British and Canadian readers have asked since last autumn when they could buy Meta’s glasses with a built-in screen. On 23 September 2026 the answer arrived. The Meta Ray-Ban Display went on sale that day in the UK at £749 and in Canada at CA$1,149, online and in stores in London, Vancouver and Toronto. France, Italy and Germany opened pre-orders the same day at €899, with shop sales from 13 October. What you get outside the US is the model Americans have bought since 2025, bundled with the Meta Neural Band wristband, but not the same feature list. Several of the things Meta showed at Connect this week are promised for the US, or the US and Canada, with no date anywhere else.
Where you can buy it, and from when
Meta originally planned to sell the glasses in the UK, France, Italy and Canada in early 2026. On 6 January it paused that plan, citing “unprecedented demand and limited inventory” in the US. This week’s launch is the delayed version, with Germany added.
| Country | Price | On sale | Stores named by Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | £749 | 23 September, online and in store | London |
| Canada | CA$1,149 | 23 September, online and in store | Vancouver, Toronto |
| France, Italy, Germany | €899 | Pre-orders from 23 September, shops and online from 13 October | Paris, Milan, Rome, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich |
| US | $799 | Online ordering added on 23 September | Existing US retailers |
The store column matters more than it looks. Meta sells the glasses in two frame sizes and the Neural Band in three, and at the US launch in 2025 it steered buyers to an in-person fitting to pick the right combination. Online ordering now skips that step in the US, the UK and Canada, and in the three EU countries from 13 October. Meta has not explained how you choose a size online. If you live far from the cities in the table, you are buying a sized product without trying it on.
The prices, with tax taken out
The UK and euro prices look far above the US one, but they are not measured the same way. US prices are quoted before sales tax, while UK and EU prices include VAT.
Take the VAT out and the gap shrinks. At the UK’s 20 percent rate, £749 is about £624 before tax. At Germany’s 19 percent, €899 is about €755. France charges 20 percent and Italy 22 percent, which leaves about €749 and €737. Much of the headline difference is VAT, which a European buyer pays on almost everything else too.
Which features stay in North America
Meta’s newsroom post lists the new software and where it goes first, and the wording is precise.
- Cycling and public transit directions arrive “later this month in the US and Canada”.
- Calendar support is “available in English in the US”.
- Hologram, a video-calling feature for WhatsApp, begins rolling out in Early Access “in the US later this fall”.
The UK, France, Italy and Germany appear in none of those lines. Meta has not said the features will never come, only that it has not dated them. Canada does better than the European countries on navigation and shares none of the calendar or Hologram dates.
The same pattern runs through the rest of Meta’s week. Its hearing enhancement feature for its AI glasses is also a US launch, with no word on the UK, Canada or the EU. A European buyer at €899 should judge the glasses on what they do today in their country, not on the keynote.
Prescription lenses by country
Prescription support differs again. In the US and Canada, prescription lenses are ordered through meta.com. Meta’s blog says select stores in the UK, France and Italy will support prescriptions. Its newsroom post puts the French and Italian start at 13 October in EssilorLuxottica optical shops, and says Germany follows “later in the year”.
For a buyer who needs a correction, that makes the UK store in London and the continental shop cities the practical route. Neither of Meta’s announcements this week gives the prescription range, so ask the store whether your correction fits before you pay.
Who should buy now and who should wait
Buying now makes sense near one of the named stores, where a fitting settles the size before you pay. Ordering online from elsewhere in the UK or Canada is a bet on the size, so read the return terms first. In France, Italy and Germany, wait for 13 October and try a pair in one of the six city stores.
For anyone who wants the navigation or Hologram features that headlined this week, waiting costs nothing. Those features have no date outside North America yet, and Meta announced no new Display hardware this week that would make today’s pair look old.
