Review: Xreal Air 2 Pro AR Glasses

The Xreal Air 2 Pro are the latest augmented reality (AR) glasses to land on my face. As a second-generation device, they feature a raft of improvements, including a brighter virtual display with a higher refresh rate, enhanced audio, and some thoughtful tweaks that make them more comfortable and easier to use.

Before we dive in, it’s worth noting that Xreal used to be known as Nreal, but changed the name after Epic Games (owner of the Unreal Engine) sued for trademark infringement. Replacing the Xreal (Nreal) Air are two models of new AR glasses, the Xreal Air 2 and the Xreal Air 2 Pro. The only difference is that the Pro version features electrochromic dimming and costs an extra $50.

The Xreal Air 2 glasses could just about pass for a chunky pair of regular specs. The temples are thick, and you will likely need to wear them slightly further out from your eyes than other glasses to focus on the virtual screen, but they are relatively subtle as AR glasses go. The USB-C port is at the end of the left temple. You get a lengthy cable in the box and a hard case to safely store the specs.

At first glance, you could easily mistake the Xreal Air 2 Pro glasses for their predecessor. They are slightly lighter, down from 79 to 75 grams (the non-Pro version weighs just 72 grams). The temples are longer, with softer tips that curve around your ears. You also get three sizes of interchangeable nose pads, and the temples click through three angled positions. You can clip a prescription lens frame inside, though lenses will cost you extra.

Overall, I found the Xreal Air 2 Pro much roomier and more comfortable than the original Air glasses. You get a snap-on shade attachment that provides a dark background. Crucially, it also blocks light below your eyes, which is vital if you want to focus on the virtual screen, especially in a bright room or a busy cafe.

The Air 2 Pro features electrochromic dimming. Press the button on the right temple to cycle through three levels, making the glasses clear, 35 percent dimmed to keep an eye on the real world, or 100 percent dimmed to block light. It’s cool, but even at 100 percent, it doesn’t work as well as the simple clip on shade, and I don’t think the gimmick is worth the extra $50. The only other physical control on the Xreal Air 2 glasses is a rocker on the right temple that adjusts the brightness. Hold it down for three seconds, and it changes into a volume rocker.

The XReal Air 2 glasses rely on a pair of 0.55-inch Sony micro-OLED displays with a 1080p resolution and a maximum refresh rate of 120 Hz. Plug the USB-C cable into any smartphone, laptop, or gadget that supports DisplayPort (DP) output (USB Type-C Alt mode), and the Xreal Air 2 glasses mirror your screen. Don’t assume your device supports DP, because several recent releases do not. For example, the iPhone 15 does, but the Pixel 8 and OnePlus 11 do not.

The virtual display emulates a 130-inch screen a few feet away, though the aspect ratio depends on the attached device. Using the Xreal Air 2 Pro with a folding phone, like my Xiaomi Mix Fold 3 (7/10, WIRED Review), for example, mirrored the wide screen when closed and the larger square display when opened, which cut off a hefty portion at the bottom. It is tricky to focus on the whole screen, so the edges often appear blurry or cut off. You may also have to slide the glasses out further than you would normally wear them, which always looks silly.

Provided you use the shade or dimming and have a plain, dark backdrop, the virtual display is sharp, colorful, and bright, despite some average-sounding specs (100,000:1 contrast ratio and 500 nits maximum brightness). As a mirrored display, the Xreal Air 2 Pro glasses are solid, and you will appreciate the 120-Hz refresh rate if you are gaming with a smartphone or handheld, like the Steam Deck.

Because there’s no battery in the Xreal Air 2 glasses, they draw power from whatever they connect to. Playing Asphalt 9: Legends for 15 minutes chewed through 5 percent of my phone’s battery life. While that’s not great, it is better than most other AR glasses, and around half what the TCL RayNeo Air 2 (5/10, WIRED Review) drew. It’s probably the biggest reason to buy these over the first-gen model.

If your device lacks DP support, you can buy the Xreal Adapter ($49) or the Xreal Beam accessory ($119) to act as middlemen. Combine with Apple’s Lightning to Digital AV adapter ($49) for older iPhones or iPads, or with a USB-C to HDMI cable to hook up game consoles like the PS5, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch.

Xreal Beam

Photograph: Xreal

The Xreal Beam I tested also allows you to wirelessly cast from some devices that lack DisplayPort, though I could not get this to work with my Pixel 8. There are other reasons to pick up the Xreal Beam, though. It has a battery capable of powering the glasses for a few hours, and provides a simple set of navigation controls with a kind of D-pad, select, and back buttons. Most importantly, it enables you to resize and anchor the virtual display.

Using the Xreal Air 2 glasses to mirror your screen projects the virtual display front and center, but it moves with your head. Motion sickness can be a problem, particularly when gaming, as your brain struggles to sync the onscreen action and your real-world backdrop. Everyone is different, and your mileage may vary, but it’s a good reason to try glasses like this before you buy.

With the Xreal Beam, you can anchor the display in a fixed position, so it stays put when you turn your head. You can also resize screens (up to 330 inches or down to 20 inches) and slide them away or toward you. There’s a quick tutorial to walk you through it, and this customizability is vital if you intend to use the glasses for productivity tasks or you want to keep an eye on something off to the side while you go about your day. It also helps to reduce motion sickness. The catch is that the refresh rate in these modes is capped at 72 Hz, and the latency suffers, with dropped frames evident in fast-paced games.

Rather than bone conduction, the Xreal Air 2 has two open-air speakers at the top and bottom of each temple. They are passable for watching movies or gaming, but predictably struggle with bass, and if you crank the volume up, folks around you will hear the tinny sound.

Some manufacturers use the muddy umbrella term XR (extended reality) glasses, which encompasses VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality), and MR (mixed reality). But Xreal describes the Air 2 as AR glasses. Sadly, killer augmented reality apps are thin on the ground, and the Xreal Air 2 glasses lack the cameras required to effectively blend your virtual and real world environments.

One possible gateway into AR content, Xreal’s Nebula app, is a big disappointment. It’s a carousel of apps, games, and videos where you can use your phone as a laser pointer. But it crashes often, sometimes the screen splits in half, and three of the four third-party options I installed failed to load. Even when content works, most of it feels like a rough tech demo. One potentially useful app is XRAI Glass, which transcribes real-time speech, but we need more polished options if AR is to take off. The Apple Vision Pro will spark more development in the space, but it’s still a ways off.

The Xreal Air 2 glasses support three degrees of freedom (DoF), so you can look around in 360-degree videos or virtual reality scenes. You can also play some VR games, but it involves hoop jumping. The fact there are folks working to cobble together extra functionality around the Xreal community is good for the technically minded who don’t mind tinkering, but I’d like to see the manufacturers put in a bit more effort here.

As it stands, the Xreal Air 2, just like the Viture One XR (6/10, WIRED Review) or the TCL RayNeo Air 2 XR Glasses, are little more than a virtual display to mirror your phone, laptop, or game console. While they can be handy for working in public, watching movies on a plane, or gaming when the main TV is tied up, does that justify the cost? For most folks, probably not. My daughter enjoyed using them while off school and in bed with the flu, and I like mobile gaming with them, but they all get uncomfortable after a while and leave you feeling goggle-eyed.

For anyone determined to try XR or AR glasses, the Xreal Air 2 and Xreal Beam bundle ($500) is your best bet. Gamers might consider the Viture One XR ($439) instead. But you could also dive into VR with the Meta Quest 3 (8/10, WIRED Review) or Sony PSVR 2 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) for that kind of money. If you already have some first-gen glasses, the Xreal Air 2 is not a big enough step up to justify an upgrade.