Xreal's Aura and Meta's VR Glasses hands-on: both have a compute puck and are light, but Aura's arrive in 2026 and have passthrough lenses suitable for walking

Mixed reality glasses now offer a clearer distinction between stationary content immersion and real-world mobility.

Xreal has announced its Aura mixed-reality smart glasses, priced at $1,279 and launching in the US, Canada, Japan, and South Korea later this year. The Aura glasses run on the Android XR platform and feature passthrough lenses that allow users to walk around while seeing their real-world surroundings, distinguishing them from Meta's VR Glasses. Meta's competing VR glasses, which start at $1,299, offer smoother interactive experiences and hand tracking powered by a 5K micro-OLED screen, but their video passthrough is described as fuzzy. Both devices utilize a separate compute puck and are designed to be lighter than traditional VR headsets. While Xreal's glasses are more adept for movement and integrating with the real world, Meta's are favored for stationary content consumption and virtual typing. Xreal's Aura will expand to more regions in 2027, and general preorders will open soon for those who have already placed paid reservations.

The direct competition between Xreal Aura and Meta's VR Glasses highlights a burgeoning market segment for lighter, more versatile mixed-reality devices that bridge the gap between virtual and augmented reality. Both companies are adopting a compute puck design, similar to other emerging players like Snap, indicating a potential industry standard for hardware architecture in this space. This competition also underscores the ongoing platform wars, with Meta leveraging its existing Quest services on its VR Glasses and Xreal betting on the broad Android ecosystem for its Aura.

The key differentiators – Xreal's real-world passthrough for mobility versus Meta's advanced hand tracking and display quality for stationary use – suggest distinct use cases are being targeted. Consumers will need to weigh whether they prioritize seamless integration with their physical environment for activities like walking, or a more polished, immersive experience for gaming and productivity while seated. The varying launch timelines and regional availability also point to the complex go-to-market strategies shaping the early adoption of these advanced wearable technologies.