I tested Meta’s new Oakley smart glasses in the studio – my take as a content creator

When I saw that Oakley and Meta’s collaboration on the HSTN Limited Edition smart glasses with improved 3K video for $499, I was excited they might be the perfect pair of POV glasses for the studio. 

Oakley’s sport-forward design isn’t my favorite, but I could easily overlook any aesthetic shortcomings if they nailed my primary use case of easy, hands-free recording for my smartphone reviews and how-to content. 

Also: I spent a weekend with Meta’s new Oakley smart glasses – they beat my Ray-Bans in every way

The vertical-only shooting style is ideal for social: Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. They’re a one-button, point-and-shoot solution creators will crave. However, the same things that make them great for that use case, like max three-minute clips, automatic color grading, and highly compressed file sizes, also undermine them for the studio workflow. Let’s take a closer look. 

The studio/workflow clash

The vertical-only video format is the single biggest obstacle, and I was aware of that limitation going in. The glasses offer up to 3K resolution at 2203×2938, at 30 fps. Switching to horizontal requires cropping and scaling inside Adobe Premiere, which drops the resolution down to roughly 1700 x 956. In a 4K timeline, the footage appears soft and noticeably less detailed, especially alongside native 4K material.

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While I more or less expected that, I was less prepared for the heavy compression algorithm applied to the recorded footage. The HSTN video files appear noticeably processed to keep file sizes small for quick transfers from the glasses to the connected smartphone, and the results have a particularly “digital” quality. 

That means crunchy textures, over-sharpened edges, and odd color artifacts. In one example, leaves of a tree against a bright sky showed blue fringing where green should be. I also noticed a subtle rippling of background content, particularly in the ultra-wide periphery of outdoor shots. 

Color grading is tuned to pop on social media — like headphones that hype the bass instead of going for a balanced reproduction. In the studio, reds bloom, contrast is exaggerated, and skin tones skew unnaturally pink. The footage is exciting for casual viewing, but not as an accurate reference. This became even more challenging when that content was positioned next to more balanced output on the timeline.

Understanding limitations

Clip length caps at three minutes, which is a solid choice for short-form videos, and a great way to ensure creators snap and go without getting bogged down in lengthy edits. For studio applications, however, this complicates the recording of long-form demos and lengthy b-roll capture sessions.

The lack of any sort of live monitoring capability means you can’t confirm framing until after import. I had a few instances where I thought I’d captured something, only to discover the footage was missing when I was ready to sync everything to my Pixel 10 Pro.

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The ultra-wide lens is a fantastic choice for outdoor, action-cam applications. It’s great for capturing a sense of space, but it can distort objects close-up. The camera’s position in the top-left corner of the frame took me some getting used to as well, but in a short amount of time, I was able to find the right zone to capture hands-on footage within. Without that adjustment, the product often sat too far to the right of my footage.

Retrieving footage from the glasses is generally pretty seamless, though it does create a secondary step when shuffling content to the edit drive on my Mac Studio. All media lives in internal storage on the glasses until it’s explicitly transferred wirelessly via the Meta View app to the connected smartphone. 

With no removable card and no direct USB-C drag-and-drop capability, media management is a multipronged process. It’s not difficult, and the files are small because of the compression used at record, but it does take a bit of extra prep before clips can be dropped into a project.

My final verdict

The truth is, these glasses were never marketed as studio tools. They were designed for athletes, adventurers, and creators who want an easy way to grab immersive POV clips in action-oriented environments. They would be ideal for big events, like wandering around CES in Las Vegas, live-streaming to Instagram, or unboxing a product for TikTok, where content quality isn’t being scrutinized as much as timeliness. Their secure fit, responsive controls, and share-ready footage make them natural for off-the-cuff social content.

In a professional production environment, however, the trade-offs outweigh the benefits. They can still have a place in my kit for low-effort b-roll or behind-the-scenes POVs for vertical-native platforms, but they won’t replace a dedicated camera in any serious shoot where quality is key.

Also: Meta Ray-Bans vs. Oakley: I tested both smart glasses, there’s a clear winner

The Oakley Meta HSTN Limited Edition is an impressive social-first gadget, but I wouldn’t recommend them for studio production. If your goal is to post fun, dynamic clips straight to your audience, you’ll love it. If you want to feed it into an edit bay alongside your main camera footage, prepare for a lot of compromises.

Follow my latest tech reviews and projects across social media. You’ll find me on YouTube at YouTube.com/@JasonHowell, on X (formerly Twitter) at @JasonHowell, and on Instagram at Instagram.com/thatjasonhowell.