XReal Air 2 Pro Review: Professional Smart Glasses

Our hands-on XReal Air 2 Pro review

XReal Air Pro Review - Professional Smart Glasses - XR Today News

Published: February 2, 2024

Rebekah Carter

In this XReal Air 2 Pro review, we’re looking at a set of leading AR smart glasses designed for advanced XR fans. Since CES 2024 reignited excitement from consumers in the smart glasses landscape, vendors like XReal are again stepping into the spotlight.

Although many tech fans are excited about the impending arrival of the XReal Air 2 Ultra glasses (arriving later this year), XReal’s existing portfolio still has a lot of value to offer.

The XReal Air 2 Pro glasses, building on the phenomenal success of the XReal Air 2 specs, still represent a fantastic AR option for modern buyers. Plus, they’re much cheaper than the Ultra glasses (almost half the price). Let’s look at what the XReal Air 2 Pro glasses can do for enterprise consumers searching for a more affordable AR option.

XReal Air 2 Pro Review: Introduction and Specs

Before the XReal Air 2 Ultra announcement at CES 2024, the Air 2 Pro glasses were the most advanced option in the company’s AR lineup. They’re a set of sleek, lightweight smart glasses with screen mirroring capabilities compatible with tablets, smartphones, consoles, and computers.

Available for around $500, the XReal Air 2 Pro glasses don’t promise spatial computing capabilities like the Ultra specs, but they do have some impressive features, such as:

Birdbath optics with electrochromic dimmable lenses
500 nits of brightness
1920×1080 pixels per eye resolution
Refresh rates of up to 120 Hz
72g weight
3 degrees of freedom tracking
46-degree field of view
USB-C display port connectivity
Three types of nose pads
Light shields

These new glasses bring improved, brighter displays to users, with more color accuracy, in a frame that’s 10% lighter than the previous Air specs. Notably, while the XReal Air 2 Pro and XReal Air 2 standard glasses are very similar, there’s a slight difference.

With the Pro headset, you get electrochromic lenses, which allow you to dim or darken your lenses at the press of a button.

XReal Air 2 Pro Review: Design and Comfort

Let’s look at the design to start our XReal Air 2 Pro review. If you’re familiar with XReal as a popular AR smart glasses vendor, these glasses look very similar to their previous models. They can almost pass as a chunkier pair of standard specs with a sleek metallic frame.

Although the glasses are a little bulky in places, they’re very subtle as far as most AR glasses go. The biggest downside is that you need to connect your glasses to another device, such as a smartphone or tablet. This means you end up with a wire hanging down the back of your ear.

Regarding weight, XReal’s Air 2 Pro glasses aren’t too heavy. They’re lighter than the XReal Air glasses by around 4 grams and even lighter than the upcoming Ultra specs. The temples are also longer, with soft tips to curve around your ears.

For extra comfort, you also get a set of 3 changeable nose pads with the specs and the option to change the temple positioning. Plus, you can clip a prescription lens frame into the glasses if necessary, but this does cost extra.

Another bonus is the snap-on shade, which provides a darker background and more light blocking, which boosts the overall sense of immersion. The electrochromic dimming gives you complete control over how much “darkness” you want when interacting with AR content.

For extra adjustments, there’s a single button on the frame to control the brightness or volume of your headset. These glasses are comfortable, user-friendly, and easy on the eyes.

XReal Air 2 Pro Review: Visual Performance

Moving onto the visual performance, we were impressed in our XReal Air 2 Pro review by the quality content the glasses can reproduce. The Sony micro-OLED displays have a fantastic 1080p resolution and an excellent refresh rate up to 120 Hz. This is ideal if you’re trying to avoid VR sickness.

When you plug your glasses into a device using the included USB-C cable, it can mirror your screen, showcasing a virtual 130-inch version a few feet in front of you. However, the overall screen experience does depend a little on the phone type you’re using. We recommend experimenting with the positioning of your glasses when you first get started.

If you’re using the shade or dimming features on the Pro glasses and have a reasonably dark background, the virtual display is bright and colorful. The experience is even better with the XReal Beam ($119), allowing you to cast content from specific devices wirelessly.

The Beam also has a battery capable of powering the glasses for a lot longer and provides access to a simple set of navigation controls. Most importantly, it gives you complete control over resizing and anchoring your virtual display. Rather than allowing your screen to move with you as you move your head, you can lock it in a specific position.

We thought this was an excellent feature for reducing the risk of motion sickness during your XR experience. Plus, getting everything set up is simple, as XReal offers a quick tutorial to move you through the process. The only downside is that with the Beam, your refresh rate will drop to around 72 HZ, and latency can begin to feel like an issue.

The Audio Experience and Accessories

Since audio also makes a massive difference to the experience you get from your AR glasses, you’ll be pleased to know the sound is relatively good with the Pros. The glasses include a set of integrated stereo speakers for high-fidelity sound. Plus, they include tech to help reduce sound leakage so that you can maintain some of your privacy during collaborative sessions.

All the sound is reasonably good, particularly for immersive collaboration; we wouldn’t recommend using these specs to replace your standard headphones. The speakers struggle slightly with bass and can sound tinny at higher volumes.

Unfortunately, there’s no option to connect your headphones to the glasses themselves, but you could always consider connecting headphones to your smartphone, computer, or tablet.

Speaking of the other accessories you might need for the XReal Air 2 Pro glasses, a few options are available. First, you can connect the XReal Beam, which we definitely recommend for more visual control and a better battery life.

Secondly, you can purchase an XReal Adapter to enable broader compatibility between the glasses and other devices without a USB-C connection. The Adapter is also responsible for powering your glasses, as the specs don’t include a battery of their own.

Unfortunately, while the lack of battery makes for a more lightweight experience, you’ll be limited on how long you can use the devices. They’ll quickly consume the power from your tablet or smartphone, and the XReal Adapter only gives them a little more performance power.

On average, you can expect to get around three and a half hours out of the glasses when using specific apps or more with the XReal Beam accessory.

XReal Air 2 Pro Performance and AR Features

The XReal Air 2 Pro glasses don’t claim to be a spatial computing device like the Ultra specs. This means you’ll get a similar “AR experience” to the one you’d expect from most smart glasses vendors. There are no cameras to blend your virtual and real-world environments.

You can’t “interact with content” using gestures like you would with the Apple Vision Pro, either. The XReal Air 2 Pro glasses support three degrees of freedom so that you can look around in 3260-degree videos and scenes, but you don’t get any comprehensive “tracking” options.

XReal’s Nebula app, which allows you to access AR content through your glasses, is helpful but suffers from occasional crashes and technical glitches. The main problem may be that XReal hasn’t spent as much time developing its app portfolio as other vendors like Meta.

Overall, the AR glasses give you a “content hub” to interact with using your existing devices. It’s a great way to unlock an immersive meeting experience or view your desktop in a “larger than life format”; however, there are a lot of limitations to what you can do.

One thing that does set the XReal Air 2 Pro glasses apart, however, is the electrochromic dimming. It’s an excellent way to enhance your viewing experience in brightly lit environments. Plus, it’s worth noting that you do get that fantastic 120Hz refresh rate, but it doesn’t always work when connected to every device. Sometimes, you’ll need to manually enable the setting by pressing the volume-up button for around 6 seconds.

XReal Air 2 Pro Review: The Verdict

Overall, we’re impressed by numerous features within the XReal Air 2 Pro glasses. They’re relatively lightweight and comfortable and ideal for long-term wear. The visuals are excellent, particularly with the innovative dimming options. Plus, the audio is decent enough, particularly for meetings.

However, the glasses do leave something to be desired in terms of a “full AR experience.” You’re not getting any spatial computing technology or advanced tracking features. The Nebula app for accessing AR experiences is a little clunky, and the performance struggles in a few areas.

That being said, if you’re looking for affordable AR glasses with excellent screen mirroring capabilities, these could be the specs for you. Alternatively, if you want a more advanced spatial computing experience, we recommend waiting for the XReal Air 2 Ultra glasses.

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