I’ve been reviewing one in all XREAL’s newer releases of AR glasses: the XREAL One’s. These are definitely probably the most versatile pair of AR glasses I’ve tried out thus far, they usually truly actually come to life someplace you wouldn’t anticipate: the M4 iPad Professional working iPadOS 26. XREAL One are available at just below 3 ounces (84 grams), making them simple to simply carry round.
Why I take pleasure in them
Sometimes, when you concentrate on plug-in AR glasses, you’re utilizing it for one in all two issues. It’s both to reflect your telephone display to have a film or present on a large show, or to increase your laptop computer display – that approach you’ll be able to 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 dimension is nice for portability and pill utilization – it does fall a bit brief for productiveness when I’ve it hooked up to my Magic Keyboard typically.
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’ll be able to 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’ll be able to configure just a few choices on the glasses, however no app is required for setup, which I feel is sort 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 brilliant, they usually’re definitely very sharp. You get a 1920×1080 show per eye, leading to over 4 million pixels general. 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 supply electrochromic dimming, permitting you to regulate how a lot gentle can cross by means of with simply the clicking of a button. You’ll be able to both go “clear”, which permits all gentle to cross by means of – “shade”, which provides some extra tint, or “theater”, which fully blacks out the glasses. It’s very nice that you may successfully use these as a pair of fully secluded glasses, in case you’re open air or whatnot.
There’s additionally IPD-adjustment on-device, permitting you to tune issues in to your personal eyes. IPD (inter-pupillary distance) misalignments are the important thing purpose for movement illness with XR content material, so this is a crucial function. XREAL additionally totes built-in Bose audio system with help for Spatial Audio, although I’m personally extra of an AirPods man and sometimes don’t use built-in audio system on any of my units.
Standout options
Past that, XREAL One additionally supply monitoring. Most pairs of AR glasses that I’ve tried out simply anchor your show to the middle of your glasses, so in the event you transfer your head, your content material additionally strikes with you. Whereas that may be fascinating for sure use instances, it could possibly get annoying at instances.
With “Anchor” mode, you’ll be able to hold your show in a single spot, that approach in the event you flip your head to take a look at one thing else, your content material is not in view. There’s additionally a degree of monitoring concerned in “Observe” mode, so even in the event you want 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 supply the power to run an Extremely Large show. I haven’t used this function 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 every little thing they provide. I’ve all the time felt that wired AR glasses make quite a lot of sense, seeing as you get to chop the added price of on-board compute and battery. These positively nail quite a lot of key points of the expertise, and I’d completely advocate them in the event 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 worth hikes. They had been $499 once they launched, and nonetheless stay $499 right now. Different XREAL glasses have been impacted, however there’s no information on the XREAL One’s as of now.
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