If Snap’s Specs are still ridiculously expensive, they’re also a lot more comfortable than they used to be

Key points

• Snap's Specs AR glasses now weigh 132 grams, about half the earlier prototype's weight.
• The glasses come in 47mm and 52mm sizes with spring hinges and cost $2,200.
• The reviewer found Specs comfortable but still lacking a clear everyday purpose.

Snap's AR glasses, called Specs, have become significantly lighter and more comfortable since an earlier prototype, though they remain expensive at $2,200, according to a TechCrunch review. The reviewer first tried a prototype at CES in Las Vegas earlier this year and met the Snap team again in late October at a Four Seasons in downtown San Francisco, after the company had debuted Specs publicly at an event with CEO Evan Spiegel and begun pre-orders.

Changes to the hardware

The glasses now weigh 132 grams, or about 4.6 ounces, nearly half the roughly 8 ounces of the earlier version. During a demo of about an hour, the device did not heat up as the previous version had. Specs comes in two sizes, 47mm and 52mm, to fit different head sizes, and now has spring hinges for more flexibility and comfort.

a little rudderless

— the TechCrunch reviewer

Questions over purpose

The reviewer said the device can be fun but still lacks a dedicated purpose, and questioned how it would be useful day to day at its price. Snap staff gave a vague answer when asked whether the device was for fun or productivity, and the reviewer described it as trying to be many things at once and feeling "a little rudderless." The reviewer praised the integration of multiple experiences into one device, including spatial syncing that lets two users see the same thing at once, but said what it currently offers may not justify the cost.