Lightweight, affordable and HDR-capable: Xreal introduces new display glasses

The Chinese manufacturer Xreal has introduced new display glasses, which are particularly light, support HDR10, and are aimed at the lower price segment. It will initially be released in China, is scheduled to launch in the USA in July, and is likely to become available in this country soon, like other Xreal products.

According to Xreal, the device uses a particularly light nylon housing with thinner lenses and weighs 62 grams. This makes it lighter than the existing models, Xreal 1S (82 grams) and Xreal One Pro (87 grams). It also offers interchangeable front attachments, allowing it to be customized to personal preferences for the first time to a limited extent.

Also new is the HDR10-capable display with a peak brightness of 1600 nits, with a special chip intended to automatically display all SDR content as HDR. Older models had to make do with 700 nits. However, it lacks the electrochromic dimming, which regulates light incidence at the touch of a button and is intended to make content more visible in brighter environments. Whether the higher brightness can compensate for the lack of dimming remains to be seen.

The display glasses have a field of view of 50 degrees, which is below the Xreal 1S (52 degrees) and Xreal One Pro (57 degrees). The resolution of the Micro-OLED display remains unchanged at 1920 × 1080 pixels per eye.

New sub-brand “xbx” causes consternation

The new device omits the 3DoF tracking of the Xreal 1S and Xreal One Pro. This means the virtual screen cannot be anchored in the field of view and always follows the user's head movements. New is an AI-based image stabilization, which is intended to prevent image jitter, blurring, and washed-out colors during micro-movements. This should make the display glasses suitable for use on the go in subways, trains, or airplanes.

The device is released under the new sub-brand X by Xreal, or “xbx” for short, while the first model in the new product line is named “a01.” The choice of name is unlikely to go unnoticed by Microsoft's Xbox division and could lead to trademark disputes for Xreal again. The company renamed itself from Nreal to Xreal in 2023 after previously settling a trademark dispute with Epic Games out of court. Epic had argued that the name Nreal was too similar to the brand Unreal.

The new display glasses are now available in China and are scheduled to launch in the USA in July at prices starting at $299. For comparison: the Xreal 1S costs $449, the Xreal One Pro $599. We have asked Xreal whether and when the device will be available in this country.

In addition to the latest model, Xreal is also preparing the market launch of the ROG Xreal R1, which is aimed at demanding gamers. The company is also working with Google on Project Aura, an Android-XR device with a wired computing unit. Both are expected to be released later this year.

(mki)