XREAL Air AR Glasses, Smart Glasses with Massive 201
XREAL Air AR Glasses, Smart Glasses with Massive 201″ Micro-OLED Virtual Theater, Augmented Reality Glasses Video Glasses, Watch, Stream, Game on PC/Android/iOS–Consoles Cloud Gaming Compatible
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Love how nice this item works. Basically just plug the glasses in to your phone using the usb-c cord and it uses your phone as a mouse pad. Has a nice bright screen and amazes everyone at work that such a thing exists. Will buy for gifts.
Love how nice this item works. Basically just plug the glasses in to your phone using the usb-c cord and it uses your phone as a mouse pad. Has a nice bright screen and amazes everyone at work that such a thing exists. Will buy for gifts.
Impresionante!
Lo ms impresionante para mi es el precio las octube por 1997. Yo no savia de la existencia de un producto as. Realmente siempre quise las Oculus 3 pero me parece que la batera es horrible y son extremadamente incmodas. Acambio estas son super portables y te salbas que no tienes por que cargarlas ya que consumen batera de cualquier cosa a las que las conectes. Jams pens que este tipo de producto me hiciera tan feliz Y que conste soy super piki con la calidad de imagen puesto que mis estndares son altos puesto que estoy adaptado a buena calidad de imagen como Sony Bravia Oled… Realmente son muy buenas en general y por ese precio ni soar encontrar algo en el mercado!!!
EXACTELLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR
I wanted the ultimate “teleprompter.” So I got the XREAL AIR glasses, BEAM, and H-C Cable. I connected them to my system, and wore XREAL Augmented Reality AIR glasses for a live performance. It was a great experience and worked perfectly.
The XREAL products were easy to set up and use. In deciding what to buy I was assisted by XREAL, who promptly answered my questions about what I wanted to do, and recommended the appropriate equipment. I bought what they said, and I am delighted.
The BEAM works just fine with an HDMI signal, either directly or from a wireless HDMI connection. So as to not have to “wear” the BEAM while performing, I was able to remote mount it (see photos) by using a 3 meter, 100 watt Type C extension cable to the glasses. No problems.
I have never been more satisfied with a product. I am a social media content creator and performer. Not a gamer, but I’ve now entered the AR world, and it’s “awesome.”
I have been wishing for these AR glasses since it was Nreal, and finally got the chance to get hold of a new pair during prime days for 200$ I knew there could be some issues because of the prescription, but did not pick up that the windows software was not released, at least there is a well-informed forum where I got hold of the beta version, and it works ok, not sure if it is a laptop/HW issue but the virtual screen is flickering when I move the head around connected to the laptop. for the connection to Android, it works well and pops up with Samsung DEX in my case, seems like the app is not issued for the S24 ultra on Play Store, or if it country country-restricted, but you can get hold of the software from the forum. I will try them with contact lenses and play a bit more around before I decide to configure the included glass for the prescription. About the SW it could be that I should invest in the Xreal beam to get the full potential of these AR glasses. All in all, I'm just happy to finally get hold of a pair for a decent price.
I have been wishing for these AR glasses since it was Nreal, and finally got the chance to get hold of a new pair during prime days for 200$ I knew there could be some issues because of the prescription, but did not pick up that the windows software was not released, at least there is a well-informed forum where I got hold of the beta version, and it works ok, not sure if it is a laptop/HW issue but the virtual screen is flickering when I move the head around connected to the laptop. for the connection to Android, it works well and pops up with Samsung DEX in my case, seems like the app is not issued for the S24 ultra on Play Store, or if it country country-restricted, but you can get hold of the software from the forum. I will try them with contact lenses and play a bit more around before I decide to configure the included glass for the prescription. About the SW it could be that I should invest in the Xreal beam to get the full potential of these AR glasses. All in all, I’m just happy to finally get hold of a pair for a decent price.
if only they had some near sighted correction....
if they had some near sighted correction they would be 5 stars for sure, for the price they fit better than other glasses i tried for twice the price.
there’s a slight “halo” effect around the primary image which usually you end up being able to ignore, but if you’re in a very bright environment it make the halo effect worse. one of my eyes is more near sighted than the other, which makes them easier to use but if they have some slight built in correction they would be awesome.
After mountains of research on AR glasses, I tested both Air and Air 2 Pro in June 2024, The current version of the Xreal Air is superior to the Air 2 / Air 2 pro. There is no blurring on the edges, and the comfort concerns are mostly solved with the new nose pieces included, in addition to being cheaper. It’s really pretty simple, the Air 2 is very bad at it’s primary function as blurry edges and effectively less FOV is in no way an upgrade, and in my opinion makes them essentially useless. Xreal needs to quickly get the Air 2 off the market and admit to the design mistakes they made with the screens, and get Xreal Air 3’s out that are the best of both worlds. The Air 2’s today sacrifice the core function of the product for some extremely minor changes.
For those of you making a decision today, the Xreal Air for $299 is the way to go. Spend the extra money on the Beam if you need it, and wait until the next iteration comes out.
New tech always has to evolve and mature but best so fa
These glassed are coming of age, but far from mature. Having to buy extra this and that’s to connect or use feature really isn’t good. I have the first model, but would advise to buy the most recent updated pro model if you can afford it as the improvements are needed.
My two main issues are that software is very much in beta stage and some functions are not fully available without expensive additional leads and devices. The android side (given you have high level device) is more accessible but far from mature and bug free. I would advise people to hold off for a year on buying and see if the ‘coming soon’ promises come true, and the products support and software mature for all platforms.
All that aside, when they do work it amazing and opens a new world of possibilities and paths for wearable displays.
ok after all that let me say that I have now installed updates and also side installed Mediashare app on the Beam directly. Which allows me to use my HooToo and Verbatim and Verbatim mini wireless share of harddrives (4tb ssd tested) and VLC (supporting HECV H265 compression) player. NO JAILBREAK required. And can also use my Note 10 wired directly or via beam.
Love my xreal Airs
So I was really concerned about buying these due to the large number of paid for YouTubers reviewing these and massive amount of marketing hype. But decided as amazon I can take punt and return if poor.
My use case is iPhone 15, iPad Pro, Mac Air M2 and Steam deck all with USB C output so no need for beam which does seem to get poor reviews. I wanted this to take in my camper for watching films and playing steam deck. I am a massive gadget geek and love latest tech etc and must say when I first put these on it was holy crap this is amazing.
So few points:
Picture to me is amazing I need reading glasses but don’t need when using these. You have to spend bit of time adjusting and getting picture where to want it. But edges can blur as screen is almost too big to fit in the narrow FOV, if you use steam deck there is a great decky plugin that does anchor screen and allows size to be changed so this is great.
In terms of picture size people are going to see this differently, if I sit in my lounge with 55″ TV 4m away the screen is easily double. But if you sit with a laptop in from of you yes the screen appears smaller, its all perception and I think if you understand this you will be pleased with size of display.
In bright daylight you really need the lens cover if watching films etc but general YouTube you can get away with.
Sound is not great on Airs, it’s ok for YouTube or quick steam deck game but best to use in ear buds.
Comfort with vary from people to people but I have large head and the rear ear piece with our cable digs in a little, I have put of glasses sleeve over and its now fine. I did get mine in the sale so if paying full price I would be tempted to go Air 2 as apparently this is improved.
I have sat and waited couple of movies with no issue and really enjoyed experience, you do get a little motion sickness but I have learnt to keep head as still as possible and also am now getting use to them and it doest affect me as much.
I have also tried them on Mac (note you need an M chip as will not work on older Intel Macs) and the 3 screen anchored setup is good but really limited by the FOV as this means you have to move your head around.
So to summarise I am really pleased with the xreals the picture is great for such a small portable device and for my use case think they give me a good quality large screen when needed. I am still tempted to get Beam to try just for the anchoring element but holding off to see how I progress with them long term. The field of view does limit these and if you are just doing bit of gaming or watching film they are great.
I purchased these at first to watch shows comfortably while traveling, and that expanded so much further! I’ve had a lot of military training over the last year, and I’ve put these to extensive use while away from home to watch shows from my phone and that eventually expanded to playing games on my PS5 while on longer trips away from home.
There are some noticeable blotchy points when streaming shows with a lot of blacks which I’m certain is partially the streaming quality in addition to the screen limitations, but the overall size and clarity of the image with games and high quality downloads makes that blotchy look disappear to an almost unnoticeable degree. I do find using the blackout screen to be a bit more tough on the eyes than just turning the brightness up and going without it, but it does have its uses in a brighter environment. I’ve found it very nice to walk around watching YouTube videos while cleaning, or being able to make a snack without having to stop whatever I’m watching.
I have used these glasses with the addition of the Beam device and I’ll say it’s definitely something that’s nice to have when playing games due to the amount of effort it takes to focus your eyes to the sides and center of the screen versus turning your head appropriately…but for shows, I haven’t felt it a necessary addition.
I purchased these glasses after an extensive amount of research into the competitors (Viture, Rokid, etc) and find I definitely don’t regret the end choice. Most reviewers of the three come to similar conclusions, the FoV, screen quality, sound quality, and overall aesthetic just make these glasses the winner above others. I’d say that the newer Air 2s are a slight upgrade and personally not worth the $100+, but the next iteration will likely be a worthwhile enough upgrade to go for.
I will suggest that you purchase glasses pad strips to replace the nose bridge nubs, the stock nubs leave red marks and produce a level of discomfort that the nose pad strips completely alleviates. If you travel and like watching shows and playing games anywhere, these are an absolute must have.
Prime member purchase.
Arrived on time, in good condition, and as described.
Works as expected. Needs the beam addon for the Nintendo Switch. Screen not as big as expected
Same as in picture.
Packaging was good.
Positive experience.
Recommended.
I love it because …whatever, I just love it ! If you never had anything like this this is a perfect starter ! The price is not over the roof and yet it does the job ! Simply connect to your phone and enjoy the future ! I’m using it on my phone ,watching Disney +,netflix ,appletv + ,amazon video,it works with Samsung dex mode as well! The dark side is …video streaming requires wired connection! YouTube works in AR mode but no app store on the nebula AR surface ! 4K 60Hz ,so your eyes will get tired ! Air 2 or air 2 pro has brighter projector with 120Hz that is better for the eyes ! After all , I’m quite happy with it ! It’s perfect even on the go ! Get one , you’ll love it !
This product is a display and speakers ONLY and the glasses need a usb-c video source to power on. I ordered Xreal beam also and it enhances the experience well. I will write another review for that separately. Without the Xreal you will be limited to only one display mode (where user is looking) and there is no orientation awareness.
This does work with iPhone 12Pro lightning port but you really need to look at your phone screen to often to get use out of them (e.g. face recognition or browsing) but you could watch streaming apps in full screen mode I guess. I used it to plug-n-play literally to Windows work laptop and detected as secondary display at 1080p resolution.
It took a couple days to get used to working like this as a developer used to 3 monitors. Visual Studio is totally usable with these. However when I am not at a desk with monitors it is the next best thing. The video quality is great, the brightness (adjustable from the glasses) is great even without the shroud. There is no lag whatsoever.
Glasses sit naturally on the nose with no complex adjustment out of the box for me (Caucasian nose). They are light weight and I have worked all day with no discomfort (skin denting is about same as wearing sunglasses). My eyes were not strained after 3-4 hrs without removing. The only viewing issue I have noticed is at the extreme peripheral corners of the display smaller fonts (approx. 6 pt.) are a little fuzzy without pushing the glasses closer to the eyes or un-natural wearing angle. Example windows OS date-time on lower right corner is a little fuzzy but readable.
Socially i have not noticed many stares (I wouldn’t care either) but sitting is meetings might be awkward. The speaker are audible from 8+ feet to others (so no privacy) but you could use ear pods for audio. I noticed people commenting that I was starring off (not looking at my screen) and this technology is new to most people. Therefore I was described, I look like a white Ray Charles (blind guy) talking to my self in public. This is like when blue tooth ear pieces initially hit our society and people seemed to go around talking to themselves but we don’t think much of it today. I think they fact these glasses can by overlooked as sunglasses in public are a positive.
As of Nov 2023 they were retail at 270$ which is comparable to a decent vesa monitor but you can pack up easily and take anywhere you go. If you work regularly away from your desk (I need a change of env to think sometimes) and feel you need a 2nd display to be productive then I would advise using these. They are comfortable glasses and portal decent display monitors. If you need more than that then definitely add the Xreal beam. Using the Xreal beam you can get 5+ hrs of use on the go also and you get more functionality than the glasses alone offer.
I’ve just purchased the VR glasses with the intention of linking up to the phone.
Firstly, it doesn’t have a battery and so the power comes from your device directly via cable. There is no blue tooth capability.
Secondly, is your device compatible with the glasses. Neither my older iphone is nor my only slightly old Samsung galaxy. Neither supported sadly and so I need to link up to the laptop.
When linked to the laptop, the screen display is simply spectacular. I’m wearing over glasses at the moment but the prescription inserts from Lensology are on there way.
I purchased the glasses with the possibility to lie in bed sadly I can’t do this unless I get a cable to laptop so a bit of a faff.
I already have the Oculus quest, but feel the display of the Nreal is much better. Though that said, I use the oculus for gaming activities.
It would be interesting if it were like a movie projector that had a large screen projection but disappointingly it is the same screen size as reality. It's not a going out to the theater experience and the advertisement is just photoshopped to make claims it doesn't deliver. I thought perhaps it at least should be portable and connected it to my cellphone but it is Thunderbolt to thunderbolt only and is not compatible lightning or small HDMI in android phones.. It is just turning your head seeing the screen, intrusive if you wear glasses, you either have to wear contacts or get lasik or inconvenience yourself with prescription. It's heavy, it doesn't charge. it's just a plug and the same exact screen with adjustment in brightness. Everything else is dark. It just needs a way to communicate with cellphones. Yet the screen may be tiny. You might as well just watch your cellphone and buy a doughnut stand. They should make something that attaches to your head and props the cellphone in front of your eyes so you can watch lying down. You'll look like an umpire but you won't hold the cellphone on top of your face, have it slip and fall on your head. The only way to use this device far away is to buy an expensive optic thunder to thunder wire. They cost hundreds to have a wire across the room. Youtube will have commercials and you can't skip. Prime video however, if you're willing to pay, is continuous without commercial. If you play video games and you use the wire that comes with it you can lie down and play video games and have pillows and blankets. With the 15 meter or 20 meter optic thunderbolt to thunderbolt wire you can be in your bedroom and lie in bed. If you have a large television then the projection is large. The optic wire costs 3 to 4 hundred dollars for the bedroom and its the screen of a computer not a cellphone. It connects to a PS4 and will have a large screen if your tv is large screen. It's inherently a change in viewing angle. Some couches have no headrest. Sitting up is not as relaxed as lying down. I suppose a video game where things happen all the time coming at you would be exciting. Some buy a video game chair if they rather play sitting up. It gets more and more costly since TV needs so many add-ons. Lying down you may snooze. I'll have to buy contact lenses. I don't know when I'll be a candidate for LASIK. I thought I had to return this but there are so many fees. I was going to buy a cheaper Tivo and then just buy a cable magazine, with articles and a guide to what's showing on cable in place of these but I found Tivo Edge which is less than 200 instead of the 500-dollar full-on Tivo. I can just subscribe to cable magazines because they are guides to the best of cable. It's 24 dollars for a year subscription to cable magazine and you can just buy a satellite TV dish for $3,000 and its TV cable and channels without the subscription to Fubo in Firestick. But Satellite service is a monthly fee of $200 like cable with TV channels.
It would be interesting if it were like a movie projector that had a large screen projection but disappointingly it is the same screen size as reality. It’s not a going out to the theater experience and the advertisement is just photoshopped to make claims it doesn’t deliver. I thought perhaps it at least should be portable and connected it to my cellphone but it is Thunderbolt to thunderbolt only and is not compatible lightning or small HDMI in android phones.. It is just turning your head seeing the screen, intrusive if you wear glasses, you either have to wear contacts or get lasik or inconvenience yourself with prescription. It’s heavy, it doesn’t charge. it’s just a plug and the same exact screen with adjustment in brightness. Everything else is dark. It just needs a way to communicate with cellphones. Yet the screen may be tiny. You might as well just watch your cellphone and buy a doughnut stand. They should make something that attaches to your head and props the cellphone in front of your eyes so you can watch lying down. You’ll look like an umpire but you won’t hold the cellphone on top of your face, have it slip and fall on your head. The only way to use this device far away is to buy an expensive optic thunder to thunder wire. They cost hundreds to have a wire across the room. Youtube will have commercials and you can’t skip. Prime video however, if you’re willing to pay, is continuous without commercial. If you play video games and you use the wire that comes with it you can lie down and play video games and have pillows and blankets. With the 15 meter or 20 meter optic thunderbolt to thunderbolt wire you can be in your bedroom and lie in bed. If you have a large television then the projection is large. The optic wire costs 3 to 4 hundred dollars for the bedroom and its the screen of a computer not a cellphone. It connects to a PS4 and will have a large screen if your tv is large screen. It’s inherently a change in viewing angle. Some couches have no headrest. Sitting up is not as relaxed as lying down. I suppose a video game where things happen all the time coming at you would be exciting. Some buy a video game chair if they rather play sitting up. It gets more and more costly since TV needs so many add-ons. Lying down you may snooze. I’ll have to buy contact lenses. I don’t know when I’ll be a candidate for LASIK. I thought I had to return this but there are so many fees. I was going to buy a cheaper Tivo and then just buy a cable magazine, with articles and a guide to what’s showing on cable in place of these but I found Tivo Edge which is less than 200 instead of the 500-dollar full-on Tivo. I can just subscribe to cable magazines because they are guides to the best of cable. It’s 24 dollars for a year subscription to cable magazine and you can just buy a satellite TV dish for $3,000 and its TV cable and channels without the subscription to Fubo in Firestick. But Satellite service is a monthly fee of $200 like cable with TV channels.
Watching reviews, people were completely blown away by this device. I was not, at all, but it’s still pretty cool.
The display does not look at all like a 130″ display. Rather, it looks a lot like VR, if you’re familiar with that. Like a really small screen but really close to your face, with visible “screen door effect” (individually visible pixels).
The display is very bright, and the colors really pop. The OLED is doing great work here.
Comfort – The device rests against my eyebrow so it’s not super comfortable, but also not unbearable after several hours.
There is kind of a small window for which you can see the display. It’s like looking through a large crack in a fence. Items at the top and bottom of the screen have a sort of “lens flare” and are somewhat difficult to see. As well as a sort of “flare” across the entire display, like the lenses are smudged, but they aren’t.
There is no kind of stabilization. This can cause you to become queasy if you move your head at all. Sometimes I try to move my head to see some parts of the screen, but the screen just moves with my head, so that doesn’t really work. The “XReal Beam” supposedly fixes this but I am undecided at this time if I want to spend another $120 to find out how that works…
I have a Google Pixel 7 which does not support DisplayPort out over USB-C, nor does my Lenovo laptop, unfortunately, but there is nothing XReal can do about that. Again, I have to option to buy the HDMI accessory to work with my laptop, but not sure if I want to spend the money at this point. So the only device I have that it works with is the Steam Deck.
It’s an excellent option for travelers, who don’t want to crane their neck down to look at a display on a table or their lap. Playing Steam Deck in bed with my head back with this thing is WAY more comfortable than leaning up and looking down and holding the device itself at an angle that is both visible and comfortable for my hands.
This is my favourite tech at the moment.
Please note, these are not VR glasses.
Using with PC:
You need to plug it into a usb-c port or buy a converter from usb-c to hdmi if your PC doesn’t have a usb-c port.
For Windows, it will just replicate the screen so you can use it as your main display. The screen remains in front of you, even when you move your head.
For Macs, you can download and run XReal Nebula software which let’s you create multiple virtual desktops that can be pinned in virtual space.
It looks excellent.
They are still developing the Windows version.
Android phone, you will need to download XReals Nebula app. This has two modes. You can duplicates the phone screen or you can open a virtual environment where you can open apps that can be resized and moved in virtual space. This is currently limited to a few apps, but I use the browser and You Tube mostly. It’s a really nice experience.
If you buy the XReal Beam then this let’s you connect to your PC and resize and pin your screen in virtual space. I have a gaming PC setup without a monitor. I use these glasses as my main monitor and play games with a very large virtual screen.
It’s a bit pricey if you included the XReal Beam, but I love tech and it’s a great experience especially with games and movies.
Lastly, note that XReal are actively developing this and it’s software. I am looking forward to when Nebula is available for Windows.
The reason for purchasing these glasses is the promise of multiple, large screens. This requires an extra application from XReal called ‘Nebula’. However, I had missed that for Nebula to work, the host device must have an NVidea graphics card. My host device is a Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 which has an AMD graphics card so is not compatible. As a result, I’ve returned them.
However, these glasses hold out great promise. In their basic configuration they present a copy of a desktop screen in the air. The screen is HUGE. The glasses were comfortable to wear. Normally I don’t need to wear glasses for close work like reading the laptop screen. However, the huge screen presented by the XReal glasses appears 3-4 metres away. At that distance my vision does need some help. Fortunately, it was possible to wear the glasses over my regular spectacles so it was possible to see the large screen clearly.
The glasses didn’t work for me, but if you have a laptop with an NVidea GPU or a high-end mobile phone (I don’t have one of these either) they may work for you. It is surprising the glasses don’t support half the GPUs out there.
Tenia mis dudas de comprarlas, pero sin duda son las mejores del mercado, han solucionado sustancialmente el problema con los sensores de movimiento. Sin duda tener las 3 pantallas virtuales para trabajar en tu computadora es otro nivel.
I originally bought these both as a comparison and a temporary stop gap while I waited 2 weeks for my VITURE One glasses to ship from China. During those 2 weeks, I got full days long tests for these. I used them on my iPhone (with the extra suggested adapter), Steam Deck, and Macbook Pro laptop.
I was visiting my parents for a week and, as they have no monitor nor room for a monitor, my primary development monitor was the XREAL Air glasses. I worked in these for 8 hours a day for 5 days. And it worked surprisingly well. Given that they are only 1080p, I had to zoom out to shrink the text on my code development low enough that I could see 2 columns of code in the glasses. However, the view was always clear and sharp, if a little pixelated.
Using them with the Steam Deck was always solid. I have played 15-20 hours of No Man’s Sky in these and the only difference from playing on my PC running at 4K with a RTX 4070 Ti is that the graphic fidelity is obviously lower. But the gameplay is just as smooth and I can accomplish all the same missions and tasks as on PC.
The experience on the iPhone was probably the most rough because the bulky, awkward adapter makes it basically impossible to use with the phone in your pocket as it will awkwardly droop out of your pocket with the heavy end of the adapter flailing out. I mainly use the iPhone adapter by laying the iPhone flat on a table face down while I do the long ritual of brushing my teeth for some orthodontic aligners I’m wearing.
Then, finally, after 2 weeks my VITURE One glasses arrived and I fully expected to be ready to replace the XREAL Air glasses with them. To my surprise, I did not. The VITURE One glasses had the following advantages I fully expected:
– Much more solid and protective case
– More comfortable and stylish frame
– Better dimming when not using the face shield
– Higher quality, more isolated sound
– Seemingly cooler running temperature
– A technically sharper and more high resolution image
However, there was one huge problem: no matter how much I fiddled with the dials and nose attachments on the VITURE One, I could almost *never* get a completely clear image. Fringing and blurriness was rampant. There is *no way* I could have developed in these for the 8 hours a day 5 days a week like I did with the XREAL Air. The text simply would never have been clear enough. And even on No Man’s Sky on my Steam Deck, there was an unacceptable amount of blurring on text in the inventory screen that would have driven me mad. If all I wanted to do was watch movies and play games with no text in the interface, the VITURE One may have been fine. But for reading text, the blurriness was unacceptable.
Also, the VITURE One didn’t come with the face shield, meaning there was always some light pouring through even with the dimmer active. Not to mention that I had to activate the dimmer *every time* I plugged them into a device. After a week of total darkness clarity using the face shield on the XREAL Air, that was also unacceptable.
Popping the XREAL Air back on after fiddling with the VITURE One for an hour, the difference was immediate. No fiddling. No adjustment. Just an immediate, completely lucid picture, if slightly more pixelated.
So much to my surprise, I will be sending the VITURE Ones back and keeping the XREAL Air. From the only comparison video I could find, the XREAL Air also has this no-fiddle clarity advantage over other XR glasses like TCL. As far as I can tell, these are currently the best on the market. Also, at the time of this review you can get them in a single day rather than waiting 2 weeks, which is a nice bonus.
Edit: If you would like a snap case that is better than the stock one, the Oakley Large Metal Vault is the only one I have found on Amazon that is big enough. It is hard shell, providing much better protection than the soft, flimsy stock case. And since it snaps open and closed, you don’t have to fiddle with a zipper every time you use the glasses.
Got my XReal Air this week, thought I’d post a short review. Tl;dr – great piece of hardware, not-so-good piece of software.
Before launching into the review, I should be clear about my use case: I was looking for a small portable monitor that I could use for work an entertainment when I’m traveling instead of a small screen.
Packaging and in-the-hand – The XReal comes in a small box that contains the glasses, cable, and nose pieces in what is roughly the size of a large sunglasses case. Portability is definitely there! The packaging is classy and professional, and so are the glasses and cable in the hand. They feel (and look) solid, and well made. Buttons on the glasses are responses and the cover accessory snaps on firmly. Grade: A
Plugging in for screen mirroring – The glasses work with both my laptops, my samsung tablet and my Sony 5 iv (it is not on compatibility list, but it does work). You can use all these devices without touching Nebula to mirror your screen and it just works – plug it in and you’re away – mostly. I have noticed on my phone that netflix appears to only play downloaded titles, not titles streaming. I assume this is a DRM restriction of some type; I have not experimented with other streaming apps yet. Grade: B+
Plugging in with the app – Nebula sucks, I’m sorry to say, it just sucks. The idea of being able to control/shift the screen is great, but it promises more than it delivers because a) it has no apps beyond YouTube that you would ever use, and b) many streaming and other services will not work in the Nebula browser. I’m also a bit iffy on routing, for example, my email and especially my work office 365 through a browser from a vendor I don’t really know much about. So you can’t stream in the Nebula app, at least not with anything I tried, and I’m not comfortable doing anything else in the browser. I don’t know what the answer is here, or if there is an answer. What would be ideal is be if Nebula functioned almost like a launcher that transformed my android homescreens, but still ran the actual apps, but it just doesn’t work that way. It’s a bummer, and I think it’s something that puts a lot of people off because the advertising really promotes a different user experience. I don’t care over much, but if you were invested in that experience you would be unhappy with this device. Grade: D
Viewing experience – It’s great! At least for me. Screen is crisp and legible. I can use this for work and for play, typing emails etc is no problem after some minor adjustment. The brightness levels are good, though colors do appear to be a little over-saturated to me. I can really only compare this to my metaquest 2 – which I could never even hope to use for work and isn’t really that enjoyable for watching shows due to the pixellation and ‘screen door’ effect. There is not of that here. Screen is crisp and great to watch. Do experiment with the angles on the arms and nose piece. I have found it’s best for me if they are almost angled slightly “up” off my face. The speakers are fine, I prefer using bluetooth headphones, however. Grade: A
Comfort – Not bad. In bed, there is no discomfort and I can wear these for quite some time. Sitting up, and the nose pieces do pinch the nose after a while, they could be a little larger/softer. Also, I have quite a small head, the arms are wide enough for me, but if you have a large head I imagine you could mind them a little pinchy after a time. I had no problems with headaches or anything like that from using them. Grade B
Overall, I really like this device and it meets my needs perfectly. I do think the advertising grossly oversells what you can do with them because screen resizing, head tracking etc only works in the app – and virtually nothing useful works in the app. However if you are looking like me for a portable monitor, they are terrific. B+
I believe the product is a great product with some exceptions. I love the fact that I can use the app to get into a true AR experience its phenomenal. the software is rather lacking however and very limited. so let me start by saying without the app you don’t get a true AR experience it just mirrors your screen into your FOV which is fine if you just want to see whatever your plugged into however this experience is lacking because the image is in the middle of your FOV blocking everything in your vision and I personally found in this mode if you’re in a bright area it can make you feel slightly sick. this mode is perfect if you want to just watch a movie in the car or something. the app allows you to run multiple screens and move them around in AR which is FREAKING AWESOME if the app itself didn’t blow. the web browser is different from the one on your phone, so you have to resign into everything. there is no real support for any games so there are like 4 AR games you can play. the other thing I didn’t like was when I’m watching a movie I would like to play on my phone. NOPE your phone is a now a mouse pad you minimize the app/or put your phone to sleep it will restart the ar experience which really is a buzz kill because you cant even emulate your apps in the ar space. the other issue is the ar experience needs a FOV mode where I can move windows around in my field of view instead of in a 3d space. it would make these things a 5/5 for me honestly. if they did this you would be able to walk around and do stuff while having your show take up a little of your vision so you can still see while walking around. with the current modes wherever you place your screen thats where it is so if you place it right in front of you and you have to turn around it will no longer be in your vision and I think thats a pretty big thing for this type of technology.
even though I focused on the bad things in my review I don’t think this product deserves the bad reviews it has gotten. it’s amazing and the technology is there even though the screen is a 1080p 60hz screen it looks really good. some of the reviews I have read were just people not doing a little research WHICH is on the manufacturers, but they could still attempt to figure it out. if you have a Samsung phone turn off Dex by pulling down your notifications and pressing the Dex button. this will make the glasses work the with phone and software a lot better. the speakers are okay, they are too quiet for me so I would either wear headphones or Bluetooth into a speaker. if you have an older phone or a secondary phone that you can solely use on the glasses its nice because then you can play a game or something on your main phone and have a movie up on the glasses. I havnt tried it on my pc or anything else just mobile so I cant say what the experience would be like.
If you’re buying then for your steam deck wait! When you have 50% or less battery they can cut in and out and it will drive you insane thinking there broke amd as of right now there’s no way to charge your phone or other devices while using them but in July 2023 some expensive options are supposed to be released ($100+) HOWEVER they are extremely nice to watch TV on from your phone or something like that, I’ve had no issues with using them with my phone yet, the arms do fit wierd on your head and kinda hit a spot behind your ear but for the most part comfortable, I would watch a few YouTube videos going over them and take everything they say with a grain of salt because there probably sponsored, but all that to say they have there uses and it’s kinda up to you if they meet your criteria, if you fly a ton 10/10 would buy or if you a passenger on long drives
Edit: leave honest and to the point reviews on issues they are listening and take the reviews we leave seriously and try to adapt there or resolve the issue or both so leave honest reviews this company is going above and beyond, I say that regarding my review they reached out with a way to address one of my biggest issues
1. Shutdown normally on your Steam Deck (select “”””Shutdown”””” in the “”””Power”””” menu).
2. Press and hold the Volume “”””+”””” keys and press the Power button at the same time, this will start the BIOS menu.
3. Navigate to the “”””setup utility”””” using the cross and A keys.
4. Navigate to the “”””power”””” menu. 5.
Select “”””battery storage mode”””” and confirm. 6.
6. Connect the power and restart the device, then the setup is finished.
Hope these steps can help you solve the problem.
This is to address the power issue woth steam decks
Edit 2: this is a review comparing the rokid max and xreal air glasses, the xreals picture quality and comfort is better, the rokids picture had a very harsh fish eye effect on the edges no matter what I tried wether nose piece or focusing nobs, now over all I think the xreals are better but ill add a few pros of rokids because I believe in honest reviews the rokids have a focus adjustment nobs for each eye making my mother very happy for reading without readers I should note the fish eye issue only presented it self when plugged into a console, that being said for a phone screen it was perfect, and they have some wireless capabilities but only air casting which with xreal newest release it blows the wireless of rokid out of the water so my honest opinion is if you get a pair get the xreal or wait for the next model which takes user input into account either way I don’t think you can lose with xreal