Xreal’s New Budget Display Glasses Can Change Their Look on the Fly

Xreal makes some of my favorite display glasses around, functioning as wearable USB-C tethered monitors in glasses form. Xreal’s new budget pair of $299 display glasses, called a01, is part of a new sub-brand called X by Xreal. They’re significantly less expensive than Xreal’s other glasses and have some clever features their other glasses lack.

For the most part, the a01 glasses are more feature-limited compared with the Xreal One Pro and 1S. They have a slightly smaller field of view (50 degrees) and lack the dimming lens and chipset that can pin a display in place.

But they also offer notable advantages. The 1,600-nit brightness of these micro OLED displays is far higher than that of previous Xreal glasses, and I’m curious to compare them. They also support HDR10 for video, which TCL’s recent RayNeo Air 4 Pro glasses also have. The glasses are also pretty light, at 62 grams.

What interests me most is a new “anti shake” mode that promises more stable video playback while moving, and a series of snap-on, swappable frame fronts that can change the look of the glasses. There are clear and sunglass-lensed options in the mix.

The X by Xreal a01 glasses are arriving in China now, then are available in the US sometime in July. I’ll review them then, and we’ll see if these can beat out the RayNeo Air 4 Pro as the best budget tethered display glasses in a year that’s already overloaded with smart glasses.