Last we heard from Snap, the company behind SnapChat and the ill-fated first set of Spectacles, it was trying out a bunch of new things. And now it’s trying out one more, the newest iteration of its Spectacles. Big whoop, right? We’ve seen all this before. Except… we haven’t.

Eyes on the prize

Snapchat’s Spectacles 3, to give them their full title, have got a little something new going for them. The sunglasses sport dual cameras in the frames, while a series of microphones are designed to capture as much audio as possible. The big change? That second camera, which allows for depth. Basically, these specs constitute a wearable 3D camera.

But you’ll be stuck with some specific resolutions. Photos top out at 1,728×1,728, while video is captured at a max res of 1,216×1,216. You’re getting 60fps from motion, at least, and there is 4GB of storage in the glasses themselves. Which is nice and all but how much video footage will that really hold?

The questions of tech might be besides the point. It’s the Spectacles’ redesign that could help SnapChat parent company Snap finally gain some traction with its hardware. The first two versions were for kids, based on their appearance, while these look like something a rational, thinking human being might wear. They’re sunglasses that happen to have cameras in them, rather than a camera that happens to protect your eyes from the sun. It’s a nice change. There are carbon, black, and mineral colour options incoming.

If you really must have a pair of Snap’s Spectacles 3, you might be an influencer. Or you really, really wanna be one. Either way, you’ll have to wait till November this year to get a pair, and you’ll have to be willing to shell out $380 (R5,850) for the privilege. And then you can put ’em on, look in a mirror, and check… your… privilege? Sure, let’s go with that. If you wanna pre-order a pair, you can do that at spectacles.com.