There’s been a lot of talk about augmented reality tech lately, especially with the unveiling of Snapchat Spectacles and Meta Orion. Those are both highly expensive and unobtainable to consumers – but there is a growing market of affordable glasses, that provide some of the benefits of AR glasses at a much more palatable price tag. The RayNeo Air 2s’ are one of them, and I’ll be providing some of my thoughts.
How they feel
First things first, these are a $399 pair of glasses (though they’re currently on sale for $319) – so they definitely feel cheap. The front is a single sheet of plastic and doesn’t really look like a pair of glasses, other than the general shape. The frames are definitely very flexible, and it’s easy to bend them in the other direction.
On one hand, that means it’s a one size fits all product, which is cool because you don’t have to worry about sizing while buying them. On the other hand, it means that if it doesn’t fit you well, you won’t have a great time. It was hard to get them to stay on my face perfectly without needing consistent adjustment. Changing the nose bridge (there are multiple included in the box) helped a little bit – but overall I’d say it didn’t really fit me well. Your mileage will obviously vary there.
Though the glasses may feel cheap, the unboxing experience certainly wasn’t. RayNeo (a sub-brand of TCL) definitely nailed the packaging. The glasses also come with a quality carrying case, making it easy to throw in a backpack without worry.
Experience
At this price point, there’s no way to pack an on board battery or any compute – which means you have to always use them wired with a USB-C port. This is fine, though it does mean you’ll mostly be using it stationary. It’s hard to see through the displays, so I wouldn’t recommend trying to use these while in motion, though you can certainly do it.
The actual display panels are pretty good. They offer up to 5000 nits of brightness, feature a 120Hz refresh rate, and offer good colors, thanks to Sony’s microOLED panels. The displays are 1920×1080 per eye, which isn’t anything incredible, but they’re certainly good enough for reading smaller text. RayNeo says that these offer a 201″ display size from 6 meters away, making it similar to a theater experience.
I’ve found myself mostly using these for lying down in bed and watching a YouTube video or show. It’s neat for that, and certainly provides a nicer visual experience than watching on your phone directly. If you have a good TV though, these obviously won’t compare.
There is one thing that these are missing though, and that’s a cover for the displays. Other AR glasses I’ve used in the past, such as the Xreal Airs, have offered this. A cover is immensely helpful when you want something more immersive and want to block out any light from passing through. It’s just a little piece of plastic that clips over the front of the glasses. It’d be simple to include. The actual glasses are pretty dim, so it’s not like you’re getting blinded by light behind you. It just could be better if there was a cover.
Why these make sense
I think wired augmented reality glasses make a ton of sense to pursue. You can cut a lot of cost by not needing to include any sort of compute power or an on-board battery. Plus, you’re able to use these as a display output with anything that can do USB-C video output, such as a Nintendo Switch, making them super flexible.
The main downside here is that you don’t have a proper operating system. RayNeo does sell an accessory called the “Pocket TV”, which allows you to run the Google TV operating system while it’s plugged in. The accessory also doubles as a remote.
Apple is also reportedly exploring a product similar to this, essentially selling a Vision headset that feeds off of your iPhone – with the headset really only containing the displays. For the sake of cost, this approach definitely makes some level of sense.
My verdict
Overall, these are a neat pair of glasses to enhance the media experience on your iPhone, especially if that’s your main way of watching content. The displays are very bright, and great to look at. Its speakers are pretty nice too.
For $319, they’re certainly not the best in every regard, but if something like this product sounds appealing to you, it’s an easy buy – as long as they fit you well. Plus, unlike a standalone headset, you won’t have to worry about them being dead when you finally want to use them.
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