X by Xreal a01+ Review: AR Glasses That Are Light on Your Face (and Wallet)

The battle for video glasses supremacy is on, and if there’s a titan in the space right now, it’s Xreal. Thanks to a partnership with Google, Xreal has arguably shot to the top of the list in terms of name-brand recognition in the wired AR/XR glasses space. But just because you’re recognizable doesn’t mean you can coast on name alone—you also have to make solid glasses that people want to buy.

One surefire way to expand your potential audience is bringing the price down, and with the a01+, the first glasses under Xreal’s subbrand, X by Xreal (XBX for short), that’s exactly what the buzzworthy AR/XR company has done. At $299, the a01+ are Xreal’s cheapest glasses to date and easily its most accessible, but with heated competition from companies like RayNeo, are they really the pair you should buy?

Cheaper doesn’t always mean crappier

XBX’s a01+ glasses might be cheaper, but in my experience, they’re plenty for most people getting into video glasses for the first time, though there are some caveats.

(Note: These glasses are compatible with iPhone 15, 16, 17 and any Android phone or gaming handheld that supports DisplayPort technology. They’ll generally work with any laptop or desktop with a USB-C input.)

Like any video glasses, the first thing to note about the a01+ is the micro OLED display, which feels surprisingly nice for the price tag. It has a max brightness of 1,600 nits, a resolution (in 2D) of 1,920 x 1,080, and a max refresh rate of up to 120Hz. It also has HDR10 in addition to SDR modes and an AI mode that upscales SDR content to look like HDR.

All of that translates to a display experience that’s plenty bright and hi-res enough for most people in most cases. I tested the display in a range of scenarios, including watching content like Dune: Part Two and a smattering of content on YouTube. The Dune experience was nice—I watched about an hour in total, switching between various modes, and I could see why you’d want to watch a movie this way, especially on a plane or commuting somewhere.

The display translates to a screen that’s 147 inches, which is big, though smaller than the $299 RayNeo Air 4 Pro, which translates to a 201-inch screen in the glasses. On the SDR setting, the screen is plenty dynamic, but if you want to boost the dynamic range, you can switch the screen to HDR10 by double-tapping the “X” button and opening up settings. HDR10 definitely has more nuance and a better contrast, but depending on what device you’re watching from, it may reduce the brightness quite a bit. Watching Dune from my iPhone 17, for example, there was a drastic reduction, though I didn’t really notice much of a difference, if any, while watching content from a laptop.

To test the AI HDR, I watched an older, visually darker sci-fi/horror movie, Shadowzone, on my iPhone 17 to see if it could add more contrast and color, and indeed it did—the whole thing looked just a little more saturated and contrasty. I can’t say that the experience was better, really, but it did look different. I’m not personally a huge fan of modes on any display (especially TVs) that upscale content with AI, so I don’t think AI HDR is for me, but if you’re into that sort of thing, it does technically achieve its goal.

In addition to definition modes, there are also different color modes, including standard, cinema, and eye care. Cinema adds a warmer, kind of filmic tone to content, while eye care filters blue light and makes images less harsh. Not a ton of variety here, but each works as you think it might. I definitely appreciated the cinema mode while watching Dune: Part Two since it gave a kind of yellow-ish quality to the viewing experience that felt fitting, though if you’re a purist, that isn’t really the way to go.

Watching media isn’t the only thing that you might want to do with the a01+; with a max refresh rate of 120Hz, the glasses are also solid for gaming. I tested them out by playing some Fortnite on my laptop and didn’t feel any lag, especially using an Xbox controller wired into the USB-C port. The experience was smooth and bright, and I wouldn’t hesitate to sub the a01+ in as a gaming monitor if I were in the right circumstance—again, on a plane, for example. I doubt that the experience is as beastly as the ROG Xreal R1 AR glasses that have a 240Hz refresh rate, but it felt fine for a casual gamer.

I also tested some 3D content on YouTube, which was kind of fun. Unlike other Xreal glasses like the Xreal One, One Pro, and 1S, the a01+ can’t turn 2D content into 3D, but it does support side-by-side (SBS) 3D content, so if you can find or create an SBS version of something, you can watch it back in 3D on the a01+.

I can’t see myself watching 3D content a lot, but it’s nice to have. If there’s one knock against Xreal here, it’s that competitors like the RayNeo Air 4 Pro come with their own companion app that lets you turn 2D content like images into 3D. That makes the AR glasses a little more versatile in terms of 3D content if that’s a priority for you. If it’s not, then you can disregard that discrepancy completely, though.

The RayNeo Air 4 Pro also have a slight edge in audio quality. The a01+ don’t sound bad, but they’re slightly more tinny than RayNeo’s glasses, despite having several different sound options. In addition to the standard sound mode, there’s “Cinema,” which boosts vocals, “Whisper,” which is meant to mitigate sound leakage, and “3D Surround,” which is meant to provide a “360-degree spatial sound stage.”

To be honest, I didn’t notice a huge difference between them, but I did enjoy the Cinema option the most when watching movies—the soundstage is definitely wider, and it made everything just a little bit clearer. Still, RayNeo just delivers more nuanced audio thanks in part to the Bang & Olufsen speakers.

Also, I should note there is no spatial computing element to these glasses. Unlike the RayNeo Air 4 Pro, which has three degrees of freedom (3DoF), the a01+ have none, which means they can’t track your head at all. If spatial computing isn’t on your to-do list, that won’t matter, but if you want to use these glasses for everyday computing and spend the same amount of money, RayNeo is a better bet.

Lighter on your wallet and your face

RayNeo may have a slight edge on screen size, spatial computing, and audio, but if there’s one area where I can give Xreal the win here, it’s hardware. First of all, the a01+ are incredibly light, clocking in at 62g with the front frame attached and 56g without. The RayNeo Air 4 Pro, for context, weigh in at 78g with the nose pads included.

That might not sound like a big difference, but it’s noticeable on your face. I often felt (if there were no cable impeding my movement slightly and no nose pads pushing on my face) like I wasn’t wearing anything. In fact, the a01+ are so light that a couple times I picked the case up and was sure that there were no glasses inside.

In addition to being light, the a01+ are also comfortable. There are several different sizes of nose pads, which, if you’re like me and have a bigger nose, is a welcome inclusion. You can also adjust the arms at three different angles on a vertical axis in case you feel like the display isn’t sitting where it should on your face. This is important for comfort but also for ensuring you’re seeing the screen properly.

Another nice touch is the ability to customize the front lenses of the a01+. If you want to change the look, you can just pop the lenses off by pulling up and prying them off—something I was a little scared to do at first for fear of snapping them. After that, you can then put different lenses on. XBX sells clear and shaded ones. Out of the box, my a01+ came with a slightly shaded, sunglasses-like pair of lenses and also a black-out shade for maximum darkness. If you’re a DIY kind of person, you can also 3D print your own lenses.

For most people using the a01+ at home, style options won’t matter, but if you plan to use these in the world, it’s really nice to be able to customize the look a little bit. AR/XR glasses already tend to make people look dorky, so anything you can do to mitigate that goes a long way. Plus, swapping components in and out was fairly easy.

Overall, the hardware is uncomplicated, which is fine by me. Underneath the right glasses arm, there’s a rocker for controlling brightness and volume: a single press up or down controls brightness, while a long press controls volume. There’s an X button as well that brings up the settings menu with a double tap. To enable 3D mode, you also press and hold this button. The buttons work just fine once you get the hang of them. It’s not the fastest way to control UI, but it gets the job done.

The only knock I have against the a01+ from a hardware perspective is that the glasses do get a little toasty. After brief periods of use, I can feel the heat against my head. It’s not enough to feel like I’m burning or anything, but it did make me a little nervous at first. Rest assured, after long periods of use, it never got any hotter—certainly not hot enough to make me genuinely worried.

It’s also worth noting that—like other pairs of video glasses—you should be prepared for some heavy battery drain. I watched 45 minutes of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring at the settings I would choose to watch a movie if I were on a plane, for example: cinema sound mode on, 100% screen brightness, 75% volume, and SDR enabled. My iPhone 17 battery went from 100% to 87%. That’s a pretty hefty hit after less than an hour, but powering a bright display takes a lot of juice, no matter what pair you’re wearing.

In general, though, the a01+ are solid from a hardware standpoint, offering a good mix of comfort, customization, and ease of use.

Great AR glasses if you’re not into spatial computing

There are quite a few pairs of AR glasses out there, but not many at the price point that Xreal is offering. At $299, the a01+ are more than solid. They have a bright, sharp screen that functions well for movies and gaming, and enough features to provide some versatility. They do fall behind the comparably priced RayNeo Air 4 Pro in the size of the screen, sound, and spatial computing, but they’re a slight step up hardware-wise.

These glasses are light, and the added customization—though it won’t appeal to everyone—is a nice touch and should be noted by anyone who plans to wear their AR glasses in public. By most metrics, XBX’s a01+ are a competitive (and competitively priced) pair of AR glasses that should keep Xreal in the game at an entry level.