finally-debuts-its-long-awaited-ar-glasses-specs/) and 16 million colors, which Snap compares to a 115-inch home cinema screen at roughly 10 feet away. Battery life runs up to four hours, with the included charging case extending total use to 20 hours.
## Snap is entering a crowded and expensive race
Specs cost more than 6 times Meta's ($META) Ray-Ban smart glasses, which [start at $350](https://gizmodo.com/snap-finally-debuts-its-long-awaited-ar-glasses-specs-and-oof-they-arent-cheap-2000618495), and sit well below Apple's ($AAPL) Vision Pro at $3,500. Meta's Reality Labs still loses money despite the Ray-Ban line finding a broader audience, and Google ($GOOGL) recently revealed its own AI-powered glasses developed with Samsung and eyewear brands Warby Parker and Gentle Monster.
Spiegel dismissed audio-focused competitors, [calling them](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/16/snap-unveils-specs-ar-glasses-ceo-evan-spiegel-bets-on-post-smartphone.html) "very lightweight glasses that really don't do much."
Snap created a subsidiary called Specs Inc. earlier in 2026 to house the glasses program, [separating it](https://www.theverge.com/2026/6/16/snap-specs-ar-glasses-price-preorder) from the core Snapchat business. The company has filed more than 7,000 patents during Specs development and spent over a decade building toward this launch.
Developers can already publish AR effects called Lenses for the device, and Snap is rolling out agentic development tools through integrations with [Anthropic's Claude Code, OpenAI's Codex, and Cursor](https://newsroom.snap.com/introducing-specs-augmented-reality-glasses).
## The business case remains unproven
Snap has not posted a consistent annual profit since going public, and its stock [fell roughly 4%](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/16/snap-unveils-specs-ar-glasses-ceo-evan-spiegel-bets-on-post-smartphone.html) the day Specs was announced. The company also conducted layoffs in April 2026.
IDC research manager Jitesh Ubrani was blunt about the timing: "This is like the worst time for any company to be launching any kind of premium product."
Snap says it is targeting tech enthusiasts, developers, and studios first — a pragmatic starting point given the $2,195 price tag. At that level, mainstream adoption remains a distant goal, and the broader smart glasses market has yet to produce a profitable business for anyone.
