Meta is putting a key feature of its new smart glasses behind a paywall. Just days after launching its cheaper alternatives to Ray-Ban Meta, the brand introduced Meta One Premium, a subscription that unlocks one of the wearables’ most attractive offline features.
That feature is “Conversation Focus,” which enhances voices for clearer speech in noisy environments, such as parties, public transit, and busy restaurants. What’s surprising is that this feature works entirely offline, requiring no cloud or AI support, which makes the subscription seem so much more questionable.
Meta allows Meta Glasses owners without subscriptions to use Conversation Focus for up to 3 hours per month. Users who pay for Meta One Premium at $20 per month can use the feature for up to 15 hours per month. Once they reach this limit, they must wait for the counter to reset at the top of the next month, The Verge reports.
Meta One is a subscription service that offers extra features for Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Meta AI, and AI glasses. The Premium tier simply provides feature access and priority support for glasses users.
Meta hasn’t explained why an offline feature would be locked up in a subscription. The bottom line is that owning the glasses no longer guarantees full access to all their features—and keeping track of how long you’ve used a specific feature is a headache in itself.
