A Wearable Display built on cutting-edge AR technologies with industry-leading image quality.
One screen to replace them all.
What Do the Xreal Air 2 Glasses Actually Do?
Sergio Rodriguez / How-To Geek
There are some caveats, but thats largely it.
There’s no battery to charge and no wireless signal to connect to.
The simplicity of the design is great, but I have some complex feelings about actually using the glasses.
A Wearable Display built on cutting-edge AR technologies with industry-leading image quality. One screen to replace them all.
First, more on what they do.
The first gadget I plugged the Air 2 glasses into was myiPhone 15 Prothanks to its new USB-C port.
I opened the Max app and streamed an NBA game as if on a big screen.
Sergio Rodriguez / How-To Geek
Later in the day, I watched an episode of “Station Eleven.”
By default, the Air 2 can “Air Cast” to an iPhone.
Things get a little more interesting when plugging the glasses into a computer.
Sergio Rodriguez / How-To Geek
My MacBook Air saw the glasses as a second display in the options.
So I could see my laptop’s screen and a second desktop screen in the glasses.
For example, this could provide more privacy on an airplane or in a busy office space.
Sergio Rodriguez / How-To Geek
I used a OnePlus phone and was able to see Xreals vision for AR.
This includes a grid of icons you point at and select using the phone.
A Windows version of the app is listed as coming soon.
Sergio Rodriguez / How-To Geek
What Are the Xreal Air 2 Glasses Good For?
Those are the things the Xreal Air 2 glasses can do.
After more time with them, those assumptions continued to ring true.
Sergio Rodriguez / How-To Geek
The closest I came to forgetting about them was while playing MLB The Show 2023.
Movies aren’t interactive.
Beyond the comfort, there was always a reminder that I was viewing content through the glasses.
Sergio Rodriguez / How-To Geek
The Air 2 glasses could solve this issue by keeping your devices screen viewable only to you.
If nothing else, it can be tough to view the entirety of a huge screen.
(This is the difference between the Air 2 and Air 2 Pro, by the way.
The Pro model can do electrochromic dimming without needing to attach a separate piece of plastic.)
It does require the $120Xreal Beamaccessory for compatibility, however.
Using the Air 2 glasses out in the real world isn’t unthinkable.
They’re a little nerdy, but they only require a single cable connected to a phone or laptop.
It creates a small mess thats not quick to tidy up in an organized way.
For those curious, the Beam gets 3.5 hours of battery life when fully charged.
For the extra $50, you get three levels of electrochromic dimming for more immersion.
Should You Buy the Xreal Air 2 Glasses?
There are some severe limitations across the board in getting different devices to work with the glasses.
Outside of the need for privacy and gaming, I didnt find the unit compelling.
