It’s pretty ironic that AR glasses, which promise to deliver you to augmented or virtual worlds, themselves require a brick-and-mortar experience in order to sell them. Because you’d have to try them on, to see for yourself how compelling or effective the visual effects really are. Without that experience, you’re just looking at press images and guessing at how accurate they are.
This month Chinese manufacturer Xreal released their new One and One Pro AR glasses. These feature Sony Micro-OLED screens and a built-in Bose sound system. And in contrast to Apple’s Vision Pro, the Xreal offerings resemble an ordinary pair of Ray-Bans, though they do sit off of your face a bit. (They can also accommodate prescription lenses.) They’re also a heckuva lot cheaper than Apple’s offering, at $499 for the One and $599 for the One Pro, versus the Vision Pro’s $3,500 asking price.
Here is the company’s depiction of what using them is like:
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As for the difference in the two models, the One Pro has slightly better stats than the One: A wider field of view, better image quality and clarity and enhanced brightness.
The One is expected to ship later this month, with the One Pro coming out early next year.
