XREAL Air 1 Pro Review: First Impressions and Use Cases
This article reviews the XREAL Air 1 Pro augmented reality glasses and the Beam Pro accessory. The reviewer discusses initial impressions, potential use cases like video editing and gaming, and addresses comfort and functionality.
Initial Setup and Expectations
The reviewer pre-ordered the XREAL Air 1 Pro glasses, noting the significant delay in delivery, a wait more akin to a Kickstarter campaign than an established brand. These glasses feature smaller prism optics compared to previous XREAL models, aiming for a closer fit to the face. They also purchased the Beam Pro, a 5G device with dual cameras for 3D video recording, essentially functioning as a dedicated phone for the glasses. The glasses are clear and do not have corrective lenses as standard, however, the reviewer plans to test how these work with and without contact lenses.
Key Questions and Hypothesis
The primary questions for the reviewer are:
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Will the glasses be comfortable for long sessions of coding, reading, writing, and video editing?
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Will they deliver high-quality gaming experiences by offloading rendering to the laptop?
The reviewer seeks to explore the apparent paradox of the 21st century where there are times we want complete digital immersion, while also seeking moments of total analog disconnection. They want to see how these glasses play into that paradox.
Design and Features
The XREAL Air 1 Pro glasses have several notable features:
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Frames for corrective lenses.
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Multiple nose piece sizes for customizable fit.
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Electrochromatic lenses that can darken or lighten.
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Bose-tuned speakers.
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No built-in cameras (though a clip-on camera is available separately).
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Two ports at the bottom of the Beam Pro for simultaneous power delivery to both the phone and glasses.
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The glasses feature free DOF, which means three degrees of freedom. This allows the windows on the screen to stay in place as you move your head left, right, up, down, forward, or backward.
The reviewer emphasizes that the glasses lack a built-in battery to maintain a lightweight design, meaning they must be connected to a power source.
First Impressions and User Interface
Upon initial use, the lenses automatically darken. The glasses have volume/brightness controls and an orange button for interface interaction. The screen can be fixed in space, although this initially caused some motion sickness. Finding the right settings and configuration proved to require some initial experimentation.
Functionality and Use Cases
The reviewer anticipates using the glasses primarily as a portable widescreen for laptop workflows during travel. They tested the glasses for video editing, noting that while not superior to a large monitor setup, they offer a more comfortable posture compared to looking down at a laptop screen. They confirm that these do make editing on the go a viable use case for productivity.
Comfort and Ergonomics
The reviewer identifies a significant issue: the soft plastic near the front gets uncomfortably hot because the processor is positioned on the inside of the glasses, close to the face. This may have contributed to the delay in launching the glasses. Using the larger nose pads improved the fit slightly, reducing the heat issue. The reviewer also noted that extended use with contact lenses caused eye strain, whereas wearing normal glasses underneath the XREALs was more comfortable.
Screen Quality and Performance
The ultra-wide screen setup requires a lot of head movement. The normal dimension screen is comparable to a standard 1080p monitor, but lacks sharpness and exhibits smeariness and moiré artifacts. The reviewer notes that they have to turn their head quite a bit to see the whole screen when using the ultra wide setup.
Beam Pro and Nebula OS
The Beam Pro is designed as a media hub for the glasses and functions as a 3D camera, however, the device's Snapdragon 600 series processor is surprisingly underpowered given its purpose. The reviewer found navigating the Nebula OS to be unintuitive, requiring online research to disable default settings and access the spatial computing environment. It was difficult to access 3D content and the fact that there were no recommended apps to get started within 3D viewing was a major point of concern.
Motion Sickness and Practicality
The reviewer, prone to motion sickness, found the anchor mode to be the most usable. They also needed to adjust the mouse pointer settings for better visibility on the screen. Despite some disorientation and initial setup challenges, they imagine using the glasses for work in the car or watching YouTube on a plane.
Final Thoughts
The reviewer finds these promising, but not perfect. The lack of comfort due to heat is a real concern. The Beam Pro is underpowered for the glasses. While the glasses lack the sleek look of regular glasses, there are still some practical applications for these on the go.
Future Investigation
The reviewer promises to answer specific questions in the comments and explore the long term usability in future videos.