Xreal One

Just over a year ago, we reviewed Xreal's {Air 2 Pro}, a set of glasses that, unlike a VR headset for example, functioned more like a portable television that you could easily plug into a {Steam Deck} or a smartphone to experience what appears to the eye as a gigantic display, but which you can almost carry around in a jacket pocket.

Even then, but also to this day, Xreal has grown-and-grown, and it's clear that even with the renewed focus on smart glasses through {Meta Ray-Bans} and {Even Realities G1}, there is an audience that wants the more basic functionality. But can Xreal's new {One} deliver that in an improved format with more competition from all sides?

Let's just start with the looks. When I initially commented on the {Air 2 Pro}, I didn't exactly call the glasses "pretty", but I did praise them for looking light enough, portable enough, and compact enough to slip in and out of a pocket. I say the same about the {One}, although a year of industry development has taught me that it's possible to shrink the components down even further. Xreal's slightly clunky pseudo-sunglasses look could do with an overhaul, although I agree that this shape telegraphs pretty clearly how innovative their design philosophy really is. This time there is a built-in menu, so there is no need to switch on a device like a smartphone straight away. There are now buttons, and those buttons work brilliantly, as does the little holder for your nose to ensure your viewing angle is spot on every time - yes, it's spot on every time. They weigh just 84 grams and you hardly notice them, and the directional speakers are as powerful as on a {Meta Quest 3}, which is a real compliment.

Overall, it seems that while Xreal's overall design is no longer as cutting-edge as it may have looked in the past, they have refined the function the design is supposed to provide, and therefore everything feels good. Whether it's the excellent USB-C port at the very end of the "arms", the buttons that act as shortcuts to either fade or unfade the transparency of the glass and thus the light, or the new {Transparency Mode} that turns off the menu and turns up the transparency so you can navigate and orientate yourself at once.

The {Xreal One} still needs an external device for power, but when you plug it in, there's a new built-in menu that lets you easily adjust brightness and other quirks. Whether it's an iPhone for a Netflix session on a plane, or just a quick episode of a TV show you refuse to watch on a tiny 6.1" screen, Xreal delivers exactly what they advertise here, and on-board menus and solid specifications are part of that.

Again, these are two micro-OLED projector displays at 1080p with a fairly wide FOV of 50 degrees, and these two can actually hit 600 NITS brightness. It works brilliantly, it really does. The display is sharp and it's continuously switched between {Anchor}, where the display "stays" in front of you, or 3DOF where it follows the movements of your head, and even at the maximum 286 inches, it's not overwhelming. Yes, while the FOV has been greatly improved, it still takes some getting used to and looking straight ahead for the magic to happen.

But again, Xreal has made relatively small improvements here with {One}, and it's pretty easy to recommend them as a result. In a world that will soon consist of far more complex smart glasses, the {Xreal One} is an extremely simple product in many ways, as you really just get to carry a TV around in your pocket that you don't need to charge, but saps power from a smartphone, a {Steam Deck}, or maybe an upcoming {Switch 2} (if Nintendo uses a USB-C port for display this time).