What you need to know

• Xreal has launched the One Pro Plus AR glasses with brighter Sony Micro-OLED displays and improved viewing modes.
• The new glasses reach 1,200 nits of peak brightness, up from 700 nits on the previous One Pro model.
• The One Pro Plus retains the X1 chip and 57-degree field of view, with pricing starting at $599 in the U.S..

Xreal today announced the launch of its latest AR glasses, called the Xreal One Pro Plus.

While Meta's new VR glasses may offer some pretty interesting XR experiences, Xreal has been at the forefront of this category for a while now. We went hands-on with the Xreal One last year and came away impressed by how easily the glasses could create a virtual monitor in front of you, essentially turning almost any compatible device into a spatial computing experience simply by connecting through USB-C.

Since then, Xreal has launched the One Pro, which brought a wider field of view and improved brightness of up to 700 nits. And now, the company has announced the Xreal One Pro Plus, taking things a step further with some upgrades to the display and overall viewing experience.

The biggest change this time around is brightness. The Xreal One Pro Plus features dual 0.55-inch Sony Micro-OLED panels that can now reach up to a whopping 1,200 nits of peak brightness, up from 700 nits on the previous model.

Xreal has also added AI-driven High Dynamic Range (AI HDR), which should help improve contrast and make content look better when viewed through the glasses. There are also three new viewing modes called Standard, Movie, and Reading, giving users more control over how content appears depending on whether they're watching a movie, reading, or simply using the glasses as an external display.

The company has also upgraded its built-in Real 3D engine, which converts regular 2D content into spatial 3D. The feature can now process content at up to 60fps, compared to 30fps on the previous generation, which should make the experience smoother, especially when watching videos or other moving content.

But perhaps one of the more useful improvements this year is the focus on comfort. Xreal says the One Pro Plus features a newly engineered nose pad geometry designed to improve how the glasses sit on your face, which should make them more comfortable during longer viewing sessions.

In terms of the rest of the hardware, though, not much has changed. The Xreal One Pro Plus still uses the company's X1 spatial computing chip and retains the same 57-degree field of view as the previous model.

The Xreal One Pro Plus is available starting today for $599 through Xreal's official website.

What you need to know

• Rumors on social media claim Nothing is working on two smart glasses variations: one with a camera and one without.
• The "audio-equipped" version will reportedly let users place/receive calls and feature transition lenses.
• The camera version would offer similar capabilities to the audio-only one; however, it may feature translation capabilities, ChatGPT, and more.
• Earlier rumors this year suggested Nothing's CEO Carl Pei moved the company down this route with a potential release in 2027.

Nothing has made Android phones, headphones, and earbuds. However, recent rumors claim the company wants to branch out into smart glasses.

Rumors got underway on Bluesky by tipster Roland Quandt, who claims Nothing is working on a pair of smart glasses (via GSMArena). The tipster suggests the brand could launch two variations of its smart glasses: one with a camera and one without. Regarding the "audio-equipped" glasses, rumors purport Nothing's take could feature "auto-tinting photochromic lenses."

Otherwise known as "transition lenses," Nothing's smart glasses could darken (like sunglasses) when outside before clearing once you're inside. Quandt adds that these glasses would closely integrate with your phone's AI assistant and let users place/receive calls.

The alternative is the alleged camera-equipped version. Rumors on Bluesky state this pair would also provide translation capabilities and ChatGPT. There's little else about these alleged Nothing-branded smart glasses, so take these rumors with a grain of salt.

Nothing Glasses 1 (remember that?)

This would be the second time we've heard rumors about Nothing smart glasses (or a Nothing Glasses 1, as we've joked before). Earlier this year, a report claimed that Nothing CEO Carl Pei began making moves within the company to bolster the development of AI smart glasses. It was alleged that these lenses would feature a camera, speaker, and microphone.

Compared to what we've seen on Bluesky, some of these aspects could be separated. That report suggested that these smart glasses wouldn't be able to "handle everything" on their own. They would lean/rely heavily on your phone. For example, it was speculated that the glasses would rely on your phone for "the cloud to handle AI processing." It's unclear if things have changed, but Nothing might reveal these glasses in 2027.

It'll be interesting to see how Nothing handles a camera on smart glasses. We've seen the major backlash Meta has received. Cameras on smart glasses raise serious privacy concerns for many people. No one wants to be recorded constantly without their consent.

Android Central's Take

I'm really interested in what Nothing smart glasses would look like. I like the design its given its phones. It's different, and might seem like an acquired taste to some. I wonder if Nothing would go the transparent route, or would it try and match whatever design its next phones are going with? A unified direction could work out nicely for a brand that's already turning heads with its aesthetic.

If you've ever wanted a pair of smart glasses that give you a massive private screen wherever you go, now might be the perfect time to grab one. The Xreal One Pro is down to just $549 during Prime Big Deal Days, bringing some of the best features you'd want from a pair of AR glasses at a pretty good discount.

Xreal makes some of the best XR glasses out there. The company's upcoming Project Aura Android XR glasses are among the most anticipated smart glasses, and we recently learned that they'll cost a whopping $1,279.

But if you don't want to spend that much and are simply looking for a pair of AR glasses that give you a big private screen, the Xreal One Pro is worth considering, especially now that it's nearly 10% off.

✅ Recommended if: You want a massive private screen for watching movies, gaming, or working while traveling, and need something that works across multiple USB-C devices.

❌ Skip this deal if: You're expecting fully standalone AR glasses with built-in apps, don't have devices that support USB-C video output, or want something that works without a wired connection.

The Xreal One Pro features Sony's micro-OLED display technology with support for up to a 120Hz refresh rate. The glasses are powered by Xreal's custom X1 spatial computing chip, which enables 3DoF tracking with ultra-low latency of just 3ms.

Xreal claims its optical engine can make it feel like you're watching a massive 171-inch screen from around four meters away, all while keeping the glasses compact and lightweight enough to carry in a small backpack.

One of the best things about the Xreal One Pro is its compatibility with different devices. You can connect the glasses to a wide range of devices that support video output over USB-C, including compatible iPhones, Android phones, Steam Deck, ROG Ally, MacBooks, and Windows laptops.

So, if you want a massive screen for watching movies while flying or even playing games without carrying a separate monitor, these glasses could be a pretty interesting option. Xreal has also taken care of audio, with Sound by Bose built into the glasses, meaning you don't necessarily need to carry an additional pair of Bluetooth earbuds.

Xreal also says the One Pro is better suited for use in brighter environments, thanks to its display brightness of up to 700 nits.

On the whole, if you've been looking for a pair of AR glasses that can give you a huge virtual display without having to carry an actual screen around, the Xreal One Pro is worth checking out. And at $549 during Prime Big Deal Days, you're getting a decent discount on one of Xreal's more capable pairs of glasses.

What you need to know

• Xreal revealed its official pricing for the Aura smart glasses, stating the device will begin at $1,279 for its 12/256GB variant.
• The model also features a 16/512GB version for $1,499, and Xreal adds that Founder Priority Pass holders are eligible for a "numbered" Founder's Edition if their purchase is completed before October 17.
• Xreal plans for the Aura to begin shipping before the holidays.

The Xreal Aura smart glasses finally have an official price to go with all the hype and information we've been collecting for months.

This morning (Oct. 7), Xreal announced the official pricing for its (Project) Aura smart glasses. According to the company, the Aura will start at $1,279. This price will be paired with the device's 12/256GB (RAM/storage) configuration. The Xreal Aura is also offered in a 16/512GB variant, which starts at $1,499.

Xreal started a paid reservation program back in June. The company has shared an update for anyone who put in their early deposit. Xreal states consumers who've "made a paid reservation" can complete their purchase to "secure priority fulfillment." This concerns consumers from the U.S., Canada, Japan, and Korea. The paid reservation Xreal refers to concerns the $99 Launch Credit and the $199 Founder Priority Pass holders.

If you're the latter (Founder Priority Pass), you qualify for "an individually numbered Founder's Edition" if you complete your purchase by October 17. Xreal says the Aura is preparing to ship before the holidays. The company encourages interested parties who haven't reserved their Xreal Aura to do so now. It states that the $199 Priority Deposit program is still active.

Maximum Aura

As we mentioned before, the Xreal Aura reservation program started in June. The early deposit prices were important, but Xreal also revealed some other interesting bits about the device. The company stated the Aura will feature Google's Android XR and Qualcomm's Snapdragon Reality Elite. The glasses are light, weighing in at 95g. Regarding the FOV (field of view), Xreal said the Aura delivers a 70-degree FOV that's "virtually borderless."

Xreal said it focused on making the Aura smart glasses the ideal device for gaming and entertainment. The device will support the Fox Sports app, alongside Amazon MGM Studios' Project Hail Mary: Journey Among the Stars, Fallout: Factions, and other games.

With Android XR, consumers will find the full extent of the Play Store to download mobile and tablet apps. Early news about the device's reservations proved fruitful, as Xreal's CEO, Chi Xu, said reservations surpassed 10,000 units. Two of its reservation packages sold out in the process. What's more, Chi Xu said the device's final price will be "no more than $1,500 before tax."

• New camera-free smart glasses from Meta are rumored
• The wearable could be unveiled as early as next week
• A new glasses-detecting app is proving popular with users

It's fair to say that the various iterations of Meta's smart glasses had been quite well received by users — as you'll see from our own reviews — but over time, the general public has become less and less comfortable with the idea of being secretly spied on through the cameras embedded in these wearables.

That might explain Meta's plans to release some spectacles with cameras on board, as reported by The Information. According to the outlet's sources, the glasses have the codename Luna, and will be available in two styles called Clubmaster and Burbank.

With no camera, the focus will be on the audio capabilities of the glasses, which will let you have conversations with Meta's own AI chatbot. The report says we could get a grand unveiling at the Meta Connect event next week, on September 23 and 24.

While Meta's smart specs have always been fitted with LED lights that show when they're recording, modders were finding ways around this, enabling more covert video and photo capture. While those mods have since been disabled and prevented by software updates, it's still left people with a general sense of unease.

The backlash continues

As Meta apparently preps its next pair of smart glasses, Wired reports on the ZuckOff app that takes a swing at the Meta CEO in its name, and alerts users when they might be in the presence of someone wearing Meta glasses. The app uses Bluetooth to scan the surrounding area for these wearables.

With several thousand downloads on both Android and iOS, the app is clearly proving popular. It's free to download and use in its basic form, with a pro version available for $9.99 / £9.99 / AU$14.99 a year that scans continuously and gives you scan histories.

It's not your only option either: if you're on Android, Nearby Glasses is open source and free to use, and does a similar sort of job as ZuckOff without the provocative name. That app has now racked up more than 100,000 downloads.

There's definitely been a shift in perception when it comes to glasses that can record, warning light or no warning light — even though these specs have been around for years. There's even talk of bans and government regulation coming in at some point, which Meta might be trying to get ahead of with its next pair of glasses.

What you need to know

• Steam Frame starts at $1,059 for 256GB, while the 1TB model jumps to $1,299.
• Android games are supported, giving the headset access to existing Android APKs without requiring completely separate ports.
• Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 + 16GB RAM powers the headset, with SteamOS handling native games and compatibility layers.

Valve has finally put a price tag on the Steam Frame, its new wireless VR headset that aims to blur the line between a standalone gaming device and a PC accessory. The catch? It won’t be as simple as clicking “buy” to get one.

The Steam Frame starts at $1,059 for 256GB, with the 1TB model costing $1,299. Each headset has tracked controllers, and Valve is bundling Half-Life: Alyx with the device, the company announced. It can play supported games locally or stream more demanding titles from a PC.

It’ll also support Android games, with developers using the same Android APKs they already use to bring mobile titles to the Meta Quest. This could give the Frame access to a much larger game library without developers needing to build entirely separate versions for Valve’s headset.

The Frame also supports wireless PC streaming with the 6GHz dongle that Valve bundles in.

Under the hood, the Frame is packed with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and 16GB of RAM, with native software and compatibility layers handled by SteamOS.

The storage options are also worth a closer look. You can upgrade from 256GB to 1TB for $240, but the Frame also has a microSD slot. So if your main game stream is from a PC, there may be little reason to pay extra for the bigger model.

Valve had originally said it wanted the Steam Frame to cost less than the $999 Index, but the final starting price puts it $60 above that benchmark. Rising memory and component costs have complicated the pricing strategy of Valve’s hardware, as seen with the Steam Machine.

Availability will also be controlled by a reservation system, with sign-ups running until September 17 and purchase invitations starting September 18.

The Steam Frame is clearly not aimed at the budget VR crowd at $1,059. Valve is betting its Steam library, Android support, wireless PC streaming, and standalone abilities will justify the premium.

What you need to know

• Meta’s Project Phoenix is finally coming into focus after more than a year of rumors about a lightweight, high-end mixed-reality headset.
• Phoenix looks more like smart glasses than a traditional VR headset, using nose pads and temple-mounted sensors.
• An external compute puck appears to be part of the design.

Whispers about Meta working on a lightweight, high-end mixed reality headset codenamed Project Phoenix have floated around the tech sphere for over a year. Now, we finally get our first real look at what Mark Zuckerberg's hardware team has been cooking up, and it seems Meta accidentally left the key under the mat.

The images were revealed through Meta’s HorizonOS Prescription Lens package, which first appeared in August as a mostly blank system package, as noticed by UploadVR. An update in September showed detailed pictures of how prescription lens inserts attach to the Phoenix and how users scan a QR code to set them up.

Interestingly, the hardware looks less like a traditional VR headset and more like chunky glasses. Phoenix uses nose pads instead of the bulky face interface of the Quest 3 and other XR headsets, with sensors along the temples. There’s also a cable coming from the left temple, seemingly confirming previous reports that Phoenix will use an external compute puck.

It's a design that could change the way people think about wearing a mixed reality headset. If you’ve been using more traditional XR headsets, you’ll probably find it comforting to realize potential benefits here, like less weight on your face, but the compromise moves elsewhere: you’ll need to deal with a separate computing unit and a cable.

For Meta, the greater challenge might be getting that extra hardware to feel invisible enough that Phoenix still feels like something you can casually wear, rather than another device you have to gear up for.

There's another interesting clue here. The leaked setup stuff seems to be based on prescription inserts and controller-free interaction.

Meta hasn’t officially announced Phoenix yet, but Meta Connect 2026 starts September 23 and has a session dedicated to controller-free interaction on its agenda. If Phoenix shows up there, we might finally learn whether Meta’s push toward lighter mixed reality headsets is a real shift in headset design, or just a clever way to move the weight somewhere else.

I spoke with Valve software developers Pierre-Loup Griffais and Jeff Leinbaugh about the Steam Frame launch, why the company is taking a two-pronged strategy with streaming and standalone support, and how the global memory/storage crunch affected development. You can read our review of the Steam Frame here, and the full transcript of our interview at Tom's Hardware Premium.

Nearly a year after first revealing the Steam Frame VR headset, Valve is now ready to deliver the finished product to paying customers. Reservations for the headset have opened today, three months after the launch of the Steam Machine.

Like the Steam Machine, the Steam Frame is launching amid absolute chaos in the tech industry. We're seeing higher prices across a wide range of PC hardware, especially memory and storage. Valve isn't operating in a vacuum, so those realities are reflected in the Steam Frame's pricing, which starts at $1,059.

I began by asking about the headset's genesis and the team's goals for creating a next-generation VR headset. "Work started on Steam Frame basically as soon as we shipped the Index," explained Leinbaugh. “And so we did a lot of exploration into technologies and features and use cases to try to answer that question. And the goals that we aligned on for what became the Steam Frame was to make [it] much easier to use, which to us meant a lighter, more comfortable, easier to get into and out of VR headset."

He added that with the previous Index headset, Valve was so laser-focused on making the best VR headset possible at the time that they made a lot of compromises to achieve those goals. And in many ways, those compromises were worth it to achieve their end goal. However, that strategy shifted with the Steam Frame.

"But this time around we thought we could achieve something that was a lot more comfortable, a lot more accessible. And so streaming technology was a big part of that. So the headset can be wireless so that there's not a lot of complicated setup to get to the game, whether that's playing on the headset or streamed," Leinbaugh continued. "So what we want to be possible is for somebody to put on the headset, browse their Steam library, and then just pick something that they want to play and not worry about too much else."

Standalone gaming on the Steam Frame

One of the biggest changes with the Steam Frame is that it can work with a robust wireless link to your PC, or as a standalone device using the onboard Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. I asked about the challenges in developing such a lightweight headset that can easily switch between operating modes.

"Yeah, a lot of the engineering challenges were around making sure that we had the right kind of compute and enough compute on the headset to both support a really good streaming experience, but also to be able to run games on the headset," said Leinbaugh. "So we picked the Qualcomm 8650 chip. It had a lot of capability, but in order to make use of that, we had to solve a lot of engineering challenges around thermal management and power delivery. So really treating this like making a really capable PC that just happens to run this particular mobile hardware was how a lot of the engineers approached that problem."

He added that Valve has taken a lot of the know-how from the Steam Deck and Steam Machine to give users the same SteamOS, but this time leveraging the Arm hardware along with Proton for emulation.

However, the Steam Frame has limits when playing games directly on-device, given its mobile-centric SoC. “Sure, games that are trying to push the boundaries on the AAA stuff that's very graphically intensive," explained Griffais. "Most of those recent ones won't run very well because it's a smaller compute envelope, right?"

"But there's a ton of stuff that is coming out that is a great experience on the Steam Frame. For example, I think last week the Metal Gear Solid Collection Part 2 released. And, you know, MGS4 is a game that I haven't played in, I don't know, 20 years at this point, but it's great from there."

He added that many indie games will run just fine on the Steam Frame, along with older back-catalog AAA games (which are still enjoyable) that don't require the compute of more modern titles.

"So I think the point is that you're able to engage with your whole library, right?" said Griffais. "And then have kind of a similar thing as the Deck where you're going to try and figure out if some games are maybe a little bit below the bar in terms of what you would like for performance."

Half-Life Alyx has been the poster child for VR gaming in recent years, and Valve has taken steps to ensure that Steam Frame users can have a proper native gaming experience. “And we're doing the same for Half-Life Alyx, where we're doing a lot of work to support the Frame more natively and trying to remove performance barriers that are induced by some of the translation, the emulation there that you get on normal and modified PC games.,” said Griffais.

Streaming on the Steam Frame

While standalone gaming on the Steam Frame is possible, Valve designed the headset first and foremost as a streaming device. To that end, Valve has taken steps to optimize the networking stack and improve performance. One of those steps is implementing foveated streaming to reduce strain on network resources.

“So the Steam Frame has eye-tracking cameras on the inside of the headset that know where your eyes are looking. And when you have that, there's a lot of potential use cases, but the one that we're using most consistently is foveated streaming, which really means when you're streaming, especially VR content, there's a lot of video data that you have to send," Leinbaugh explained.

"But because we know with eye-tracking cameras what part of the image you're looking at at any time, we can refocus some of those resources to make sure that the important parts of the image are treated as like first-class bits. And then the rest gets kind of the last part of the resource pool, which is the part of the image that you can't see and you won't notice the image degradation."

By not treating every bit delivered to the headset the same, Valve can reap performance and image quality gains. "So it's the best analogy really is it's almost as if the part that you're looking at is using about 10 times as much bandwidth and encoding bit rate as it actually is for the entire image, because we just squished it all into that part that follows where you're looking."

The Steam Frame communicates with your PC wirelessly using a dedicated Wi-Fi 6E USB dongle. Data transfers between the two happen over the 6 GHz channel for optimal performance. I inquired about how any disruptions/interference with that wireless link would affect gameplay.

“So there's a fallback mechanism built into that, which, if you have two links active and one of them drops out because of interference, or you walked out of range, or all the many reasons that wireless interference can happen," said Leinbaugh. "If something happens to one of those links, the other one will immediately pick up and cover the gap. And it's just very unlikely that a lot of those sources of interference will hit both links at the exact same time."

Other strategies can also step in; for example, if you have a latency spike, a previous frame can be "reprojected and replayed" to cover small gaps. For extended dropouts, there's no recovery method; the stream will fail, and you'll be booted to the default environment.

There are also other strategies that can step in; for example, if you have a latency spike, a previous frame can be "reprojected and replayed" to cover small gaps. For extended dropouts, there's no recovery method; the stream will fail, and you'll be booted to the default environment.

Pricing and availability

Pricing, of course, will be a big sticking point with the Steam Frame. Consumers got a bit of sticker shock with the Steam Machine given its hardware specs, and the Steam Frame will likely be no different. The Steam Frame starts at $1,069 for the 256GB SKU and costs $1,299 for the 1TB SKU.

"I think as far as memory prices and those kinds of conditions, we're really in it like everyone else," Griffais explained. "We've been working hard on trying to get the parts that we can get at the best price possible."

While all of us would love for memory and storage prices to fall to sane levels again, it will be a while before we see any relief. "It's an unfortunate situation all around. We wish that gaming hardware was cheaper, but we're definitely trying to be on the cheapest side that we can get despite all those conditions," Griffais explained.

But price increases aren't just limited to the likes of memory, as Griffais added, “Even just things like motherboards, copper, anything, even shipping anything worldwide right now is way more expensive than it was last year and two years ago. So every part of the sticker price is affected there."

The Steam Frame will be available starting September 14, and it will use a reservation system similar to that of the Steam Machine to cut down on scalpers.

Prior to the official launch of the Steam Frame, Tom's Hardware Premium had a chance to talk with Valve software developers Jeff Leinbaugh and Pierre-Loup Griffais. We discussed the development process behind the Steam Frame, the standalone and streaming modes, networking strategy, and pricing, which you can read in its entirely here. You can read our review of the Steam Frame here.

Like previous Valve launches, you can also read transcripts of our interviews with the company on the Steam Machine and Steam Controller.

The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity.

Brandon Hill, Tom's Hardware: What were your goals in creating the Steam Frame and providing the framework necessary to support it, compared to legacy hardware like the Index?

Jeff Leinbaugh, Software Developer, Valve: Yeah, so the work started on Steam Frame basically as soon as we shipped the Index. And so we did a lot of exploration into technologies and features and use cases to try to answer that question. And the goals that we aligned on for what became the Steam Frame was to make [it] much easier to use, which to us meant a lighter, more comfortable, easier to get into and out of VR headset.

That was a better way to interact with your whole Steam library than the goals we had for the Index. Where the Index was just: we wanted to make the best possible VR headset that we could make. And that came with a lot of compromises, which were worth it because they allowed us to have this really great VR headset and see what that was capable of.

But this time around we thought we could achieve something that was a lot more comfortable, a lot more accessible. And so streaming technology was a big part of that. So the headset can be wireless so that there's not a lot of complicated setup to get to the game, whether that's playing on the headset or streamed.

And then the other big part of that accomplishing that goal was making it possible to interact with Steam just like you would on a Steam Deck and to be able to play games that don't even support VR in a virtual display. So what we want to be possible is for somebody to put on the headset, browse their Steam library, and then just pick something that they want to play and not worry about too much else.

And that's kind of where all the user experience goals, at least, came from around this. And then there's a lot of other technical goals that support that we can get into if you're interested in any of those.

Hill: So, that leads into my next question: what were the engineering challenges in making the Steam Frame a standalone device and one that can also stream? And I know you've got the wireless dongle to help with the networking offload.

Leinbaugh: Yeah, a lot of the engineering challenges were around making sure that we had the right kind of compute, and enough compute on the headset to both support a really good streaming experience, but also to be able to run games on the headset.

So we picked the Qualcomm 8650 chip. It had a lot of capability, but in order to make use of that, we had to solve a lot of engineering challenges around thermal management and power delivery.

So really treating this like making a really capable PC that just happens to run this particular [...] mobile hardware was how a lot of the engineers approached that problem.

And then from there, we kind of tied that into a lot of the work that we did for Steam Deck and Steam Machine running Steam OS now on ARM, but it's the same Steam OS.

So at some point we got to kind of meet in the middle and leverage Proton and Steam OS and a lot of things there to start getting games running.

Standalone mode & software support

Hill: And what kind of performance levels are you targeting for games using the Steam Frame when it's in the standalone mode?

Pierre-Loup Griffais, Software Developer, Valve: I guess it's hard to pinpoint a specific segment there because there are so many games on Steam that keep coming out that are running great on there, right? Sure, games that are trying to push the boundaries on the AAA stuff that's very graphically intensive. Most of those recent ones won't run very well because it's a smaller compute envelope, right?

But there's a ton of stuff that is coming out that is a great experience on the Frame. For example, I think last week the Metal Gear Solid Collection Part 2 released. And, you know, MGS4 is a game that I haven't played in, I don't know, 20 years at this point, but it's great from there.

And even at the higher resolution, 60 FPS is locked. So it's really cool to see games that are coming out right now that are great experiences on there. I think there's a ton of indie games and things that run really well too. And if you go down the back catalog, there's a ton of stuff from a little bit ago, even AAA stuff that runs great as well.

So I think the point is that you're able to engage with your whole library, right? And then have kind of a similar thing as the deck where you're going to try and figure out if some games are maybe a little bit below the bar in terms of what you would like for performance. And then off to stream those from another PC instead, or the Steam machine.

Hill: And building on that, how's the reception been to the Steam Frame Verify program from developers for the standalone games?

Griffais: I mean, I think we have a lot of developers that are pretty eager to get their games working well. And so we've seen it approached from different ways. Some folks do tweaks to their existing PC version and then get to a very good point with that.

But just the same kind of tweaks as you would expect from Steam Deck, where some surface-level tweaks for the user experience, like changing controller bindings a little bit or changing default settings in a way that really makes the game better for everyone and not just for Steam Frame.

And we're doing the same for Half-Life Alyx, where we're doing a lot of work to support the Frame more natively and trying to remove performance barriers that are induced by some of the translation, the emulation there that you get on normal and modified PC games.

And that's yielding great results to get to the next level of performance there. And so we expect that some developers will be doing some of that work or maybe adapting some of that existing work that they've already done on an Android version of their game and then adapting that through Lepton as well. So I think everyone's kind of engaging with it at a different pace there. But overall, I think like we're talking to a bunch of VR devs that are excited to get their games to be labeled as verified or playable.

Foveated streaming and technical hurdles

Hill: Could you go into a little more detail on foveated streaming and how it enhances the gaming experience with Steam Frame?

Leinbaugh: Yeah, so the Steam Frame has eye-tracking cameras on the inside of the headset that know where your eyes are looking. And when you have that, there's a lot of potential use cases, but the one that we're using most consistently is foveated streaming, which really means when you're streaming, especially VR content, there's a lot of video data that you have to send.

And so you're therefore very sensitive to how much available bandwidth that you have available for not just transmitting it over a wireless link, or whatever kind of link, but also just encoding and decoding that data. All of that takes from a pool of finite resources and your network stack or your graphics card.

But because we know, with eye-tracking cameras, what part of the image you're looking at at any time, we can refocus some of those resources to make sure that the important parts of the image are treated as first-class bits. And then the rest gets the last part of the resource pool, which is the part of the image that you can't see, and you won't notice the image degradation.

So instead of kind of evenly focusing all of the encoding and network resources around this entire immersive, all-encompassing VR image where you're not seeing most of it, we make sure that the part that you're looking at is encoded differently in a way that's a much, much higher equivalent bit rate.

So the best analogy really is [that] it's almost as if the part that you're looking at is using about 10 times as much bandwidth and encoding bit rate as it actually is for the entire image, because we just squished it all into that part that follows where you're looking.

Hill: Switching gears slightly, how are you compensating for temporary losses in connection or signal strength when gaming wirelessly? Is there a fallback mechanism?

Leinbaugh: Yeah, there are a few different levels of what we'll do, and we've made sure to do something in response to all these things happening. So the first thing is if you're using the wireless adapter, if you also are connected to your home WiFi, for example, which a lot of people just naturally will be, then the streaming, VR streaming will take advantage of both of those connections.

And so you'll have the adapter and your WiFi both active at the same time; we call it multi-link streaming. And what that means is that those two connections are competing against each other constantly, every single packet.

So there's a fallback mechanism built into that, which, if you have two links active and one of them drops out because of interference, or you walked out of range, or all the many reasons that wireless interference can happen. If something happens to one of those links, the other one will immediately pick up and cover the gap. And it's just very unlikely that a lot of those sources of interference will hit both links at the exact same time. So that's kind of the first line of defense that we have.

If you still don't, if you still have an interruption or maybe you only have one link active, then the headset has strategies to fill in those gaps. So if you have a short interruption, just like a latency spike or something, then a previous frame will get reprojected and replayed. And that works pretty convincingly for covering small gaps like that.

A lot of people won't even notice that it's happened. If you have an extended dropout where the video is just not arriving at all for whatever reason, then at that point, the video stream is not going to recover.

If it's a very extended dropout, but the headset will fade you back into the construct environment so that you're at least not getting stuck with a really unexpected experience or something that might confuse you or disorient you.

So the worst-case scenario is you'll just kind of fall back to the default environment and have a chance to either wait for it to recover or do something. Maybe you unplugged your Wi-Fi router or something that you need to go do.

Pricing and market conditions

Hill: When the Steam Machine arrived, there was a little bit of sticker shock with the price when it launched. And the Steam Frame is also around $1,000, close to $1,300 bucks in top trim. Surely Valve is sensitive to the realities of the marketplace with RAM and storage prices. How do you appease the gamers out there that are begging for some relief in hardware pricing?

Griffais: Oh, yeah, I think as far as memory prices and those kinds of conditions, we're really in it like everyone else. Like, there's not really anything special that we can do.

We've been working hard on trying to get the parts that we can get at the best price possible. But I think everyone's affected. [...] The fact that our price was affected by that compared to what we were hoping for is definitely true. But I'd say that it's trending along the reality of the market. And there's not really any sort of the kind of distortion compared to just the price of the parts in there.

And it's an unfortunate situation all around. We wish that gaming hardware was cheaper, but we're definitely trying to be on the cheapest side that we can get despite all those conditions.

It's not just memory and all that too, right? Even just things like motherboards, copper, anything; even shipping anything worldwide right now is way more expensive than it was last year and two years ago. So every part of the sticker price is affected there.

Hill: Final question: Are you planning to implement the same reservation system that you used for the Steam Machine with Steam Frame?

Griffais: Yeah, I think that's the plan.

[Interview ends]

Valve has been ramping up its hardware releases during 2026, with the Steam Controller launching this past spring, followed by the Steam Machine earlier this summer. The 2026 hardware onslaught is now culminating in the Steam Frame, the company’s latest headset aimed at VR and non-VR gaming.

Rather than being a streaming-only platform, like the preceding Valve Index, the Steam Frame has a powerful onboard Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and up to 1TB of internal storage to play standalone games without the need for a PC. It’s an ambitious headset, which comes with an equally ambitious $1,000+ price tag.

Design and Comfort of the Valve Steam Frame

At first glance, the Steam Frame reminds me of oversized ski goggles, compared to the Daft Punk style of the preceding Valve Index headset. The overall design feels very organic, with soft curves and thin plastic to keep weight down. The thinner plastic drastically reduces weight compared to the Index (440 grams with the headstrap versus 809 grams for the Index).

Two forward-facing cameras (which provide a monochrome passthrough of your environment) sit near the bottom of the front cover, while two additional cameras sit on the side of the Steam Frame, facing sideways and slightly upward. Together, the four cameras provide headset and controller tracking. The final two cameras are internal for eye-tracking purposes. The main unit also houses a cooling fan that helps remove warm air from the Snapdragon SoC and keeps your head from sweating during extended gaming sessions.

An expansion port for future features sits at the bottom front of the Steam Frame, just ahead of where the headset rests on your nose. An interpupillary distance (IPD) adjustment knob sits at the top of the headset (ranging from 57.6 to 69.6 mm), while an IPD lock switch (to prevent accidentally hitting the dial when putting on or taking off the headset) is located inside the Steam Frame, directly above the proximity sensor. Although our review unit came with 1TB of internal storage, a microSD slot is available for further expansion behind the fabric-covered foam gasket that attaches magnetically.

On the right side of the Steam Frame, there are two buttons: Aux and Power. On the left side are volume up and volume down. The Steam Frame has four speakers, two on each side of the headset, positioned low just below the arm pivots for the adjustable strap. You can also use Bluetooth headphones/ear buds if you prefer.

Speaking of the strap, I found it to be comfortable and highly adjustable. The straps attach to a padded restraint (which houses the 21.6 Whr battery) that cradles the back of your head. The Stream Frame's lightweight design, combined with the pressure-relieving front gasket and rear cradle, helped reduce fatigue after extended sessions (particularly with Half-Life: Alyx). Speaking of the rear cradle, I appreciate that the USB-C port for charging the Steam Frame is located here instead of on the front of the headset. This leaves the dangling cord behind, out of the way (if you want to charge the device while wearing it).

Our review unit came with the Steam Frame, two wireless hand controllers, a USB-C to USB-C cable, and the headstrap. Our kit also included a USB-C power adapter ($29). We also received the Ergonomic Accessories Kit ($59), which contains a headstrap for the Steam Frame, two hand straps for the controllers, and an extended light blocker gasket that fits on the underside of the headset to further reject ambient light. I personally didn’t feel that any of the additional items in the Ergonomic Accessories Kit were necessary to enhance my experience with the Steam Frame.

Valve Steam Frame Specifications

Valve Steam Frame Controllers

The Steam Frame comes with two wireless controllers that fit nicely in my hands. While the main body of the Steam Frame has a matte grey plastic finish, the controllers are made of shiny, textured black plastic. Each controller (which supports six degrees of freedom) features a dual-stage grip button, an analog trigger, a bumper, a Steam button, and a magnetic thumbstick with capacitive finger sensing. This is the same thumbstick that you’ll find on the Steam Controller used with the Steam Machine.

The right controller also has AXBY and Menu buttons. The left controller adds a View button and a D-pad. Both controllers feature a haptic motor and capacitive finger tracking. The controllers communicate directly with the Steam Frame using a dedicated Bluetooth wireless link.

Each controller is powered by a single AA battery, which Valve says lasts roughly 40 hours (a pair of AA alkaline batteries are preinstalled).

Valve Steam Frame Hardware

Valve designed the Steam Frame as a dual-purpose VR headset. It can stream games directly from your high-powered gaming PC, or it can work as a standalone headset (think Meta Quest series), thanks to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Arm SoC and 16GB of unified LPDDR5X RAM. Although our review unit came equipped with 1TB of UFS onboard storage (further augmented by a microSD slot), a cheaper SKU with just 256GB of internal storage is available.

In standalone mode, the Stream Frame uses FEX emulation along with Proton to run x86 Windows games on ARM64 hardware.

However, for the best performance, you’re going to want to leverage your desktop PC and wireless connectivity for streaming games from Steam. The Steam Frame includes an integrated 2x2 Wi-Fi 7 radio, plus a standalone Wi-Fi 6E dongle that plugs into a free USB 3.0 port on your desktop or laptop. The dongle provides a low-latency link between your PC and the Steam Frame. Instead of clogging your wireless router’s bandwidth or adding unwanted lag, the direct wireless connection improves performance and reduces latency.

So, in essence, the Steam Frame takes a multi-pronged approach. The 5 GHz band primarily connects to your home network for internet, firmware updates, and software updates. The 6 GHz link, however, connects only to the wireless dongle. With that link, Valve can implement technologies like foveated streaming, which is an interesting (and much-needed) way to optimize data streaming across the network.

In short, foveated streaming uses the internal eye-tracking cameras to determine what part of a scene you’re viewing at any given time. Whatever is in your direct field of view gets full-resolution, full-priority data to improve image quality. Whatever is in your periphery, or not seen at all, gets lower priority and therefore comes through at a lower resolution. This saves bandwidth and helps to preserve as much performance as possible when streaming.

Just as important as the processing and networking hardware underlying the Steam Frame is its optics system. In this case, the headset uses dual LCDs, offering 2160 x 2160 resolution per eye. Valve opted for LCDs over micro-OLEDs to meet its design, performance, and cost targets. From what I've seen after spending over two weeks with the Steam Frame, it was a wise decision. Micro-OLEDs would have no doubt pushed the starting price of the Steam Frame even higher, as we’re certain that many folks will likely already be wary of the $1,059 base price ($1,299 as tested).

The displays can run as low as 72 Hz and as high as 144 Hz, though the latter mode is experimental right now. All of the games that I played on the Steam Frame defaulted to 72 Hz. The headset uses pancake lenses designed specifically for this use case, and offers a horizontal field of view (FoV) of up ot 110 degrees (a slight improvement over the 108 degrees on the Index).

Setting up the Valve Steam Frame

Setting up the Steam Frame was honestly about as low-impact as you can get with a VR headset. I first plugged the headset into the included wall charger and let it charge for about an hour. Once that was done, I ran through the initial setup, which involved logging into the Steam app on my smartphone to identify the Steam Frame. With that step complete, the setup process commenced, culminating in me installing the latest SteamOS update on the headset from the Stable channel.

On the desktop side, I plugged the Wi-Fi 6E dongle into a free USB port on my Windows 11 desktop, and it was automatically recognized and ready to use.

Valve Steam Frame Streaming Mode

I tried several games, streaming them to the Steam Frame. The perennial favorite, Half-Life: Alyx, was my go-to game to experience the full power of VR immersion from the headset. The PC rig that I used features a Core Ultra 7 265K processor, 32GB of DDR5-5600 memory, and a GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GPU. I had no trouble maintaining consistently high frame rates without dropping frames, which would be a serious hindrance in VR gaming.

Gunman Contracts “Stand Alone” was another game I tried; it offers quick, furious gunplay and sharp graphics. The game's concept reminded me of old-school arcade shooters from the 80s and 90s, where you used physical gun models to shoot at a display. However, Gunman Contracts “Stand Alone” advances that genre with total immersion and true hand/finger manipulation of objects. My only issue with the game is that the default smooth controls to move your character in the virtual environment physically made me feel sick. My body had a hard time adjusting to the movement because my physical body wasn’t moving forward or backward to match.

I also streamed non-VR games like Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, which played fine in Theater Mode. The game played on what vaguely resembled a movie theater screen, with a calming background filling the rest of the dead space around it. However, I couldn’t use the included Steam Frame controllers with a non-VR game, so I grabbed my trusty Xbox Series X wireless controller.

Other non-VR games I tried included BeamNG and Forza Horizon 6. Both games played without issue. The experience wasn’t nearly as all-encompassing as being dropped into a full VR environment, but it was preferable to sitting in front of a smaller physical monitor on my desk.

Valve Steam Frame Standalone Mode

Since the Steam Frame offers a standalone mode without needing a wireless “tether” to a PC, I tried three games promoted to work with the handset. The first game was a repeat of one I tried in streaming mode: Half-Life: Alyx. The game runs great on-device using ARM64 emulation, though I did notice some stutters and slight performance lags compared to streaming. Valve admits that there is a performance hit with x86-to-Arm translation, but it will vary depending on the game.

Two other standalone games tested were Stellar Café and Dungeons of Eternity. The former is a cartoonish game set in a cafe, where you can use your voice to interact with the in-game robots/characters who serve you beverages. The back-and-forth conversational flow is fun and engaging. In fact, the conversations almost seemed a little too real, with human-like responses and realistic commentary.

Valve Steam Frame Battery Life

The Steam Frame's battery life varies greatly depending on whether you’re streaming from your PC or playing games natively on the headset. For example, when I played Half-Life: Alyx directly on the Steam Frame at 72 Hz, I got about an hour of runtime before it died. However, when streaming, I could easily get more than double that amount at the same refresh rate, since the Arm processor isn’t taxed nearly as heavily.

I also saw a little over an hour of runtime with Gunman Contracts “Stand Alone” when running natively. Non-3D games like Forza Horizon 6 lasted for well over two hours when streaming from a PC.

However, even with the shorter runtimes with standalone play, battery life wasn’t an issue for me. I like to take a break from VR games at least every hour or so to have a reality “reset” and to give my brain a rest.

Bottom Line

I found the Steam Frame to be a versatile, enjoyable headset during my time with it. Weighing in at less than a pound, the headset is low-impact and comfortable to wear for hours on end. The foam padding around the headset provides a good seal against your forehead, and the weight is well balanced, partly because the battery sits at the back of your head.

Performance while streaming from a PC was excellent, while standalone gaming takes a hit due to the emulation required for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Arm SoC. However, Valve is billing the Steam Frame as a streaming-first platform, so that shouldn't surprise you. Consider standalone gaming an added bonus if you want to have a quick VR gaming session when you’re away from your PC.

Valve also made some smart design choices, including wireless links between the Steam Frame and your PC via the Wi-Fi 6E dongle, monochrome passthrough to help you orient yourself when wearing the headset, and adjustable IPD to accommodate a wide range of faces.

However, what will make or break the Steam Frame is its price, which starts at $1,059. That’s a tall order in this economic climate, when gamers are already being assaulted from multiple fronts with rising memory, storage, and GPU prices. The $1,059 price gets you only 256GB of internal storage, and opting for 1TB costs $1,299. You could always get the cheaper model and add your own microSD card, but you also have to contend with the inflated costs of portable storage.

But if you’re willing to ignore the price and have your mind set on a lightweight VR gaming experience, and you have the PC hardware to fuel it, you can’t go wrong with the Steam Frame.

What you need to know

• Rumors claim Samsung is developing a new pair of smart glasses, and has tapped Samsung Display for an in-lens color display.
• The glasses would allegedly focus on displaying "text, notifications, icons, and more" on an extremely thin panel.
• Samsung has its Intelligent Eyewear, which is supposedly coming out this fall, but those are mostly voice-focused with Google's Gemini and a camera.

Samsung has barely dipped a toe into the world of smart glasses, and there's already a rumor that it wants to go bigger next time.

This report from The Elec (Korean) claims Samsung might've started developing smart glasses with a color display (via 9to5Google). The publication cites its "industry sources" in saying Samsung has tapped Samsung Display to "create microdisplays" for a future pair of AI smart glasses. These rumors claim Samsung has a lot on its plate to prepare this product.

Specifically, the post claims Samsung has a "technical challenge" to overcome: its FOV (field of view). The company is purportedly chasing a wide FOV for these glasses to accommodate the information users would see. What's more, Samsung is leaning on its Display side to create "ultra-small panels" of ~0.2 inches or smaller for the lenses. Samsung is allegedly focusing on displaying "text, notifications, icons, and navigation arrows" (machine-translated).

It's still incredibly early to know for sure how Samsung's first color display smart glasses will arrive. However, the publication suggests the glasses could see a launch in the second half of 2027 or "early" in 2028.

Got lenses?

We can't help but think about the Ray-Ban Display glasses from Meta. In fact, that's probably the kind of competition Samsung wants to get itself involved in. These glasses also feature the neural band. It makes it easier to control the display and content on your lenses with hand gestures. There's plenty of time still to see how Samsung manages this.

Right now, we have (kind of) Samsung's "Intelligent Eyewear." These glasses are in partnership with Google, alongside designs from Warby Parker and Gentle Monster. These are Samsung's first smart glasses, but they lean more on the user's voice. Users can communicate with Gemini for navigation, order pickups, and photos. The glasses feature a camera and a microphone to get all of this done. Google reiterated its Samsung partnership during this summer's Unpacked.

These glasses aren't out yet. During the original announcement this past spring, Samsung said we shouldn't expect to see them until "later this fall."

What you need to know

• Rokid's AIUI Studio is a browser-based platform that lets anyone build spatial AI apps for Rokid Glasses, with no coding experience or dev kit required.
• Developers can describe an idea, while the AI-native workflow helps turn it into a working app.
• The built-in smart glasses simulator lets developers create and test projects before getting physical hardware involved.

Rokid is making it easier to build apps for its AI glasses, and you won't need a coding background or even to own a pair of the glasses.

The company has launched AIUI Studio globally at IFA Berlin 2026, giving developers a browser-based platform for creating and publishing spatial AI applications.

Much of the development process takes place via an AI-native workflow in AIUI Studio. You can say what you want to build in plain language, and the platform can take that idea and build an app without the traditional coding skills.

It also offers a simulation of Rokid’s smart glasses, enabling developers to work on their projects without having to purchase the hardware.

There’s still a reason to get the real hardware involved eventually, though. Rokid’s developer documentation advises testing agents in its Interactive Inview simulator before performing a final check on the actual glasses.

For developers who want to have more control, Rokid pairs its AIUI Skills Library framework with AIUI Code assistance. The company says this helps creators make better use of the glasses’ hardware while also optimizing apps for less latency, less memory use, and less power consumption.

The move is the latest as Rokid’s developer ecosystem continues to grow. The company says it now has some 35,000 registered developers and more than 500 agents available through its Agent Store.

AIUI Studio is now available worldwide. If Rokid can take advantage of that growing developer base to create a steady stream of useful agents, its glasses might just become a platform that people actively build around.

What you need to know

• Lumus is expanding its partnership with Quanta this week, which brings a licensing agreement between the two companies for next-gen waveguides.
• Lumus states Quanta will manufacture its next-gen waveguides: the Z-30 2.0, A-Lens 30 (30-degree FOV), and A-Lens 50 (50-degree FOV).
• The company was at CES 2026 where it stated it's future for waveguides for AR glasses will be "thinner, lighter, and easier to produce."

This morning (Sept 1), Lumus, a developer of waveguides for several big-name brands, announced a major partnership expansion.

In a press release, Lumus announced that it has expanded its partnership with Quanta Computing. This expansion sees the two companies reaching a licensing agreement "to manufacture three new geometric waveguides for AR glasses." The post states Lumus is developing three new waveguides: the Z-30 2.0, A-Lens 30 (30-degree FOV), and A-Lens 50 (50-degree FOV).

Thanks to the new licensing agreement, Quanta will handle manufacturing. What we can expect from the Z-30 2.0 is a 30-degree FOV "in a thinner, lighter optical engine." Lumus adds that its latest technology increases the display's brightness, alongside direct prescription lens bonding. The two new A-Lens waveguides (30 and 50) are Lumus' "lower-cost" production solutions.

The next-gen A-Lens waveguides are reportedly cutting down the weight and thickness by 50%. However, Lumus states it maintained its image quality and efficiency with this upgrade. This is an ongoing trend that Lumus is trying to introduce into this advancing world of AR glasses. Trimming down waveguide weight and thickness is key, but so is image quality, brightness, and cost.

Earlier today, Lumus' CEO, Ari Grobman, said, "Our relationship with Quanta has always been built around solving the practical challenges of bringing advanced AR optics into mass production. This agreement allows us to bring our next generation of lower-cost waveguides into manufacturing with a partner that understands both the technology and the production requirements behind it."

Here comes the future, and Lumus is leading it

As mentioned before, Lumus creates waveguides for several brands, even for Meta and its Ray-Ban Display Glasses. Earlier this year, Meta announced that it was doubling the production of its Ray-Ban glasses to meet demand. This was something Lumus echoed in its press release this morning. The demand for smart glasses continues to rise, but there's room for improvement. Its work to reduce the weight and thickness of its waveguides for AR glasses is one such upgrade.

Additionally, the lower-production-cost A-Lenses are designed to help bring more products to consumers. We'll have to see how things pan out going forward.

On a related note, Lumus was at CES 2026. This major tech event is where the company first stated what its plans were for the future of AR glasses. Lumus said, "That's the future for us—making these waveguides thinner, lighter, and easier to produce." Its announcement today further echoes that sentiment.

What you need to know

• Meta announces that its neural handwriting is now rolling out in its EAP (Early Access Program) for the Ray-Ban Display.
• Users are recommended to write with their index finger on a stable surface, and allow the AI to correct any typos or mistakes.
• Meta confirmed this was on the way for the Ray-Ban Display in December.

Meta's neural band is an important part of its smart glasses experience. It brings convenience, and Meta says it's offering a new feature in Early Access for silent AI interactions.

If you've got a pair of Meta smart glasses, the company has announced a silent handwriting feature in Early Access using the Neural Band. In a press release, Meta says users can write "AI queries with their index finger when their display is on." It states users can get answers to questions, play a song, pull up directions, and more without much effort—just a finger. Meta went into more detail about this EAP (Early Access Program) feature.

If you're interested, Meta says users must ensure their Neural Band is paired with their glasses and that everything is updated, as well as enroll in the EAP. To enable neural handwriting, head to Meta AI app > Settings > select your glasses > Early Access > toggle Meta AI with neural handwriting. For the "best results," Meta recommends users write with their index finger. It states you should "anchor your wrist on a hard surface and use your index finger to write." What's more, you should write in print, not cursive.

To ensure the Neural Band and neural handwriting feature captures what you're writing properly, you should write smoothly and at a consistent pace. Meta says users shouldn't worry about typos, nor should they wait for their HUD to catch up to what they've written. Continue regardless, and Meta AI will automatically fix any errors.

Neural handwriting is headed to the Meta Ray-Ban Display in the EAP.

Writing in the air

It was teased in December 2025, and now it's finally here. Meta confirmed late last year that it planned to empower its Ray-Ban Display further with "virtual" handwriting. We've now seen this arrive as neural handwriting. This EMG handwriting feature was confirmed to leverage the Neural Band with the user's drawing and gesture inputs. The company also teased Instagram Reel support for its glasses, too.

The neural band was an object of interest for Android Central's Nicholas Sutrich last year, too. To him, it felt like a true device straight out of a Sci-fi movie. To Meta, the sEMG band (neural band) is a requirement for "true AR smart glasses products." Users wouldn't need to rely on a screen to type their commands. The band captures your muscle movements to act out what you're writing or capture your gestures. It's silent and completely hands-free (technically).

Android Central's Take

The neural band is pretty cool, I have to admit. But bringing this "virtual" or neural handwriting just seems like the next logical step for Meta. It can already capture gesture for scrolling through song lists, why not do more? Why not make it so writing a quick message or asking its AI is effortless with single movements?

Meta may dominate the smart glasses zeitgeist, but it's far from the only player — my favorite brand in the space is actually Xreal, with its range of impressive but pricey wearable-display specs. And with the launch of its new xbx brand, Xreal's lineup now includes more budget-friendly options too.

If money were no object, Xreal’s One Pro glasses are easily the crème de la crème of smart specs. Their Bose-tuned audio is impressive for such a small package, their electrochromic dimming tech is perfect for swapping between clear vision and shaded for optimal viewing conditions, and their unique optic engine displays their image more vividly than the competition, with fewer visible distortions.

The only issue is their price — $649 / £579 (they aren't available directly in Australia), absent any discounts, although they can be found on sale occasionally.

If you’re on a budget, my preferred pick has instead been RayNeo. Its Air 4 Pro specs debuted earlier this year, and not only are they affordable at just $299 / £289, they still come with solid specs, including HDR10 support.

With its new xbx a01+, however, Xreal might have just claimed the budget crown for itself.

Budget brilliance

Now the elephant in the room is that Xreal's specs cost a bit more. At their current $299 / £269 discounted price at Xreal.com they're on par with or cheaper than RayNeo's glasses; however their official price is $359 / £349, and while they aren’t discounted at the moment, we’ve regularly seen the RayNeo Air 4 Pros selling for $249 / £249 (RayNeo also doesn't seem to sell directly to Australia) or cheaper.

At the same time, the Xreal xbx a01+ glasses boast a handful of improvements which warrant a slightly higher price.

For a start, their brightness tops out at 1,600 nits, while the RayNeo Air 4 Pro can only hit 1,200 nits. This extra brightness should allow you to get more out of the HDR10 support, offering more room for the light vs dark contrast and vivid colors to breathe across the video format’s visual range. Highs can look more high, helping lows look lower by comparison.

Aiding the image quality are the swappable lens covers.

While advertised as giving you the ability to choose which color of sunglasses cover you most want to complement your style, the xbx's box also includes a completely opaque black cover you can use with your specs. Because the specs are essentially virtual projectors, a darker environment ensures the highest-quality viewing conditions, though I found the regular sunglasses were fine even in bright sunlight.

The xbx glasses are lighter too, weighing just 62g compared to the RayNeo Air 4 Pro's 76g. Admittedly I haven't found them majorly more comfortable, but as I kicked back with them in a sun lounger while on vacation for hours on end I was relaxed enough to doze off on several occasions.

The only tradeoff is, I'd say, the audio, which doesn't seem to involve Bose tuning this time, and isn't quite as impactful as the Air 4 Pro's. That said, I'll almost always use earbuds or headphones with my display glasses, because they’re better in terms of quality and minimize sound leakage, so this downgrade didn't bother me.

Who wins? You decide

You'll also have to contend with Xreal's standard optic engine too. This is the prism that reflects the micro-OLED display into your eyes, and the standard design is susceptible to external reflections — most commonly light bouncing off the top of the specs and into your view. Pictures will also be a little smaller thanks to a reduced field of view, and can be a little blurrier at the frame edges.

Only Xreal's One Pros boast the improved design, but having experienced it, it's tough to go back to the standard optic engine.

To be fair, though, that’s mostly a me problem, and if you’re new to the display glasses world the Xreal xbx a01+ and RayNeo Air 4 Pros should be perfectly adequate performance-wise.

As for which of the budget specs you should go for — whichever is cheaper would be my suggestion.

The technical improvements of the xbx specs are solid, but if you can save $40/£40 or more on the RayNeos, their few deficiencies can be overlooked.

That said, if stylish, colorful designs are a must, alongside a marginally better image quality, then you'll be very pleased with the new Xreal xbx a01+ glasses.