Ray-Ban Meta vs. GoPro: I took my smart glasses fishing and it felt surprisingly relaxing
I recently wrote about My experience with the limited edition Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and shares some of the surprising ways they’ve made my life easier and the plans I have for them — one of which is to take them fishing. Last weekend, I crossed Snoqualmie Pass to enjoy the vibrant colors of fall leaves and wade into the clear waters of the Yakima River.
The weather was perfect, the river level was so low that it was possible to wade and walk for miles, and I took a few family members along to teach them how to fish and enjoy the peace of the flowing river . Everything was perfect, and even though I only caught one small rainbow trout, thanks to the Ray-Ban Metas, I was able to capture the experience in video and still images in a way that fit a little seven-hour day stress on the trip. river.
No one else in my immediate family was into fly fishing, but they all wanted to know about my adventures and see photos and videos of my catches and misses. In the past, I’ve attached GoPro and Insta360 cameras to my chest, head, and baseball cap.
Also: I tested Meta’s limited edition Ray-Ban smart glasses and they were a near-perfect wearable for me
These cameras record high-definition content, and I tried using the remote and watch to control the body cameras. I missed a lot of content because these cameras had limited battery life, weren’t easily accessible for checking when I was fishing with two hands, they shifted and pointed away from the action, and a few times they fell off my head.
Fly fishing is a truly three-handed activity as you cast, strip, hold the rod and attempt to hook a fish. Then try to keep the fish underwater and take a photo or video of it and maybe even using four hands is best. I also used my smartphone to try to record content with the rod clipped under my arm and cast the net into the water with one hand holding the fish in the water (to be able to survive in a catch-and-release river). . Sounds stressful, right?
With Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, I can completely relax and focus on casting and separation while simply using reliable voice commands to capture stills and video content. I never worried about the glasses recording because the glasses confirmed what was being recorded, and I had used them long enough to believe that what was being recorded.
The ability to take an instant hit and start recording the experience right away is amazing. And I didn’t have a camera to record the hours I was just casting without getting caught in the shot.
Glasses, usually polarized sunglasses, are a must when fly fishing because they protect your eyes from the flies you are gracefully flying through the air over the river. AI-powered Ray-Bans serve the dual purpose of converting lenses into sunglasses with UVA/UVB protection. I’d love to see a version with an embedded reader to help me quickly, and one that uses Transitions XTRActive polarization to get a better look at the river bottom.
Also: My favorite Garmin sports watch just got a new version and is $200 cheaper
Finally, I was able to make a few calls with my wife while fishing, and if I think about it, I could even live stream parts of the day for my followers. I will try to remember that on future trips as the scenery is something to behold.
We were on the river for seven hours, and the glasses’ battery life allowed me to capture about 20 images and dozens of video clips throughout the day. I was surprised that the glasses lasted as long as they did, with an advertised battery life of 4 hours, but I wasn’t actively recording or recording content during that time. With the portrait orientation of the content, I have a beautiful new wallpaper for my phone taken with Ray-Ban glasses.
I’ve cropped the images in this post to fit ZDNET content, but the images and video give you an idea of the splendor of that October day on the river and Ray-Ban Metas‘ ability to grasp it.
