I’ve been reviewing considered one of XREAL’s more moderen releases of AR glasses: the XREAL One’s. These are definitely probably the most versatile pair of AR glasses I’ve tried out to this point, and so they truly actually come to life someplace you wouldn’t anticipate: the M4 iPad Professional operating iPadOS 26. XREAL One are available in at just below 3 ounces (84 grams), making them straightforward to simply carry round.
Why I take pleasure in them
Sometimes, when you consider plug-in AR glasses, you’re utilizing it for considered one of two issues. It’s both to reflect your telephone display to have a film or present on an enormous show, or to increase your laptop computer display – that approach you may work with a a lot bigger floor than what a 14-inch show (give or take) would afford you.
Often, the iPad isn’t an enormous a part of the equation, however I discovered myself loving the XREAL One glasses with my iPad.
I personally use an 11-inch iPad Professional, and whereas that show measurement is nice for portability and pill utilization – it does fall a bit brief for productiveness when I’ve it connected to my Magic Keyboard generally.
The answer? XREAL One. Clearly, exterior shows exist too, however I’ve by no means been too eager on utilizing my iPad at a desk, seeing as I may simply use a Mac. XREAL One function a big high-resolution exterior show, and because it’s only a pair of glasses you may toss in your bag, they’re extremely transportable too.
Plus, with iPadOS 26 introducing windowing on all supported iPad fashions, having an exterior show is extra helpful than ever. The XREAL One glasses are fairly plug and play, so when you plug them into your iPad Professional’s USB-C port, you’re off to the races. You possibly can configure a number of choices on the glasses, however no app is required for setup, which I believe is kind of good.
Key specs
These glasses make the most of micro-OLED panels, much like those you’d discover on Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional. They get very vibrant, and so they’re definitely very sharp. You get a 1920×1080 show per eye, leading to over 4 million pixels total. The shows additionally run at 120Hz for easy visuals, and pack 600 nits of brightness – although they definitely really feel a bit brighter than that to me.
XREAL One’s provide electrochromic dimming, permitting you to regulate how a lot gentle can cross by way of with simply the press of a button. You possibly can both go “clear”, which permits all gentle to cross by way of – “shade”, which provides some extra tint, or “theater”, which utterly blacks out the glasses. It’s very nice which you could successfully use these as a pair of utterly secluded glasses, in case you’re outside or whatnot.
There’s additionally IPD-adjustment on-device, permitting you to tune issues in on your personal eyes. IPD (inter-pupillary distance) misalignments are the important thing cause for movement illness with XR content material, so this is a vital characteristic. XREAL additionally totes built-in Bose audio system with help for Spatial Audio, although I’m personally extra of an AirPods man and usually don’t use built-in audio system on any of my gadgets.
Standout options
Past that, XREAL One additionally provide monitoring. Most pairs of AR glasses that I’ve tried out simply anchor your show to the middle of your glasses, so should you transfer your head, your content material additionally strikes with you. Whereas that may be fascinating for sure use instances, it will probably get annoying at instances.
With “Anchor” mode, you may maintain your show in a single spot, that approach should you flip your head to take a look at one thing else, your content material is now not in view. There’s additionally a stage of monitoring concerned in “Comply with” mode, so even should you desire your content material keep in view always, there’s a little bit of gradual movement while you transfer your head round, so it doesn’t really feel like your content material is simply caught in a single place.
Final however not least, these glasses additionally provide the power to run an Extremely Vast show. I haven’t used this characteristic a ton, however it’s there if ultra-wide shows are your factor and also you simply haven’t bothered shopping for one.
Remaining ideas
At simply $499, these are definitely a exceptional worth for all the things they provide. I’ve at all times felt that wired AR glasses make numerous sense, seeing as you get to chop the added price of on-board compute and battery. These undoubtedly nail numerous key facets of the expertise, and I’d completely suggest them should you’re in search of a nicely refined pair of AR glasses with out spending an excessive amount of cash.
Fortunately, XREAL One’s haven’t but been impacted by tariff-related value hikes. They had been $499 after they launched, and nonetheless stay $499 at the moment. Different XREAL glasses have been impacted, however there’s no information on the XREAL One’s as of now.
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