During the Android Developer Summit held on Wednesday, Xreal, a partner of Google in the smart glasses sector, unveiled its latest product, the Xreal Aura wired smart glasses. These glasses are powered by the Android XR and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Reality Elite platforms. Earlier this year, the companies had provided a preview of the glasses at Google’s I/O developer conference. As Meta intensifies its efforts in the smart glasses market, rivals such as Apple and Google are eager to introduce their own offerings.
Similar to its strategy with Android smartphones, Google is collaborating with a variety of partners, including Samsung and Xreal, to deliver devices that utilize its Android XR platform to consumers. The new Xreal Aura smart glasses are designed to be connected to a smartphone-like device for processing capabilities, rather than performing all computing tasks independently. Consequently, the glasses project content directly into the wearer’s field of view.
The design of the device resembles that of Meta’s smart glasses more closely than Apple’s Vision Pro, which is a bulkier headset. The Xreal Aura features Sony’s Micro-OLED display, boasting a resolution of 1200p at 120Hz and a 95-degree field of view—specifications that theoretically place the glasses ahead of the Ray-Ban Meta Display. However, the Xreal smart glasses weigh 95 grams, making them heavier than Meta’s 69 grams, and users must also carry the accompanying puck.
Upon launch, the Aura will support a variety of popular Google Play applications and games, as well as specific XR experiences, including the NBA App for Android XR, Nevatars, Fallout: Factions, Project Hail Mary: Journey Among the Stars, NASCAR XR App, and the San Francisco Ballet Company’s The Nutcracker. Users have the option to connect a computer or handheld gaming console directly to the Xreal Aura via USB-C, transforming it into an augmented display. The device is also capable of facilitating various entertainment and productivity scenarios by enabling a multi-monitor setup or a large virtual screen.
For audio, the Xreal Aura incorporates technology from Bose to enhance sound quality while watching videos or listening to music. Given that the new smart glasses operate on the Android XR platform, users can access Gemini as a Q&A assistant, which aids in understanding on-screen context. The Xreal Aura is now available for pre-order in the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. The 12GB + 256GB model is priced at $1,279, with a limited launch price of $1,099 available through December. The 16GB + 512GB version is set at $1,499, with a launch price of $1,299 until December. The company has announced that shipping will commence by mid-November.
In May, Xreal CEO Chi Xu remarked to hinews that establishing a smart glasses business is challenging and that many companies are currently operating at a loss. He also indicated that the Aura glasses would serve a diverse array of use cases, suggesting that the industry has reached a pivotal moment with the right combination of hardware, software, and design necessary for smart glasses to achieve scalability. “You need all the key pieces ready — you need the hardware ready, the operating system needs to be ready, and then you need a great user interface,” Xu stated at that time.
