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Comment by evanjrowley | Hacker News Reader

I've been using a pair of RayNeo Air 2 "XR" glasses for the past week. "Xtended Reality" is not really true VR, but instead, simply provides a huge 1080p screen in the middle of your field of vision. They're flawed in a handful of ways, especially with blur/visibility around the edges. I need to increase the font size to read with them. Despite those flaws, it's extremely liberating to be able to position myself in any way I want and still be able to see the main focus of my work. I think I'll just keep investing in glasses like these and never buy another monitor ever again.

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I've been eye balling a pair of those for a while now.

Any other quirks you're willing to share? Such as: how's the input latency (from key press to seeing it)? early signs of tear? do I need to invest in spare parts?

No latency. No tearing that I've noticed. They can be configured to run at 60 Hz or 120 Hz.

I couldn't find any spare parts and honestly, I think that's because the brand is trying to liquidate the RayNeo Air 2 models in favor of RayNeo Air 2s and newer. It's admittedly the lower in quality than other offerings, but passable, and not bad for just $200.

It's only possible for me to work with these when font size is increased and the scaling is turned up. Trading information density for back/neck relief is worth it in my opinion.

Seems like an alright experience then. Thank you for sharing

I have a pair of Xreal Airs. Performance is similar to a gaming monitor. At least for the raw video signal.

Under the hood they use Sony micro-led screens, which are very, very good

It'd be cool if someone reviewed all the 2024 AR glasses.

Each one is quite pricey, so trying them all for the best one isn't a solid option.

uploadvr.com do a decent job of reviewing most kit, IME. Here's the RayNeo X2 review:

https://www.uploadvr.com/rayneo-x2-standalone-ar-glasses-rev...

Sadly those aren’t ideal for people with prescription lenses…

They fit over your regular glasses, so if you can get over being self conscious from wearing two pairs of glasses at the same time, they work fine.

why not? I thought you could get them with prescription lenses?

It depends on what kind of prescription you need.

I am looking for glasses like these ones but with passthrough and much closer to your price point. https://www.bigscreenvr.com/

I’m eyeing the x-real air 2 pro for a while, very curious how they would work

By default they just work like a 1080p display. It’s okay, but bounces with head movement, etc.

They work fairly well on Mac with their Nebula software, where you can have an extended display and control the distance if the screen and it accounts for head movements. The same software is not so great on PC, unfortunately.

On Linux, Wayne Heaney created Breezy Desktop, which is almost as good as Nebula, except for some stuff around the edges during movement[0]. He’s also created a very nice driver for the Steam Deck.

With a little bit of work you can also do 3D games and movies with them. Not quite easy enough for an elementary school kid, but not much worse.

What I’ve found is that I don’t use them around the house, but do while traveling. Not sure if that justifies the price. I’ve also got both versions of the Beam. Overall, I’d say it’s a push. When I’m traveling, I’m glad I have them. When I’m not traveling, I wonder why I have them.

[0]: https://github.com/wheaney/breezy-desktop

I have one. I find it pretty bad for work. Low resolution, text is generally blurry and the corners of the screen are almost unusable with blurriness, colour aberration and other distortions.

While I endorse working on these, I have to concede that it's only possible with text enlarged and increased scaling.

IMO, very underwhelming for work. Very enjoyable for play.

How deep is the focus, or can it be tweaked? Do you find it more tiring than traditional monitors or less?

Do you get dizzy?

The RayNeo Air 2 is the most barebones XR glasses I've seen. Barely adjustable and not enough IMO, but enough to work with if you use in large text and increase scaling.

Other brands like VITURE have more adjustments available, but the price will be double what I paid for the RayNeo Air 2 ($200). It looks like these are being heavily discounted in favor of the RayNeo Air 2s and future models.

I don't get dizzy at all while using them. :)

What glasses are you looking forward to next?

The RayNeo Air 2s have come down in price for Black Friday. If I had known how much I'd like the Air 2, then I'd probably have gone with the Air 2s.

By the time I'm ready to buy a new pair, I'll look closer at what competing offerings are available from XREAL and VITRUE.

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