I’ve been procrastinating on writing a review of the Xreal One Pro AR Glasses because I’m very ambivalent about them. But there’s no denying a simple fact: These high-tech smart glasses absolutely make me feel like I’m living in the future.
As Mashable’s tech editor, I get to test products like this as part of my job. I honestly don’t know that I’d pay $769 — their usual price — or even $599 for these smart glasses, but if you’re an early adopter who’s itching to try all things AR/VR, then this is your chance to grab them on sale.
Today, you can buy the Xreal One Pro AR Glasses for $170 off their usual price, part of Amazon’s Cyber Monday sale.
What I like about the Xreal One Pro smart glasses
I also appreciate the fact that Xreal isn’t trying to disconnect you from the real world and immerse you in some type of metaverse. So, rather than virtual reality, these smart glasses fall firmly in the augmented reality category. The Xreal One Pro connect to your laptop, PC, or tablet and project an extra monitor into the air around you.
Credit: Timothy Beck Werth / Mashable
This can be extraordinarily useful. As a manager, I often need to keep one eye on Slack and email in case one of my reporters is dealing with an urgent problem. When I can’t be at my desk, with its two-screen setup, or at the Mashable office, where I can spread out my tabs across three screens, my MacBook’s single, solitary screen is extremely limiting.
When I put on the Xreal glasses, I can fix my Slack or email directly above or to the side of my laptop. While I work, I just need to glance up, and I can instantly see all my messages. There’s something undeniably futuristic about the effect, even if the glasses are giving major Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2: Judgement Day vibes.
The virtual display is surprisingly sharp and lifelike, though the fact that you have to remain tethered to your device by USB-C cable obviously isn’t ideal. I expect future generations of AR glasses to solve this problem, but we’re not there yet.
Again, I have mixed feelings about these glasses. Personally, I preferred the experience of the Apple Vision Pro, but until Apple brings the price down by about $3,000, this is a much better entry point to AR for most people.
