Verdict
With an implausibly bright , clear , fast , and crisp micro - OLED display inside , the XReal Air 2 Pro overbold glass are perfect for certain scenario . When you seek to practice them for anything more than electrostatic content or without a smart equipment , however , they start to feel overpriced and out of their depth .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Xreal Air 2 Pro smart glasses look to improve upon earlier rendering from Nreal ( now Xreal ) with brighter , more beautiful internal displays and smart electrochromic dimming capabilities . But is it enough to warrant an rising slope , or is this only a more urbane ware than what came before ?
Next to the emerging smart glasses corner , these tv - in - your - center frames are incredibly impressive . The screen tucked out inside them proffer superb trope quality .
But if you think they ’re out to become your go - to wearables outside of the firm , you ’d be mistaken . catch the fit right is difficult , with only so much modification allowed . And if that give out you , the whole experience just wo n’t go your way .
Unless your utilisation casing suits these £ 449/$449 specs to the tee , they ’re too picky to recommend to a broad consultation wholeheartedly . However , if you need to tie in a Steam Deck and biz the night aside , they might be brilliant .
Design and fit
At 79 grams without the necessary cable attached , the Xreal Air 2 Pro wise ice are n’t on the dot lightweight . They ’re acquit the weight of two small screens deep down , after all . But with no internal bombardment and most of the processing done in an extraneous gimmick , the ponderosity may still surprise you .
These thick dark frame look almost like gag sunglasses out of the loge . The intellect for that , though , is much down to the obliterable front refinement that creates a flush look where there would usually be a note between the lenses and skeletal frame .
Designed to blockade out more lightness to increase immersion , you may easily pop it right off to have the Xreal Air 2 Pro frames expect a little less cartoony – and ready for some light miscellaneous reality use .
With three different size of it of nose pad include and even a prescription drug frame insert , there are a couple of adjustments you may make to have the Xreal Air 2 Pro frame of reference fit nicely on your face . They ’re tucked away in the boxful , snuggle into diminutive composition board pockets that are easy to lose , but they ’re a novel ( and welcome ) addition .
There ’s a cock include to switch between them , but you may wiggle them free with some light pull . That makes it all essentially toolless , which is always nice .
That say , I could n’t find a twosome of nose pad that would the right way meet my snout . Not because they were n’t comfortable – they ’re quite nice , really – but because they lifted the frame too far up my face .
There ’s a very specific viewing slant you involve to maintain for the micro - OLED displays to be fully visible , and unless I had the glass sitting on the tip of my nose , nip my nostrils and peering down at an uncomfortable slant , I could never see the full pic with the cut-in .
The only affair that wreak for me was removing the nose pad entirely , which while getting the job done , meant the top of frames were always sitting directly on my brow , brush my eyelashes whenever I needed to stare at the top of the 120 - inch covert projected straight into my eyeball . It ’s useable , but not neat .
Even adjust the slant of the tabernacle by cracking them up or down ( which I do n’t feel was well document , and feels ugly to do ) could n’t salvage thing .
Smart features
The Xreal Air 2 Pro shabu treat very little on - twist . The enceinte lifting is all make do by whichever gadget you hook up to them . They ’re essentially just screens and speakers pig out into a wearable frame . On their own , they ’re not even equal to of turning on .
Getting up and running means connecting the angled side of the include USB - C overseas telegram to the bakshis of the left temple , with the other end plugging directly into a gadget . Which equipment is only up to you , but it needs to supportDisplayPortoverUSB - C.
Most advanced laptop computer and portable personal computer like theSteam DeckorROG Allywill do this without outlet , butAndroid phonesandtabletscan be a small hit or miss . It ’s a feature mostly locked to the more expensive models and rarely document . For recent Apple gadget with USB - century like theiPad ProoriPhone 15 , it ’s secure n ’ gambling . Connect the two up , slap the glasses on your face , and you should have a 2d presentation quick to go .
In this way , the XReal Air 2 Pro glasses can display a smooth120Hz1080p image right in front of your heart . compare to theolder versionsof the Xreal spectacles , themicro - OLED screenland is physically small , making it basically more power - effective and colouring material - accurate .
It can also get brighter at a suppose 500nitsrather than 400 , which can be tweak in incremental stages with the brightness / intensity rocker under the right temple . It ’s still an 8 - bit non - HDR video display , but you honestly would n’t acknowledge . It looks fantastical .
On the Xreal Air 2 professional specifically , you may use the electrochromic lenses to allow more light through the frame . This room , you may see through them to a certain point . You ’ll still have a hulking display in front of you , but the fancy feature can be used with specific setups and accessories to allow for light mixed realness use . More on that in a bit .
Audio
but managed through two speakers , top and bottom on either temple , the Xreal Air 2 Pro ’s audio game is solid but not exemplary . Next to the Huawei Eyewear 2 , it lacks bass and sometimes volume which , ease up these are designed for giving that celluloid experience , feels a tad underwhelming .
Interestingly , audio playback was choppy when connected to my iPad Pro . The picture was as sharp as ever , but sound come back through were garbled . It was a one - off experience that I ’ll forgive , but it ’s something to keep in judgement . A new set of specification does n’t think all the bugs have been addressed . In fact , it could have been the iPad ’s fault . We ’ll likely never know .
All in all , there are just too few speaker to give the tawdry and full - bodied sound you might expect from a pair of specs claim to give that film experience in a midget , wearable form constituent . Other sound - focussed smart glasses , like theHuawei Eyewear 2andRay - Ban Meta glassescan birth a similar experience in a tenuous , lighter shape . The quality is far from being bad – there ’s just clear room for improvement .
Sound outflow is still present here at higher volume point , but it ’s relatively well - control when compared to something like the budget - orientedAJ01 smart sunglasses .
If it were n’t for the fact that you ’ll always be hooked up to another twist that can care strait through earbuds or cans , I ’d be need for a 3.5 mm labourer and Hi - Fi DAC in the next looping to crest off the private viewing potential the spectacles add themselves to .
Accessories
With only USB - C musical accompaniment out of the box , it take aim another accessory to enable broader compatibility between the Xreal Air 2 Pro and devices like biz consoles and senior Apple gadget .
In the simplest form , you may utilise the Xreal Adapter to manage this . It ’s a small £ 50 add - on that does lilliputian more than convert an HDMI sign to run through the USB - blow cable .
Again , because the Xreal Air 2 Pro crank hold in no shelling of their own , it ’s down to a 2600 mAh electric cell in the Xreal Adapter to do that , meaning you ’re always against the clock when hook up to something like a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X.
The adapter providing power means it ’s also subject of spark off the docked mode of a Nintendo Switch , finally permit for that connection as well . For iOS devices without USB - C , Apple ’s own adapter is required on top . It ’s a pain , but it ’s cheaper than the more adequate to option – the Xreal Beam .
The new resolution to the brain-teaser of the Xreal specification ’s deficiency of any national barrage fire or processing of its own is the Xreal Beam .
It ’s a solidly build power bank that offers the same connectivity options as the Xreal Adapter , but it also packs the processor needed to play prize apps and experience , potentially removing the indigence to tie a smartphone . With Miracast built - in , you’re able to still air depicted object over from your smart machine while it ’s in use – which is typically needed given the horrendous app support built into the thing .
In the UK , the Xreal Beam ship with only Netflix and Amazon Prime . In North America , I hear there ’s maybe Hulu . But that ’s it . There ’s no app store , and despite word of honor online that more apps are coming , there ’s absolutely no timeframe yield , which does n’t instil much promise . you could technically sideloadAndroid APKs , but no Google support intend YouTube is a no - go . Bummer .
Further to that , it ’s a loud slight twist . If you go for to watch a little Netflix in bed , the sound of the rooter spinning stand a better luck of keeping your mate alive than the sound leak . Sure , it bring in the Smooth Flow and Sideview projection screen modes with it , but there are far fewer levels of alteration here than with the Nebula app .
There ’s a lot of talk about apprehensible screen size and distance adjustment as well , but because you ’re typically watching things in a non-white , empty void , the mother wit of scale is paltry . You ’ll never guess it ’s a big cinematic show like you would in VR . alternatively , it ’s just a screen that fills your vision . Because these are shabu and not goggles , abstemious bleeding in from the side detracts from any spatial effects .
At £ 120 , it ’s likely cheaper than buying a earpiece that supports DP over USB - C if you do n’t have one already . Still , with software so barebones and underbaked , it ’s only worth the trouble if the few apps included are all you need and you be after on using it to hook up HDMI devices .
Otherwise , you ’re just creating a mess of cables that chance receive the Xreal Air 2 Pro glasses repeat the mistakes of other inapt VR headset .
MR experience
To use the limited mixed reality experience useable with the Xreal Air 2 Pro smart field glass , you need one of two things – the aforesaid Xreal Beam lend - on available at around £ 120 ( or more or less cheaper when bundled together ) or the costless Nebula app .
With no camera deposit into these , you wo n’t be snap picture and videos like with the Ray - Ban Meta specs as you go about your day in flair . Instead , the Nebula app essentially grow your glass into a sit - down hub for a well drug user experience when hooked up to an Android or MacOS machine . With no Windows or iPhone version useable as of yet , it give the Xreal Beam and Adapter accessory a reason to exist as well .
The app might experience like multiple adjustable windows in a 3D space , turn your phone filmdom into the accountant . You wo n’t be swinge it around to run Fruit Ninja like on a consecrate VR headset , but it ’s desirable for relaxing on the couch or in bed , ridding the demand to peer through the lense and at your earphone again whenever you need to assure your apps .
The app itself is relatively clumsy and barebones , however . If you want to watch YouTube without switching back and away between your devices , it works well enough . But without something as dim-witted as render a 3D outer space for a “ theatre ” view , you ’re often left in a blue abysm with a large screen stapled in front of you .
While you ’re in this , you’re able to toggle the electrochromic dimming of the lens of the eye so that you ’re able to position a screen in your periphery while you go about something like household task or preparation . Again , it work well enough , but it ’s still too cumbersome for prolonged use .
The real star of the show is how well the electrochromic dimming works in brightly fire up environments . The image is always shockingly clear , no matter the scenario .
However , it ’s not the most straight machine to apply . Aside from the deficiency of an Io app , differing screen sizes depending on what ’s being displayed and the deficiency of an app shopfront on the Beam , it ’s tough to get sure features and functionality to put to work .
In my quest to figure out how to get the advertised 120Hz refresh rate run on anything but a microcomputer , I had to turn to Reddit to get an response . Apparently , you need to manually enable it through a 6 - second press of the volume - up button . That same button does something else if pressed for only 3 . It beeps twice alternatively of once to bespeak the shift . But did it really work ? No . The search continue .
And that ’s the biggest gripe of the whole Xreal experience . It ’s muddied by unclear instructions and wispy ideas . I was still forecast things out workweek after receiving them . That ’s the opposite of intuitive , and an wry instance of indecipherable vision .
Right now , it feel like the squad is focus on tally half - baked feature to justify the high cost tag , when in realness , it ’s those wishful ideas that terminate up making the whole deal feel not worth the request price .
If Xreal could offer the same micro - OLED eyeglasses at half the cost , bake the adaptor in for HDMI financial backing , and market the package as a plug n ’ wager 120Hz screen on your font , I ’d have no charge . Alas , they ’re a gadget attempt to be too many things at once . A jack of all trades but a passkey of none , if you will .
Battery
As the battery of the XReal Air Pro 2 is actually whichever gadget you have it cop up to , runtime will vary greatly .
You might think power two micro - OLED screen would import disaster for your connected gimmick , but in practice , my Steam Deck suggest 5 + hours of playday in the strategy direction game Against the Storm . This was at a relatively low resolution and refresh pace , but it was enough to evoke that the Xreal Air Pro 2 only lightly sips power .
When swear on the Xreal Beam ’s 4870mAh jail cell , you could keep playing for around 3 - 4 hour of average use . All of this will depend on things like screen brightness , refresh rates , and the eccentric of content you ’re waste , which is why you ’ll get a similar amount of juice through the Xreal Adapter as well . The extra processing of the Xreal Beam is why that bombardment is a little bigger .
If you ’re not wiring up a plot console table or other twist , the second USB - C larboard is barren to charge the XReal Beam as you use it . Just be prepared for that rooter to kick into gamey gear . you may see the battery percentage on the app pick screen , but there ’s also a bully horizontal LED legal community on the face of the Beam that visibly fills and empty .
Without an let in courser alongside the Beam , you ’re left to bank on what is probable your phone or tab cud . If you ’re rock lightning Apple devices , that ’s another disbursal . Supporting up to 27w charging , you could juice it back up to full in around an hour . If you ’re casting media from another gimmick over the atmosphere , you may even rouse as you go .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
If you frequent trains , planes , or value your infinite , you might make out these for secret productivity . They ’re a great Steam Deck accessory , too , but they equal the price .
As much as they take to be mixed realness spec , the Xreal Air 2 Pros are still screens inside a frame and little more . package deception attempts to add value , but can actually sour the experience .
Final Thoughts
The £ 560 ask price for the Xreal Air 2 Pro and Beam combo is difficult to rationalize for most . It ’s unbelievable to have a brilliantly clear , private 120Hz 1080p OLED idiot box sit down on your bedside tabular array , but the scarce available software system features make it feel disjointed and overpriced .
These glasses will rightfully wait on those who can seldom use their TV or necessitate a great place - economize feature for a lowly rented distance . For anyone else , they ’re a luxury item you ’ll quickly grow timeworn of fiddling with , with an older , cheap ( or used ) model likely serving the very same purpose . They ’re really not that dissimilar .
As a speedy gateway into big - screen gambling with a handheld twist , there ’s reason to sleep with these glasses . But attempt any AR / MR feature or find the desire to hook up a home base console and the crack set out to show . If the thought of a big screen on your face make you woozy , weigh the cost ticket next to the mental cost of juggling those connections whenever you need to use the shabu over a traditional telly .
Trusted Score
How we test
When testing a pair of smart glasses , we good test all the uncommitted features , be that audio , camera technical school or even smart display , evaluating various facial expression like public presentation , stamp battery life and comfort .
FAQs
No , these need some sort of external gimmick to operate ( Smartphone / laptop computer , Xreal Beam , or Adapter ) .
Through a USB - light speed connexion , the glasses will support 120Hz , but this depends on the link up twist .
Mostly , the difference boils down to weight , the physical sizing of the screen inside , and the addition of Electrochromic dimming in the lens .
