Xreal's New $299 'xbx' Smart Glasses Channel Xbox Vibes

Smart Glasses Channel Xbox Vibes">

Xreal, a Chinese tech company known for its high-end display-centric smart glasses, is making its gear more accessible with a new sub-brand called X By Xreal. The first product under this brand is the 'xbx' smart glasses, which start at $299. Xreal's devices connect to a phone, desktop, or console and provide a display that beams large, high-quality video directly into the wearer's eyeballs.

The glasses are designed to provide a sharp, reasonably comfortable way to play games or watch movies on a big screen, without having to crane your neck down at a phone, laptop, or gaming handheld. The xbx smart glasses, specifically the a01 model, feature a design that resembles Xbox branding, with the xbx logo rendered along the frames in a bright yellow-green font. They weigh around 62 grams (0.14 pounds) and boast displays with a perceived brightness of 1600 nits, HDR10 support, an anti-shake mode, and interchangeable frames.

According to Xreal, they are designed to be comfy, wearable glasses for people to keep on their face, whether they are 'lying in bed watching shows late at night or gaming with friends for long periods.' Since they connect to a phone or laptop that does the bulk of the video processing, the glasses don't require their own batteries. Xreal's main goal with its glasses is to win on wearability, a challenge that face computers have long struggled with. The company's approach focuses on more niche use cases of consuming content, rather than trying to pack in as many features as possible.

While they're not designed to be worn while walking around, the display's high brightness and chromatic dimming features mean they can be used outdoors. The a01 also supports Xreal's Beam Pro, its Android device that enables three degrees of freedom (3DoF) tracking plus access to Google Play Store apps. Xreal's display glasses take a different route from competitors like Meta and Google, which are aiming to squeeze as many features as possible into their smart glasses while also keeping them mobile and comfy.

Meta, which has done quite well on that front, has still struggled to keep its more powerful glasses from bulging out.