Xreal's Aura and Meta's VR Glasses hands-on: similar compute puck, lightweight design, and price, but Aura uses optical see-through lenses suitable for walking

The Xreal Aura glasses offer clear optical see-through lenses, making them practical for use while walking, unlike Meta's fuzzy video passthrough.

Xreal has announced its Aura mixed-reality glasses, set to launch this year, with a starting price of $1,279 for a 12GB RAM/256GB storage model. This positions them as a direct competitor to Meta's upcoming VR Glasses, priced at $1,299. Xreal's Aura glasses utilize optical see-through lenses, allowing users to see the real world clearly while wearing them, making them suitable for walking around. In contrast, Meta's VR Glasses feature video passthrough, which can appear fuzzy. Both devices feature a wired compute puck that houses processing power and memory. While Meta's offering boasts a smoother interactive experience and more precise hand tracking, Xreal's Aura runs on the Android XR platform and offers better real-world awareness. Xreal Aura is available for preorder to those who have placed paid reservations, with general public preorders opening soon and shipping to the US, Canada, Japan, and South Korea this year, with broader international availability in 2027. Meta's glasses are slated for an early next year launch.

Xreal's Aura glasses, launching this year at $1,279, directly challenge Meta's VR Glasses ($1,299) by offering a distinct advantage in real-world usability through their optical see-through lenses. This technology enables users to navigate and perceive their surroundings clearly, a critical differentiator for mixed-reality devices aiming for greater integration into daily activities beyond stationary use. The pricing and feature parity suggest a competitive market where practical design and seamless integration with the physical environment will be key battlegrounds.

The emergence of these two devices underscores a market trend toward lighter, more wearable mixed-reality form factors, moving away from bulky headsets. While Meta's glasses appear to offer a more polished interactive experience and advanced hand tracking, Xreal's adoption of the Android XR platform and emphasis on walkability points to a bifurcated approach in the market. Consumers may choose based on their primary use case: immersive stationary experiences versus augmented reality that blends more fluidly with everyday movement.