Xreal One Smart Glasses Take on the Vision Pro — Here’s What It’s Like to Wear Them

In a midtown New York office, I perched a pair of tethered glasses over my own lenses and experienced a familiar yet strikingly innovative sight: a widescreen Mac monitor floating before me, hovering in midair. As I moved my head, the screen remained fixed in space, offering a dynamic experience typically reserved for high-end devices like Apple’s Vision Pro. But these were not Vision Pro headsets. Instead, I was wearing Xreal’s latest smart glasses, designed to cast large, spatially anchored displays from any device that supports video output via USB-C—be it a laptop, smartphone, or game console.

While Meta’s Orion project and Snap’s Spectacles hint at the future of augmented reality (AR) with wide-screen displays and 3D experiences, Xreal’s newest glasses deliver practical innovations now. They join a wave of increasingly capable smart glasses that are not only more affordable but also more versatile. From Meta’s Ray-Bans featuring emerging AI assistants to Xreal’s evolving display technology, the industry is witnessing the rapid refinement of smart glasses. However, the latest Xreal One glasses stand out due to their advanced display orientation features, hinting at the next phase of AR evolution.

For instance, the widescreen mode on PCs is particularly impressive. I tested it at home with my MacBook, where I spread my open windows across a gently curved virtual monitor. Though my field of view wasn’t wide enough to capture everything at once, I could focus on specific windows and shift my head to explore the rest. Remarkably, this immersive experience required no special software—just the Xreal One glasses.

The magic behind these glasses lies in a custom chip called the X1, which anchors the displayed images in space as the user moves their head. Slated for release on December 9 and early next year, the Xreal One and Xreal One Pro glasses feature this chip, enhanced by Bose audio, a field of view up to 57 degrees, and optional AI-ready snap-in cameras. This makes the Xreal One significantly smarter than its predecessors, embodying the company’s goal of creating a seamless display experience across various devices.

In an exclusive interview, Xreal founder and CEO Chi Xu highlighted the significance of their innovation. “We made these glasses with 80% of the

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experience, but at only 20% of their cost in terms of price, weight, everything,” he explained. He emphasized the X1 chip’s unique role in enabling universal three-degrees-of-freedom (3DOF) tracking on any device without the need for external hardware. This innovation required Xreal to build from scratch, filling a gap in the market where no existing solution previously existed.

Initially, the glasses felt like iterative improvements. Connecting them to my iPhone displayed a familiar sight: a widescreen view of The Last Jedi floating before me. Hooking them up to a Steam Deck produced an immersive gaming experience, and connecting to a laptop revealed a curved monitor interface akin to what I’ve encountered in VR. The difference? These experiences were delivered seamlessly through a single pair of glasses, ranging in price from $500 to $600. This affordability, combined with their versatility, made the glasses feel like a glimpse into the future of AR.

The hardware itself is impressive. The micro-OLED displays offer a resolution of 1080p, a refresh rate of 120Hz, and brightness levels of up to 700 nits, depending on the model. The field of view is wider than previous iterations, and the Bose-powered audio has been improved significantly. A key feature is the ability to anchor the virtual display in space, eliminating the need for additional devices like the Beam or Beam Pro, which Xreal previously required for such functionality. These glasses now work with any device—from PCs and Macs to Steam Decks and tablets—without the need for extra hardware.

Customization options have also been enhanced. A pop-up menu allows users to adjust the virtual screen size (ranging from 117 to 191 inches), the distance of the display (between 4 and 10 meters), and even engage an ultra-wide mode for PCs and Macs, expanding the screen to a massive 244 inches. These settings, accessible through buttons on the glasses, offer an experience akin to having a portable smart TV on your face.

Despite their advancements, Xreal’s glasses still fall short of the field of view offered by VR headsets or Meta’s upcoming Orion glasses, which boast a 70-degree field of view. However, Chi Xu remains optimistic, predicting that within the next few years, AR glasses will surpass 70 degrees, offering a more immersive spatial computing experience. For now, the 50- to 57-degree range provides a solid foundation for spatial display glasses.

One drawback remains the design of the lenses, which utilize angled, prism-like “birdbath” optics that add thickness. While the One Pro model reduces this bulk somewhat, the glasses still protrude more than standard eyewear. Chi acknowledged that true replacement for everyday glasses may still be five to ten years away, but he believes the current model is an excellent option for those seeking a portable display solution.

In sum, Xreal’s latest glasses represent a significant step forward in the evolution of smart display technology. With their affordability, versatility, and innovative chip technology, they are poised to play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between traditional displays and the future of augmented reality.