Xreal's One Pro Intrigues Me In Ways Meta's Smart Glasses Don't

There I was, sitting connected nan sofa successful a nondescript suburban cafe, typing distant connected a MacBook Pro while staring disconnected into nan region pinch what looked to beryllium oversized glasses (which besides were conspicuously plugged into nan computer). To astir people, I astir apt looked a spot silly. Nobody really commented connected my setup, aliases possibly I was conscionable excessively focused to notice. From my perspective, I was looking astatine a monolithic 222-inch virtual show done Xreal's One Pro smart glasses, which was mirroring my laptop screen. 

Like a ocular type of sound canceling, nan glasses blotted retired nan chaos of nan cafe truthful that I could really ore connected penning this review. I could besides darken nan frames a spot to service arsenic pseudo-sunglasses, further removing distractions. This activity convention successful peculiar made nan thought of smart glasses look much compelling than thing successful Meta's failure-prone demo for nan Ray-Ban Display.

With nan One Pro, Xreal is adjacent to making nan dream of versatile smart glasses a reality. It's not trying to beryllium thing you deterioration each day, an aspiration Meta is desperately chasing — instead, it's meant for circumstantial purposes. Plug nan One Pro into your laptop and you tin usage it arsenic a virtual show cipher other tin see. Connect it to your telephone aliases tablet and you've sewage your very ain individual theatre wherever you go. You tin moreover hook it up to immoderate portable crippled consoles (but not nan Switch 2, unfortunately) to play connected nan move. 

Sure, nan Xreal One Pro still looks clunky, pinch its oversized frames, heavy arms and annoying USB-C cable. But astatine $650, it's besides importantly little costly than nan Apple Vision Pro and easier to recreation pinch than immoderate VR headset. And astatine this point, it's vastly much useful than nan Ray-Ban Display, since its displays activity crossed some of your eyes and tin easy mimic a full-sized TV aliases monitor. Meta's smart glasses tin only show you a very constricted magnitude of accusation successful its azygous screen.

To beryllium clear, that lines up pinch nan different usage lawsuit for each product: The Xreal One Pro is much of a show you deterioration connected your look while stationary, whereas nan Ran-Ban Display glasses purpose to overlay your real-time constituent of position pinch basal telephone notifications and services. Those frames are besides meant to beryllium much independent, allowing you to perceive to music, return calls and seizure photos and videos astatine a whim. But aft seeing Mark Zuckerberg and his squad effort (and mostly fail) to show nan Ray-Ban Display astatine its Connect developer conference, I besides deliberation nan camera-less Xreal One Pro avoids ethical dilemmas inherent successful astir smart glasses.

Should we normalize wearable devices that tin covertly grounds america astatine each times? And connected a applicable level, do we really want to locomotion astir pinch virtual notifications successful our faces each day? Personally, I deliberation we're amended disconnected pinch specialized devices that time off america successful control, and don't upend our full societal structure. 

At nan astir basal level, Xreal's One Pro smart glasses are conscionable virtual displays you tin deterioration anywhere. You tin unlock much augmented reality capabilities pinch nan $99 Xreal Eye camera accessory, but it’s not precisely necessary. The One Pro features dual 0.55-inch Sony Micro-OLED screens moving astatine 1080p pinch a 120Hz refresh complaint and a 57-degree section of position (FOV), nan widest we've seen yet from Xreal. Modern VR headsets for illustration nan Quest 3 typically connection a overmuch much expansive 110-degree FOV, but they besides trap you successful a acheronian void. 

The One Pro, and each of Xreal's frames, still fto you spot nan existent world extracurricular of its AR screens, and they don't artifact retired ambient light. But location are besides respective shades you tin usage to darken nan glasses themselves, which make nan virtual show look brighter and much distinct. At nan darkest level, nan One Pro tin look almost wholly black, thing that's awesome for movies. There’s besides a adjuvant car transparency mode that undims nan displays erstwhile you look distant from your virtual screen.

Bose mini-speakers are built into nan arms of nan glasses, arsenic good arsenic buttons for managing brightness and settings. A azygous USB-C larboard sits astatine nan extremity of nan near arm. I figured nan cablegram would beryllium a symptom during extended sessions, but astir of nan clip I quickly forgot it was there. Consequently, there's nary wireless support — thing I'm wholly good with, since that would inevitably require batteries and further weight connected nan glasses. At 87 grams, nan One Pro weighs astir nan aforesaid arsenic a platform of playing guards. It sat connected my look comfortably, acknowledgment to its sturdy chemoreceptor pads, and I was capable to deterioration it for hours without overmuch issue.

Since nan Xreal One Pro is fashioned aft sunglasses, they can't beryllium atop normal eyewear for illustration nan Quest 3 and different VR headsets. If you person a glasses prescription, you'll request to buy inserts from HonsVR, which commencement astatine $50. They're a spot annoying to install, but different they did a good occupation of letting maine spot nan One Pro's displays clearly. They do make sharing nan glasses annoying, though, since nan inserts will request to beryllium removed each clip you do so. I'd besides beryllium worried astir thing getting bent aliases surgery pinch changeless removals.

I mostly utilized nan Xreal One Pro arsenic a virtual show while moving connected laptops, but I besides recovered them incredibly adjuvant for watching movies and videos erstwhile distant from home. On nan galore occasions wherever I was stuck waiting for my family successful nan hellscape of a suburban parking lot, each I had to do was put connected nan Xreal One Pro, plug it into my telephone and I could beryllium watching thing connected a monolithic virtual screen. 

It was moreover much adjuvant while traveling. I could ne'er muster nan bravery to deterioration an Apple Vision Pro connected a flight, aliases warrant stuffing it into a bookbag. But that wasn’t a problem astatine each pinch nan Xreal One Pro, arsenic its bulbous walking lawsuit tin fresh almost anywhere. Having a portable virtual show you tin deploy instantly honestly feels for illustration a superpower.

As personification who's picky astir displays, I was amazed really bold and colorful nan glasses were erstwhile I cranked up nan brightness and inheritance shadiness settings. I'd decidedly emotion to spot what sharper 4K screens could look like, but moreover astatine 1080p per eye, nan Xreal One Pro delivered decently clear matter and elaborate imagery. Its built-in Bose speakers were besides amazingly clear while watching videos aliases playing immoderate inheritance tunes. (I would ever usage my AirPods Pro if I really wanted to immerse myself successful nan movies I was watching, though.)

In a pinch, nan Xreal One Pro were adjuvant gaming accessories too. At home, I’d alternatively beryllium staring astatine my 4K Alienware machine monitor, aliases nan Steam Deck OLED’s autochthonal screen. But for slower-paced titles, it was bully to crippled connected a ample virtual surface conscionable by plugging nan glasses into my Steam Deck. 

Getting nan instrumentality connected to nan original Nintendo Switch takes immoderate activity though, arsenic it only useful erstwhile connected to a dock and utilizing an accessory for illustration nan Xreal Hub. Unfortunately, nan Switch 2 doesn’t activity pinch nan One Pro astatine each correct now (unless you commencement daisy chaining USB-C and HDMI adapters). Xreal says its upcoming Neo accessory will connection video pass-through for nan Switch 2, but there’s nary connection connected erstwhile that will arrive.

The much I utilized nan Xreal One Pro, nan much impressed I was by its sheer versatility. Its only awesome downsides are its $650 value (up from $600 originally), arsenic good arsenic nan truth that you’ll ne'er look cool wearing it. And no, you won’t beryllium stepping astir while wearing nan One Pro, for illustration you could pinch Meta’s Ray-Ban Display. But hey, that besides intends you won’t person to interest astir group calling you a pervert for wearing spy glasses.