These new smart glasses put a 500-nit, 330-inch screen on your eyes
Xreal is back with its second-generation smart glasses, the Air 2 and Air 2 Pro, which are even lighter with higher-quality displays.
Kass
By
Alan Truly
October 24, 2023 5:00AM 
XrealXreal (formerly Nreal) just announced the second generation of its popular smart glasses, the Xreal Air 2. The new model is even lighter and features brighter displays with higher density. The Xreal Air 2 is compatible with a wide variety of laptops, computers, phones, and gaming devices, providing a large virtual screen in a compact and easy-to-carry pair of glasses.
Like many similar smart glasses, the Xreal Air 2 are meant to replicate virtual screens right in your glasses without the need for multiple monitors.
Compared to the Xreal Air, the Air 2’s displays are 25% brighter, with better color fidelity. They should also be more comfortable and look more like normal glasses since Xreal managed to reduce the weight and thickness with the new design.
XrealThe detachable shades that dim ambient light look like regular sunglasses. A new Air 2 Pro model has adjustable electrochromic shades with three background dimming positions, including 99.9% black. There are black and red color options, plus Xreal’s Kaleido Kit offers a choice of six colorful skins to customize the appearance of your Air 2 smart glasses.
At just 72 grams (2.5oz), the Air 2 is 10% lighter than the original model. That might not seem like a big difference, but that weight rests mostly on your nose, with some on your ears, so every little bit helps. The earpieces now flex, which means they should fit more comfortably on various head shapes and sizes. Softer nose pads help relieve any pressure on your nose.
As a monitor and TV replacement, the Xreal Air 2’s screens need to be bright. They supply up to 500 nits of brightness, 25% more than the original Air glasses, while meeting TÜV Rheinland standards for limiting blue light and flickering to protect eye health. The refresh rate can go as high as 120Hz.
XrealUsing the latest Sony micro-OLED technology, color exceeds the SRGB color gamut with a display industry standard gamma of 2.2. The Xreal Air 2’s improved displays should look more like a large HD monitor, with proper contrast and color saturation.
Xreal says the view is equivalent to a 330-inch screen at six meters. That’s a subjective measurement, of course, since you might perceive the virtual screen as closer than someone else. A more accurate metric is the 46-degree field of view. A large HD screen fills your central view when plugged into a device that supports USB-C Alt mode.
Audio is reportedly enhanced to reduce sound leakage and improve spatial separation. Movies should sound better and become more immersive.
You can turn your head to see up to three virtual monitors near your laptop.
Like the Nreal Air, the Xreal Air 2 smart glasses work with Nebula, a virtual AR desktop app for the Mac and PC. With Nebula, you can turn your head to see up to three virtual monitors near your laptop. There’s also a Nebula app for Android phones, but it presents an ultrawide display that appears as you turn to either side.
Most of the smart glasses I’ve tested lack spatial awareness, so the virtual screen locks to the center of your view no matter where you look. That isn’t always bad, but it’s nice to have the option to turn away and interact with others.
In July, Xreal launched an accessory called Beam that makes its Air smart glasses compatible with a wider variety of devices and anchors one virtual screen in place. The Xreal Air 2 works with Beam and other adapters, so you can connect to most computers, phones, and handheld gaming consoles.
The Xreal Air 2 smart glasses are now available to preorder for $399 and should be on Amazon by November and should ship by mid-to-late November. Xreal will also offer an Air 2 Pro model that includes adjustable electrochromic shades and costs $449.
Editors' Recommendations
Meta’s AI smart glasses collection can live stream video — but they’re missing a big feature These AR glasses showed me the future of spatial computing — and I’m excited LG’s latest 4K monitor wants to be your smart home hub TCL’s wearable display puts a 140-inch screen right in front of your eyes Lenovo’s ThinkReality AR glasses can project virtual desktops into your eyes
Alan is a Computing Writer living in Nova Scotia, Canada. A tech-enthusiast since his youth, Alan stays current on what is…
This Alienware gaming PC with an RTX 4060 Ti is $400 off right now
Gamers should be extra careful when looking at gaming PC deals, as some cheap machines won't be able to meet the requirements of today's video games. That's certainly not the case with the powerful Alienware Aurora R15 though, which is available from Dell with a $400 discount that slashes its price from $2,000 to $1,600. It's not exactly affordable, but you should be ready to make a significant investment if you want a reliable gaming desktop like this one. You'll have to hurry with your purchase though, as we're not sure how much time remains before the savings are taken offline.
Why you should buy the Alienware Aurora R15 gaming PC
The Alienware Aurora R15 challenges the performance of the best gaming PCs with its 13th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti graphics card, and 16GB of RAM that's the recommended number by our guide on everything you need to build a gaming PC. Not only will you have no trouble playing the best PC games with these specifications, but you'll also be prepared for the best upcoming PC games. However, when you eventually need upgrades, it will be easy to swap the components of the Alienware Aurora R15 gaming PC.
HP Reverb G2 VR headset is $130 off for a limited time
HP's ongoing 72-hour flash sale isn't all about desktop computer deals and laptop deals as you also have the chance to get the HP Reverb G2 virtual reality headset with a $130 discount. That brings the device's price down to $469 from $599 originally, but with time running out on this opportunity to get it for cheaper than usual, there should be no hesitation. If you're interested in this VR headset, you should add it to your cart and check out immediately.
Why you should buy the HP Reverb G2 virtual reality headset
The HP Reverb G2 virtual reality headset, the product of a team-up between HP, Valve, and Microsoft, is in our roundup of the best VR headsets as our recommended choice for diving into Widows Mixed Reality, but it's also compatible with virtual reality and Valve's SteamVR. The device is equipped with four built-in cameras that track your movements without the need for external sensors, and with 2,160 x 2,160 resolution per eye for improved clarity and brightness while you explore virtual worlds. The VR headset also uses the Valve Index's speakers, which support spatial audio.
Khadas Mind is the most versatile portable modular PC ever
As a digital nomad or someone who likes the freedom and flexibility to work from anywhere, it’s unfortunate that there aren’t many options in the way of portable workstations. Comparing our options, a powerful desktop PC is too large, too heavy, and runs too hot to be convenient on the road. On the flip side, a portable 2-in-1 PC is too underpowered, perhaps good enough for presentations and painting with the touchscreen, but it’s not enough to do serious editing or design work as the screen is too small and a dedicated GPU is absent. Thus, no matter which combination of devices you purchase, be it a laptop, mini PC, 2-in-1, or tablet, you’ll always discover that the experience you’ll get is almost always less than ideal, always a compromise between performance, flexibility, and portability.
Furthermore, the need to juggle multiple devices to meet all our needs necessitates moving between a fully functional desktop and a device on the go, like a laptop, which can be quite jarring. File transfers and conversions take a lot of time, and often it is challenging to keep track of file versions between multiple devices. Khadas, the creative brand behind the innovative and upcoming Khadas Mind, understands this dilemma better than anyone and aims to change it. Fueled by a need to push the boundaries of innovation and user experience to deliver truly remarkable products, Khadas is now focused on applying its excellent single-board computer designs to the personal computer market to push the envelope of portability, flexibility, and performance.
.jpg&h=630&w=1200&q=100&v=3b33229c5c&c=1)
