Do Oakley Meta Smart Glasses Shoot Horizontal or Vertical? (Explained)

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Keval Vachharajani
Keval Vachharajani Senior AI Researcher

I’ve spent over 7 years writing about smartphones, laptops, and AI, starting with everyday gadgets and gradually moving deeper into how software intelligence works. Lately, my focus has shifted to AI hardware, chips, processors, and on-device intelligence, and how they’re shaping the next phase of computing.

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Oakley and Meta recently launched their new Vanguard AI glasses. Now the most requested question about this new glasses are not about the battery life, features or how it fits. Its about the video format. Can you use these glasses for YouTube (horizontal), or are they locked to Instagram (vertical)?

The Short Answer

The Oakley Meta smart glasses shoot in native Vertical (9:16) format by default.

Since the hardware is built on the Meta OS platform, it is designed mainly for social media apps like Instagram and Facebook. When you press the capture button, the 12MP camera records video at a resolution of 2203 x 2938 pixels (Portrait aspect ratio). As far as the details available about the glasses right now, there are no settings in the app to switch the camera to record in native Landscape (16:9) mode. 

Credit: Meta

Why Does Meta Restrict It to Vertical? 

I think the restriction is a software choice, not just a hardware one. Meta prioritizes “immersive” content that fills a phone screen.

However, the hardware itself is capable of capturing a wider field of view. The glasses use an Ultra-Wide 122° lens. This fisheye perspective should be able to capture a massive amount of visual data, but the software crops it vertically to make sure smooth stabilization and instant sharing to Stories or Reels. 

How to Get Horizontal (16:9) Video? 

While the Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses do not natively support horizontal video shooting. You still can produce horizontal videos. Since the sensor shoots in 3K (2203 x 2938), i think that there will be enough pixel density to crop the footage in post-production.

Here is the workaround to get high-quality horizontal footage:

  1. Record Normally: Capture your video using the glasses.
  2. Export to Phone: Sync the video to the Meta View app on your smartphone.
  3. Crop in Post: Open the video in an editor (like CapCut, Premiere, or InShot).
  4. Select Ratio: Change the canvas to 16:9.
  5. Reframe: Move the video up or down to frame the subject.

Note: Do keep in mind that i have not the smart glasses yet and Oakley and Meta have not released any specific press release about it. So can not generate information about this workaround.   

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