Snap has set a date. The company’s $2,195 augmented reality glasses — simply called Specs — will get their official public launch event on September 16 in Los Angeles, with CEO Evan Spiegel on stage to demonstrate what the glasses can actually do in the real world.
The event takes place at 7PM ET on September 16 and will be livestreamed at specs.com/launch. Snap says it will include the first in-depth look at Specs, with Spiegel demonstrating how they bring AI assistance, work tools, entertainment and shared experiences into the world around us.
What Specs actually are
Snap’s Specs are a genuine AR headset — not a camera-equipped pair of audio glasses like Meta’s Ray-Ban range or Samsung’s Galaxy Glasses, but a standalone device with a display that overlays digital content onto the real world in your field of view.
The glasses cost $2,195 and are available in two sizes — 47mm and a wider 52mm. Battery life supports up to four hours of mixed use. The Specs have a built-in browser and AI assistance provided by Snap’s partners, OpenAI and Google.
The strikingly thick arms of the Specs house two Qualcomm Snapdragon processors — one handling computer vision and the other running AR apps. That dual-processor architecture explains both the price and the arm thickness — running genuine real-time AR requires significantly more compute than streaming audio or taking photos. The trade-off is a device that looks noticeably different from regular eyewear.
The app ecosystem
Hundreds of AR Lenses — Snap’s term for apps — will be available at launch, including games. Snap’s Lens ecosystem has been in development for years, with developers already building for the platform ahead of the consumer launch. That existing developer community gives Specs a meaningful content advantage at launch over newer entrants to the AR glasses space.
Where and when it goes on sale
Snap opened pre-orders last month and Specs are expected to ship in the US, UK and France this fall. The exact shipping date is expected to be confirmed at the September 16 event.
The market Snap is entering
The timing of the September 16 event is pointed. Samsung’s Galaxy Glasses are expected to launch this autumn at a rumoured $379-$499. Meta continues to hold roughly 69% of the smart glasses market with its Ray-Ban lineup starting at $299. Apple is targeting late 2027 for its first glasses.
Snap is not competing on price. At $2,195 — more than four times the cost of Samsung’s glasses and seven times Meta’s entry point — Specs is making a deliberate bet that a subset of consumers will pay premium prices for genuine AR capability: a real display, real-time overlays, a dual-processor architecture and an existing app ecosystem.
Whether that bet pays off is an open question. Snap’s Spectacles developer edition, available only to approved developers, has been on limited release since 2024 without a mass-market product alongside it. September 16 is the moment Snap finds out whether the consumer market agrees with its pricing.
The autumn of 2026 is shaping up to be the most significant period in smart glasses history — with Samsung, Snap and potentially others all launching within weeks of each other, and Apple and Meta watching closely. September 16 is the next chapter.