Review: TCL RayNeo Air 2 XR Glasses

The TCL RayNeo Air 2 XR Glasses offer a big screen you can carry in your pocket for gaming, watching videos, or working wherever you are. They project a floating display into your vision, boast stereo sound, and can plug in via USB-C to mirror smartphones, laptops, and other devices. But this mixed bag of mixed reality is a bare-bones package with some familiar flaws.

Jumping into an increasingly crowded XR space, the confusingly named TCL RayNeo Air 2 XR Glasses (there is no first-generation RayNeo Air) replaces TCL’s Nxtwear S. These glasses are primarily designed for entertainment, giving you a large (up to 201-inch), translucent, portable screen, but they can also serve as augmented reality (AR) glasses if you can find an app you like. They improve on TCL’s previous releases and are competitively priced, but I'm still not convinced AR is ready for prime time.

The TCL RayNeo Air 2 XR Glasses weigh 76 grams and are relatively compact, with an elegant design that includes a USB-C port at the end of the right stem plus two physical buttons—a rocker on the left for volume and a rocker on the right for brightness. They could just about pass as a pair of chunky shades, and they draw power from whatever they plug into.

The nosepiece is malleable and can slide through three positions, and you can adjust the angle of the stems to help you find that sweet spot where the virtual screen comes into focus. For me and my oversized honker, that meant sitting the glasses quite far forward on my face, which looks silly and reinforces the fact these are not regular glasses.

Photograph: TCL

Folks that need them can get a tiny pair of prescription lenses for the TCL RayNeo Air 2 XR Glasses that clip on the inside magnetically. Finding a comfortable viewing position is a problem for all XR glasses, but I really struggled with the RayNeo Air 2. I much preferred the interchangeable nosepieces that came with the Viture One XR and missed the diopter dials above each eye to fine-tune the focus.

TCL has gone with a one-piece, mirrored shade on the front that makes the RayNeo Air 2 XR Glasses feel and look like cyberpunk sunglasses. It is easier to see the screen with a darkened backdrop, but most manufacturers offer a detachable shade. I always take the glasses off when I’m not actively watching something, but some folks may find the permanent shade annoying.

You're stuck with the USB-C cable running down behind your ear, but the end that plugs into the glasses is angled to keep it out of the way. I found the right stem got a little toasty after wearing the glasses for a while, and the bridge of my nose got a bit sore because of the awkward position I had to negotiate to keep the screen in focus.

To use the RayNeo Air 2, you need devices that support DisplayPort or USB-C Alt mode. The Google Pixel 8 and OnePlus 11 don’t support it, but plugging directly into the Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 worked fine (Samsung and Motorola phones support the standard). For older iPhones with the Lightning port and other devices that don’t support USB-C Alt mode, you will need a MiraScreen Adapter ($99). It doubles as a power bank and acts as a middleman between the glasses and your device, and it enabled me to use the RayNeo Air 2 with my Pixel 8 and iPhone 14 Pro, but it's an expensive extra if you need it and means faffing with another cable. The Mirascreen Adapter also doesn't have HDCP, which means you can't use streaming services like Netflix with it.

These glasses also work with MacBooks, Windows laptops, Chromebooks, tablets, and game consoles, like the Steam Deck, provided they support the DisplayPort USB-C Alt mode. (Check before you buy.) TCL is also working on a JoyDock accessory that will enable you to use the glasses with your Nintendo Switch.

The Sony Micro OLED displays here give you a virtual screen that goes up to 201 inches at 1080p resolution. What has been enhanced, compared to TCL’s first-gen Nxtwear S glasses, is the refresh rate—up from 60 Hz to 120 Hz—and the brightness—up from 400 to 600 nits. The display is reasonably sharp, colorful, and smooth.

The enhanced refresh rate is most telling when playing games, and it really helps to keep the action smooth. Playing mobile games like Asphalt 9: Legends is a lot of fun with the TCL RayNeo Air 2, but 15 minutes of gameplay drained around 10 percent of my phone battery. If you are using these glasses on a trip, you will likely want a good portable charger with you.

Watching movies or TV shows works OK, but even with the enhanced brightness and shades, you need a plain, dark backdrop for the best results. I watched Watchmen on Netflix and had to crank the brightness up, even though I was inside on an overcast day. Dark scenes were hard to make out, and if you don’t have a plain backdrop, you'll see your environment poking through.

While the center of the screen is completely fine, there is noticeable blurring around the edges. It feels a bit like sitting too close to a big-screen TV. When you are mirroring your connected device’s screen, it determines the aspect ratio. With the devices I tested, the content was often cut off at the edges or bottom of the screen.

You may want to use the TCL RayNeo Air 2 XR Glasses for work. Stuck in an airport or working somewhere temporary, I can imagine plugging them into my laptop to get more screen real estate and some privacy, but it’s not the most comfortable experience.

The crux of the issue is I would not want to wear these glasses for an extended period of time. Some games induce motion sickness for me, and it’s worse if your backdrop is moving. The disconnect between the onscreen action and the real world is jarring, and I strongly recommend trying before you buy. It’s not so bad if you can sit still with a plain backdrop, but it could be a problem if you want to wear the TCL RayNeo Air 2 XR Glasses in public places. You will also draw some puzzled looks, as the one-piece mirrored shade is far from subtle.

The stereo sound won’t bother folks around you unless they are sitting too close, because it is very quiet. Unfortunately, there’s quite a bit of distortion if you crank the volume up, and it creates vibrations along the stems. A decent pair of earbuds is always better, but headphones may be tricky to wear on top of these glasses.

If you want more than the ability to mirror a screen, you can try the RayNeo XR app. It's a mixed reality space that turns your connected phone into a pointer and touchpad. You can navigate around, watch videos (including some 360-degree content), log into some of your own streaming services, and play games. It works, but it feels like a rough tech demo, and the content is limited.

The lack of a killer app is preventing XR glasses from taking off. Some folks may appreciate subtitles for real life, but many of the most enticing features for augmented reality, like the Perceptus platform, require a camera, and the TCL RayNeo Air 2 XR Glasses don’t have one. They could be handy for watching something different when your partner is using the big TV, or for flights and commutes, but the experience still isn’t good enough that I would choose the glasses over a proper screen.

These are the third pair of XR glasses on the way from TCL, and the more AR-focused TCL RayNeo X2 glasses are also coming soon. Other options include the similarly specced Xreal Air 2 Pro, which is a little bigger and more expensive but more effective at blocking out the background world with nifty electrochromic dimming. You could also cross into virtual reality with the Meta Quest 3 (8/10, WIRED Review), which offers a more mature platform with unique content.

The TCL RayNeo Air 2 XR Glasses come in cheaper than most of the alternatives, but you only really get a cable in the box. There’s no hard case (just a cloth bag), and they aren’t as comfortable as competitors. They do offer a broadly similar experience of this fledgling space, allowing you to dip a toe into the world of XR glasses, but I’d wait for the water to warm up before jumping in.