On a bright sunny day in Cupertino, California, I settled into my seat, ready for the highly anticipated Apple WWDC keynote. As I unlocked my laptop and connected to Wi-Fi, I checked in on Slack, preparing for the live coverage of Apple’s announcements. This time, I introduced a new element to my event coverage routine: I plugged in the Xreal One Pro glasses into my MacBook and activated the dimmer feature. What followed was an immersive experience that transformed my live reporting with these smart display-enabled sunglasses.
For the next two hours, I utilized the Xreal One Pro glasses, which exceeded my expectations. They projected my laptop monitor with remarkable clarity, effectively eliminating glare that typically overwhelms laptop screens. This allowed me to simultaneously watch the stage presentation while managing my live updates. The experience became even more impressive when I activated the auto transparency mode. This innovative feature dimmed the world around me when I focused on my virtual screen and became transparent again when I turned my attention back to the stage. Although we may not yet have reached the pinnacle of truly useful everyday AR glasses, innovations like the Xreal One Pro are bringing us closer.
The Xreal glasses, like other devices in their category, connect via a USB-C cable to any compatible device. Essentially, they serve as a compact wearable monitor with integrated speakers. Whether you want to mirror your screen or use them as a second monitor, any device that supports USB-C video output is compatible. I've enjoyed watching movies on these glasses during flights, as they are both entertaining and portable. They have also proven helpful for work tasks, especially in cramped airplane seating where my laptop lid doesn’t always open fully.
Covering a live event required quick thinking and multitasking, and I’m pleased to report that the experiment was a success—largely due to the auto transparency mode, which I learned about from Norm Chan of Tested just before the keynote began. The Xreal glasses include three dimmable lens settings that allow the outer glass to transition from transparent to semi-dark and near opaque. While they don't completely block outside light, the dimmed lenses provide an impressively viewable image, even in bright sunlight.
Xreal's glasses are not ordinary eyewear; they incorporate layers of lenses, including prescription inserts that I added on top. This design allowed me to check messages and even shoot some spontaneous social videos to share with CNET's social team. Beyond transparency mode, the settings also allow for adjustments in screen size, projection distance, location, and whether the display is anchored or floating in my field of view.
I previously reviewed the non-Pro version of the Xreal One earlier this year. Compared to its predecessor, the Pro version features enhanced built-in audio and the ability to anchor the sharp 1080p microOLED display—making them significantly more effective as plug-in monitors for tablets, phones, or laptops, as well as handheld gaming systems like the Steam Deck. The Pro version is priced at $599, rising to $649 after June 30, and offers several advantages over the standard model.
The microOLED projection system in the One Pro projects downward from the top of the glasses into specially designed angled lenses, known as birdbath displays. The Pro lenses are flatter and smaller, reflecting less ambient light. Additionally, the Pro's wider display area offers a 57-degree field of view compared to 50 degrees in the standard model. While this may seem minor, it enhances the overall viewing experience, making the virtual screen feel larger and more clearly visible.
I also experimented with a compact plug-in camera called the Eye, sold separately for $99, which fits into the bridge of the One series glasses. While designed for future AI applications, it currently captures photos and videos, utilizing the glasses' 2GB of storage. Transferring images to an iPhone is possible by entering a transfer mode, making the glasses act as a USB camera. Although the process is somewhat clunky, it functions as intended. However, it's essential to note that these glasses do not support wireless functionality.
The camera captures decent quality images and videos, though they don’t quite match the performance of Meta Ray-Bans. Its primary purpose seems to showcase a feature that allows six degrees of freedom, enabling the display to remain pinned in space as you move around. While this capability isn't necessary for most of my tasks, it hints at the potential for future iterations to evolve into immersive 3D augmented reality applications.
Xreal's collaboration with Spacetop, a software suite capable of floating app arrays from laptops, demonstrates where the technology is heading. The anticipated Project Aura, Xreal's upcoming Android XR developer hardware, may further enhance these capabilities next year. For now, I would recommend skipping the camera and focusing on acquiring the glasses themselves, but I am eager to see how Xreal will leverage these features in future releases.
As I mentioned in my earlier review of the Xreal One, these glasses and their microOLED displays are excellent for watching movies. They also prove surprisingly effective for work tasks, allowing users to pin a display or create a semi-curved wide-angle monitor thanks to included settings. However, the 1080p resolution limitation becomes more noticeable as the display size increases, and I anticipate that future versions will address this with higher-resolution microOLED chips.
