The first three generations of Spectacles were launched as consumer devices from 2016 to 2019 but lacked any kind of display or speakers. They functioned solely as camera glasses, similar to today's Ray-Ban Meta glasses but without the audio out and AI capabilities.

Fourth generation Spectacles were unveiled in 2021 with waveguide displays for true AR, but were only made to select developers with very limited availability. They were a standalone AR device in true sunglasses form factor, featuring a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 chipset, a tiny field of view, and an active battery life of just 30 minutes.

The new fifth generation Snap Spectacles offer a wider field of view, longer battery life, a more powerful processor, and higher transparency to allow bystanders to see the wearer's eyes. And this time Snap will offer them to any developer for $99/month.