Scoble Turns Bearish on Meta VR Glasses: Great FOV, But a Likely Sales Flop

Tech commentator Robert Scoble posted a flurry on September 27 marking a dramatic reversal on Meta's new "VR glasses": he publicly walked back his earlier excitement, predicting another sales disaster—citing not only that many people simply "don't wear glasses," but also conversations with VR/AR veterans like SadlyItsBradley and Sychov. Still, he didn't dismiss the hardware itself.

Confirmed

• Scoble said Meta's glasses' 50° field of view exceeds any screen the human eye can physically see, would dramatically improve TV watching, and praised the display chips as quite impressive
• He argued Meta's real pitch should be the Muse voice assistant—say, switching channels to CNN or Fox by voice—paired with an agent screen
• Comparing Meta and Snap smart glasses firsthand: Meta's VR glasses block out reality entirely, while Snap's let you see through; but once media content is off and you actually try augmented reality use cases, Snap's weaknesses show
• He added that without having experienced the Las Vegas Sphere venue, it's hard to grasp true immersion—implying Meta's glasses still fall short of Sphere-level immersion
• Developer Haulik built a small WebXR app simulating the field-of-view difference between Meta's new VR glasses and the Quest 3; Scoble reposted it, noting people are already making content for the new device
• Xreal full-line user JamesMcPherson, after seeing the Meta glasses' field of view, believes this is far from a dead product and the image quality will be excellent

Not yet confirmed

• The "sales disaster" prediction is Scoble's personal judgment, based on private conversations with practitioners; no sales data supports it yet

Why it matters

• Scoble is a well-known Silicon Valley observer, and his flip from hype to doubt mirrors a typical industry split over Meta's category: "strong hardware, questionable demand." Hardware specs (50° FOV, display chips) earn praise even from competitor users, but wearing habits and use cases remain concerns. Developers building content tools ahead of launch also shows the product isn't officially out yet, but an ecosystem is already brewing

2026-09-27 ~ 2026-09-27 · 6 related posts

• [source] Scoble walks back Meta VR glasses hype, predicts another sales disaster — Scobleizer · 2026-09-27
• [source] WebXR app emulates FOV of Meta's new VR glasses vs Quest 3 — Scobleizer · 2026-09-27
• [source] Meta's 50-degree FOV glasses "not a dead product," says Xreal owner after hands-on look — JamesMcPherson · 2026-09-27
• Scoble: Meta glasses' 50-degree FOV beats any physical screen, Muse should be the pitch — Scobleizer · 2026-09-27
• Scoble: unless you've been inside the Sphere, you don't know real immersion — Scobleizer · 2026-09-27
• Scoble compares Meta vs Snap glasses: only Snap shows reality, no cord or puck — Scobleizer · 2026-09-27