【Friend Wife】

PRE-ORDER NOW: XREAL announced its new Air 2 and Friend WifeAir 2 Pro glasses on October 24. You can pre-order them now for $399 and $449, respectively.

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Opens in a new window Credit: XREAL XREAL Air 2 and Air 2 Pro glasses

It's been a promising year for high-tech glasses. With each new launch, from TCL's RayNeo AR glasses to Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, these wearables are finally inching away from being so futuristic that they're far-fetched to actually pretty practical (a similar pipeline to what the smartwatch experienced in the mid 2010s). Now, XREAL is answering the competition with not one, but two new pairs: The XREAL Air AR 2 and Air 2 Pro glasses are available for preorder now for $399 and $449, respectively, and are expected to begin shipping (and hit Amazon) at the end of November.

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If you're still having trouble wrapping your head around what AR glasses even do, think one of those bulky mixed reality headsets with a physical design that's casual enough to wear out in public. A huge 330-inch screen is floating behind those lenses, taking any movie watching, gaming, working, or doomscrolling experience so far past what a TV or computer monitor could ever dream of doing. With this new drop specifically, the display cast by the Air 2 and Air 2 Pro will be crisper than before with a bump from a 0.68-inch to 0.55-inch micro OLED display, as well as 25 percent brighter.

Because sometimes, you just need to lay on the floor. Credit: XREAL

One-touch dimming control sets the $449 Air 2 Pro apart from the $399 Air 2. Three modes (Transparent, Productivity, and Immersive) automatically adjust the amount of light that gets through the lenses depending on the level of tuned in you want to be. The last one blocks all light and will probably be a must-have feature to really relish the 120Hz refresh rate when gaming.

The Air 2 and Air 2 Pro see an improved spatial wrap-around, open ear speaker system designed to boost the wearer's privacy while staying low-key when using the glasses in public. That plus EQ calibrated beamforming microphones should improve the clarity of voice calls on the talking and hearing end.

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The original pair of XREAL Air AR glasses weren't without their quirks. Mashable contributor RJ Andersen found that, though they're cool regardless, they're more a glorified external monitor than they are a true 3D augmented reality device if you're an iPhone or Intel Mac owner. While all glasses from XREAL are technically compatible with any device with a USB-C video output, it doesn't seem that Nebula (the AR launcher app) plays nicely with Apple yet, and external hardware (called the Beam) is required to connect to a Nintendo Switch, PS5, or Xbox X or S.

SEE ALSO: Forget Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. We tested cheaper ones that support ChatGPT.

If you already have the first pair of XREAL Air AR glasses, there's probably little reason to spend $400-ish more to replace them. But if you're currently AR glasses-less and choosing between the first and second generations from XREAL, preordering the new ones is the way to go. Considering opting for the older pair (now $339) would be saving you as little as $60, you may as well secure the lens glow up and potential software updates that would further set the second generation apart.

Topics Augmented Reality