Instead of a new Quest headset, the company showed off a more portable but less immersive device today.

After two years, Meta finally has new VR hardware and... it's not a headset. Instead, the company unveiled today the $1,299 Meta VR Glasses, a mixed reality device that feels very different from anything we've ever seen from the company.

Meta says the device represents a "new era for virtual reality," and after I spent some time seeing what the glasses are capable of, it does feel like an inflection point. The new form factor comes with some limitations that could be frustrating for longtime VR fans. But thanks to its portability and power, it delivers something Meta never has been able to before.

Despite their name, these don't feel exactly like glasses. Their thickness and the opacity of the lenses makes them seem more like a pair of goggles, though they feel more like glasses when you're actually putting them on. And unlike traditional glasses, the lenses aren't clear or translucent, so you can't see through them unless you have the passthrough feature enabled. But whatever you want to call them, they are sleek and surprisingly light.

They weigh a little less than 100 grams, which is heavier than a pair of Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses, but much lighter than a Quest 3S or any other headset for that matter. It's actually very close to the weight of Xreal's upcoming Android XR glasses, Aura.

And, like the Aura, Meta's Reality Glasses also rely on a tethered connection to a separate puck, which handles processing, memory and storage.

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