Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in early June brought plenty of news about the company’s latest operating system updates across its devices. One device that received minimal attention, even though it's the newest product from the company, was the Apple Vision Pro.

The VR headset is just over a year old, and it has yet to catch on with the public thanks to its expensive price tag and lack of functionality. While the Apple Vision Pro inspired the company to introduce Liquid Glass across all upcoming software updates, the company had few features to reveal for the headset. It does appear, however, that Apple is coming for everyone's head, literally.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo posted about Apple's plans for the future, and it appears the company is going to focus on both eyewear and headsets. He says, "Apple views head-mounted devices as the next major trend in consumer electronics" and predicts the company will release multiple products for this trend starting in 2027.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

It's going to be a busy 2027 for Apple

According to Kuo, Apple will release a lighter version of its Apple Vision Pro in 2027, which he refers to as Vision Air. This new VR headset will be more than 40% lighter. This new lighter headset would also come at a much lower price.

Before the release of the Vision Air, Kuo predicts Apple will release another Vision Pro with the same design but an upgraded M5 processor replacing the current M2 chip.

Then, in 2028, Kuo says Apple will release its second generation of the Vision Pro. This new headset will have a different design, lighter weight, and a lower price than the original, with a Mac-grade processor.

For smart glasses, Kuo predicts Apple will release its smart glasses in 2027, with projected shipments to be 3 to 5 million units. Apple has "made progress" on a specialty chip designed for smart glasses, which could include versions with and without AR functionality. These glasses would compete directly with Meta, the current market leader, and its Ray-Ban and upcoming Oakley models.

The smart glasses will offer multiple frame and material options, along with voice control and gesture recognition, according to Kuo. The glasses will also have audio playback, camera, video recording, and AI environmental sensing features.

The glasses don't stop there. Kuo predicts Apple will begin production of a pair of XR glasses in 2028. These will have the same voice control and gesture recognition as the smart glasses while also having a color display. Kuo also says Apple is working on another "display accessory" that could return to development. This accessory would tether to an Apple device, such as an iPhone, and display content.

Today, Xbox announced the availability of a new limited edition Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition, a collaboration with Xbox that sees the brand take its first steps into the world of VR and mixed reality — and it's out now at meta.com and Best Buy for $399.

(A note to our friends from across the pond: Those in the U.K. can grab the limited edition Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition for £379 from Argos.)

"Never let them know your next move," appears to be the gameplan of both Meta and Xbox of late, with the former leaping into new hardware ventures with the ROG Xbox Ally and Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition, and the latter choosing to make this announcement well in advance of the company's September Meta Connect 2025 event.

The Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition doesn't include any hardware improvements over the standard Quest 3S model, but it is a bundle of impressive value, especially for those looking to take their fabled "Xbox experience" to new heights, while also dipping their toes into the immersive world of VR/AR. Why? Let's dive into things to find out.

Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition: What's new?

• All-new black and green colorway for Quest 3S headset and Touch Plus controllers, influenced by Xbox
• Includes an Xbox Wireless Controller with a unique black and green design
• Also includes 3 months of free Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Meta Horizon+ membership

If you were expecting an iterative update on the Quest 3S' hardware, then you'll be majorly disappointed to learn that the Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition is very much the same device released in late 2024.

Think of this less like a new release and more of a limited edition bundle. You get a fresh new design, and for most, a welcome into the world of VR and mixed reality.

Why should this appeal to you? Well, to put it plainly, while Xbox doesn't have any VR or mixed reality games of its own, the Quest 3S is a brilliant platform for playing flatscreen games also, thanks to its ability to generate absolutely enormous, cinema-like virtual displays absolutely anywhere in your home.

Factor in the headset's rich Dolby Digital surround sound in up to 7.1 channels, and you have all the makings of a truly immersive gaming experience.

As I've said before, if you can find me a 250-inch TV with a surround sound setup to match for only $399, I might change my tune, but until then, the Meta Quest 3S is one of the best ways to enjoy your game library around, with access to Xbox Cloud Gaming (with three free months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate included) in standalone mode, or able to physically hook up to devices using UVC and UAC-compatible capture cards.

Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition: What's in the box?

The Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition is a limited edition bundle that provides you with all of the standard Quest 3S fixtures but with the company's Meta Quest Elite Strap preinstalled, while adding a themed Xbox Wireless Controller to the mix and sweetening the deal further with a free, three-month trial of Xbox Game Pass.

And, for when you feel like exploring Meta's VR/AR titles, there's also three months of Meta Horizon+ membership included to give you a head start on the action with instant access to an expansive catalog of games to play, and allowing you to claim two curated titles each month.

Here's a look at everything included in the bundle:

• Meta Quest 3S headset (Black/Green)
• Meta Quest Elite Strap (Black, preinstalled)
• Standard Facial Interface (Black, preinstalled)
• Xbox Wireless Game Controller (Black/Green)
• 2 x Meta Quest Touch Plus controllers (Black/Green)
• 2 x wrist straps (Black/Green)
• 4 x AA batteries
• Glasses spacer
• USB-C power adapter (18W)
• USB-C charging cable
• Free three-month Xbox Game Pass, and Meta Horizon+ trial included

More from Laptop Mag

• The Xbox Meta Quest 3S is baffling gamers, but the answer is right in front of them
• The next Xbox might be the strangest yet — a VR headset could arrive soon
• Meta Quest 4: Everything we've heard about Meta’s upcoming VR/AR headset

Last week, I all but performed an act of journalistic necromancy, dredging up an announcement of an Xbox-branded Meta Quest VR/AR headset from over a year ago to speculate on the possibility of us finally seeing it unveiled during September's Meta Connect 2025 event.

Since then, the hornet's nest had been well and truly been kicked, and the Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition has now been officially announced, and is available to buy right now for a limited time at $399 from meta.com and Best Buy.

Still, the news seems to be confusing some, who appear to be asking why the Xbox needs a VR headset when it has no VR games. Well, the answer to that is right in front of you — literally. It's all about the screen.

Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition: A portal to a better "Xbox Experience"

Before the Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition was officially revealed, many seemed confused about this collaboration more than anything. And who could blame them? Sony's PSVR didn't exactly make a huge splash with most console owners, and Xbox doesn't even have any VR games to its name.

But this partnership isn't really about VR, it's about mixed reality. More specifically, the Quest's ability to conjure up cinema-sized displays with impressive Dolby Atmos and Dolby Digital surround sound in virtual space, anywhere and everywhere you need it.

While its "Play Anywhere" mentality means you can now enjoy more Xbox titles across a range of devices, Xbox's partnership with Meta gives more gamers access to enjoy big-screen experiences with high-quality audio at a fraction of the cost of purchasing a comically sized TV and speaker setup.

Seriously, go find me a 250-inch TV and a surround sound speaker setup for less than $400 anywhere else. Virtual or not, since enjoying flatscreen content through the Meta Quest, buying physical displays feels nothing short of daylight robbery.

While Xbox's cloud gaming efforts have made it so you can access the "Xbox Experience" on more hardware than ever, its limited edition Meta Quest 3S reminds you that the "Xbox Experience" isn't just about where you can play games, but how you can.

Xbox and Meta Quest: A mutually beneficial crossover

When the Xbox One released in 2013, Microsoft re-angled its console as a do-it-all device for games, movies, apps, TV, and even the internet. The Xbox One wasn't your run-of-the-mill console; it was an entertainment center.

This generation, with the Xbox Series S|X, Microsoft has been more aware of its hardware limitations, branching into cloud gaming to make the Xbox experience feel like something less shackled to a particular piece of hardware.

It's also the reason we're seeing Xbox games make the jump to other platforms, and even Xbox-branded hardware like the Asus ROG Xbox Ally.

Similarly, with its third-generation shift into augmented reality, Meta has been pushing hard to make the Quest a one-stop hardware destination, covering everything from gaming to productivity.

Meta's real challenge has been replicating the sales success of the Quest 2 and convincing flat-screen gamers to give its platform a shot. This partnership with Xbox gives it that opportunity.

It's a chance to get regular gamers across its hardware threshold, and hopefully sway them to the spatial gaming/computing experience, all while handing Xbox users a unique way to game: plastered across enormous, mixed reality displays that truly live up to Xbox's "Play Anywhere" branding.

While its pricing seems a little high at first, besting the regular Quest 3S by $100, the Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition limited edition bundle includes an Xbox Wireless Controller, two Touch Plus controllers, a Meta Quest Elite strap, and the Quest 3S headset itself. That's a considerable serving that justifies the price, and a free, three-month helping of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Meta Horizon+ are the cherries on top.

More from Laptop Mag

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Meta Quest is the best-selling VR headset, and it looks like there is going to be a new variant coming very soon.

Last year, Meta released its Meta Quest 3S, which offers a similar experience to the Meta Quest 3, but at $200 cheaper with its $299 price tag. There are expectations that Meta will release the Quest 4 sometime in 2027, but it seems this new version coming out might help fill in the gap of time.

An Xbox Meta Quest 3S will reportedly be announced on Tuesday, June 23, according to Game Sandwich. The Xbox version of the VR headset will have the color scheme of the Microsoft game console and will retail for $399.

Meta and Microsoft didn't immediately respond to a request for confirmation on the new headset.

Meta teased this Quest 3S version last year. In a blog post from April 2024, the company said it was working with Microsoft to do a limited-edition Meta Quest that was inspired by Xbox. There was no date on when it would be released, with some expecting it would have been officially unveiled at Meta Connect 2025, scheduled for Sept. 17-18.

What's in the Xbox Meta Quest 3S?

According to the report, the Xbox Quest 3S will come with a black and green headset, matching accessories, an Elite Strap, an Xbox wireless controller, and three months of Xbox Game Pass. It will reportedly have the same 128GB storage and specs, which means this does appear to be the Meta Quest 3S with just Xbox colors.

Back in 2023, Meta added the Xbox Cloud Gaming app to its Meta Quest Store. Reviews for the app have been mixed, as many cite controller issues, dealing with being unable to pair their controllers to play a game, or a severe amount of input lag. This version of the Quest 3S might address these hardware issues.

Is Microsoft jumping into VR?

Microsoft appears to be willing to try to get the Xbox brand on whatever hardware trend is in these days.

With its Xbox Cloud Gaming, the company has made a push to declare that any device is an Xbox, whether it's a phone, tablet, laptop, or portable gaming device.

This VR headset could be Microsoft dipping its toes in the VR market before it releases the next generation Xbox, which should be sometime in 2027.

Microsoft is doing a similar test out the waters, teaming up with Asus for its ROG Xbox Ally, which is a version of the ROG Ally X that makes use of the Xbox user interface. The company was reportedly developing a portable Xbox alongside its home console version for its next-generation hardware, but the portable version has reportedly been canceled.

1. Meta Quest 3 vs. Meta Quest 3S: A VR headset head-to-head
2. Meta Quest 3 review: Elite features at an affordable price
3. Meta Quest 3S is here, and I've 3 reasons for Quest 2 owners to get it
4. I tried the Meta Quest 3S: Is it game over for the Apple Vision Pro?
5. How Meta's Quest 3S could spell disaster for the Apple Vision Pro
6. Meta unveils its Quest 3S headset as the most affordable way to get a proper taste of mixed reality

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XREAL just launched its latest pair of smart glasses, the XREAL One Pro, which might just be the new best-in-class way to experience AR.

XREAL impressed us in the past with its Editor's Choice Air 2 glasses, but the One Pro could be even better thanks to a slew of exciting upgrades. The One Pro may also give us some hints at what to expect in XREAL's upcoming collaboration with Google on a mysterious pair of mixed reality glasses called "Project Aura."

If you've got your eye (or... eyes) on the One Pro glasses but you're still on the fence, we've got you covered.

We'll be sharing our detailed analysis of the XREAL One Pro in our full review soon, but in the meantime, here's a look at what's being said so far, including a couple of drawbacks you should keep in mind before buying.

XREAL One Pro's improved Field of View is a huge upgrade

A significantly improved field of view (FOV) is arguably the biggest win for the XREAL One Pro. All of the reviews seem to agree on this, too. XREAL increased the FOV on the One Pro to 57 degrees, over 10 degrees more than the Air 2.

PCMag's Will Greenwald highlighted this upgrade in his review, stating, "The XReal One Pro is one of the most advanced pairs of AR smart glasses available, with a record-breaking field of view for the biggest picture you can get in this category."

Greenwald also pointed out that the One Pro has a significantly wider FOV than competitor Viture's Pro XR glasses.

Laptop Mag rated the Viture Pro XR slightly higher than the XREAL Air 2, but it seems like XREAL's latest pair of glasses has at least one significant edge over Viture's offerings.

That wider field of view means you can see a larger virtual display on the XREAL One Pro compared to other AR glasses (or, alternatively, view more small displays side-by-side).

XREAL One Pro's lightweight design holds some impressive new optical tech

The XREAL One Pro has more advanced tech inside, so it might come as a surprise that it's just as thin and light (if not more so) than previous models. The design still looks like basic black sunglasses, so you might not notice the difference compared to older XREAL glasses at first, but if you look a little closer, there's some impressive new tech inside.

TechRadar's Hamish Hector pointed out the new optical tech XREAL worked into this design, explaining, "The Xreal One Pro glasses have a new shape of lens which is flatter and thinner, rather than being chunky and more triangular in shape.

This means the resulting image is disrupted by fewer reflections caused by light from the world around you, and it’s able to boast a wider field of view to boot."

Brandon Hill of Tom's Hardware touched on this in his review, as well, saying, "Not only does the flat-prism design reduce the visual heft of the glasses, but it also boosts the total field of view from 50 degrees on the One to 57 degrees on the One Pro."

XREAL Eye performance is hit or miss

While it isn't technically part of the XREAL One Pro base unit, the new XREAL Eye accessory is pitched as the perfect companion to the new glasses, adding a 12MP camera you can use to capture photos and videos.

This gives the One Pro a highly coveted feature that fans of the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses might miss if they make the switch to XREAL. Unfortunately, reviews so far have revealed that performance with the XREAL Eye has its ups and downs.

Brandon Hill of Tom's Hardware summed it up well, stating, "I didn’t find the photos or video to be particularly impressive from the Eye. In low-light conditions, photos looked drab and dark." He also added that, "Videos also looked fuzzy, more akin to something from an iPhone 4 than something more modern."

Aside from camera quality, the practicality of the XREAL Eye isn't ideal, especially if you use the glasses while tethered to a computer. So the potential advantage of taking photos and videos hands-free with the glasses is effectively cancelled out by the need to carry around some tethered device with you.

With that said, the XREAL Eye adds one major new feature that may still make it worthwhile for some people: 6 Degrees of Freedom, or 6DoF.

This feature allows you to geographically "place" your virtual displays like you can on the Apple Vision Pro. That could be useful if you want to use multiple virtual displays at once. However, the XREAL Eye doesn't come cheap at €119 (approximately $136).

The high price is a bit of a letdown on an otherwise great pair of glasses

The XREAL Eye accessory isn't the only thing that's pricey. The XREAL One Pro itself has a pretty steep asking price, which was a drawback for several reviewers.

At $649, the XREAL One Pro is more expensive than some phones and tablets, not to mention the Meta Quest 3 VR headset.

To put that into context, the XREAL Air 2 costs $299, less than half the price of the One Pro. Of course, you're getting better tech for that price, but it still puts the One Pro out of reach for some people.

While reviewers listed the price as a negative, they also acknowledged it delivers on its high price. As PCMag's Will Greenwald put it, "The One Pro is expensive at $650, but its huge field of view and all-around strong performance and feature set justify that price, resulting in a top-notch wearable display experience."

Should you buy the XREAL One Pro?

The XREAL One Pro is a pricey, but feature-packed pair of AR glasses that really shines when it comes to its top-notch field of view.

We'll have our full analysis of these glasses in our upcoming review, but at first glance, they could be a good buy for some people.

The high cost is a significant drawback and may make the XREAL Air 2 a better option for some, but if you can afford it and want the best AR experience around, the XREAL One Pro should be on your shortlist thanks to its cutting-edge optical tech, great visuals, and sleek build.

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Despite strong alternatives in the form of VR and mixed reality headsets from Apple, HTC, Pico, Pimax, and more, Meta’s Quest headsets remain the most popular and widely adopted on the market.

Since the release of the Quest 3S, the power of Meta’s third-generation headsets has become more accessible than ever, securing an ultra-competitive $299 price tag while building an audience around a considerable library of productivity and entertainment-focused apps and games.

While the Meta Quest 2 (now discontinued) still stands as Meta’s best-selling VR headset to date, the reaction to the Meta Quest 3 — along with Meta’s unflappable drive to make mixed reality mainstream — all but guarantees that a Meta Quest 4 will follow.

So, what can we expect? What do we already know? And just how far off is Meta’s next-gen headset from making an appearance? Let’s take a closer look.

Meta Quest 4: FAQs

• Has Meta announced the Meta Quest 4?
  While Meta hasn’t officially announced the Meta Quest 4 yet, several people claiming to work closely on the project at one point or another have shared details of its ongoing development.
  
• Should I buy a Meta Quest 3 or wait for the Meta Quest 4?
  At the time of writing, the Meta Quest 4 isn’t expected to release until 2027. As such, don’t hold back. If you’re interested in trying our VR or mixed reality, the Quest 3 is a fantastic option that’s easy to get the hang of.
  
  If you don’t want to spend too much, only to replace your headset in a few years, the Meta Quest 3S offers the same performance as the premium model (though lesser quality optics), starting at only $299.

Meta Quest 4: Release date rumours

It’s a pretty safe bet to assume that the Meta Quest 4 is coming. Rumors about the headset have been circulating online for some time, with initial reports suggesting that it would arrive next year, in 2026.

However, it has been claimed that Meta is willing to push back the launch of the Quest 4, with fresh reports hinting at a 2027 release. A high-end, controllerless headset without the Quest branding is currently said to release in 2026 instead.

This headset, codenamed Puffin, looks set to replace a previously canceled follow-up to the Meta Quest Pro, codenamed La Jolla, and is rumored to be a more lightweight pair of mixed-reality glasses running Horizon OS that offloads much of the processing to a separate, tethered compute puck.

Meta Quest 4: Design rumors

Word on the Quest 4’s specifications and design is still speculative, and early leaks have suggested that Meta has multiple prototypes in mind for its fourth-generation headset. That said, there are two prototypes we can likely rule out.

According to The Information, in 2024, Meta was planning budget and premium models of the Quest 4 under a new design, codenamed Prismo Low and Prismo High. However, sources revealed to UploadVR in June 2025 that these headsets (originally planned to release in 2026) have since been canceled, with Meta seemingly seeking to stick to a more traditional form factor.

With this in mind, I’d expect the return of pancake lenses alongside improved display tech that may even stretch to Micro-OLED panels, a reduced weight profile, and potentially a slight improvement in battery life.

Beyond design, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has long held goals for Quest headsets to be powered by custom silicon eventually. However, the Quest 3 and Quest 3S stuck with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 chipset, and the company maintained that partnership by using Qualcomm chips once more for the compute puck of its Orion AR glasses prototype.

Given that Meta also chose to dismantle its Facebook Agile Silicon Team (FAST) in October 2023, it’s safe to assume that Meta’s next-gen headsets will once again likely lean on Qualcomm processors. The most obvious candidates are its upcoming Snapdragon XR2 Gen 3 or Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 3 chipsets, codenamed Project Matrix — the same chips rumored to feature in Samsung’s Project Moohan XR headset.

These chips are expected to offer increased processing power — leading to better and smoother graphics, higher per-eye resolution, expanded concurrent camera counts — opening the doors to advanced tracking or scanning, and Wi-Fi 7 support.

Given Meta’s long-in-development Codec Avatars project, adding more sensors for tracking the wearer’s eyes and face seems like a no-brainer. However, high-resolution passthrough cameras for richer immersion in mixed reality mode and potentially an improved sensor for hand tracking would also be welcome upgrades.

Meta Quest 4: Price speculation

The price of VR headsets, and just about every other piece of tech right now, could be heavily impacted by U.S. tariffs over the coming years. As such, it’s going to be hard to estimate how much the Meta Quest 4 could cost when it eventually lands on store shelves.

Still, Meta is sure to want to maintain its competitive pricing, so a drastic leap in cost isn’t something we’d expect to see. It’s unclear whether Meta dropping development of the early Prismo Low and Prismo High models means we’ll miss out on a potential Meta Quest 4S this time around, which may make the headset slightly less accessible than the current catalog.

However, Meta may be able to shave some of the potential inflated costs off the headset for current Quest owners if it decides to maintain compatibility with its Touch Plus controllers and offers a headset-only option for purchase — something many speculated Meta might do to accommodate the low-cost Quest 3S’ launch in 2024.

Given the high price of Meta’s Touch Plus controllers (which Meta sells individually, not as a required pair, for $74.99), this could considerably reduce the Quest 4’s price tag, and make it a more compelling upgrade for those currently enjoying its third-generation headsets.

While we can’t say for sure what the Quest 4’s price will be at this moment, it’s probably fair to suggest that it’ll stick as close as possible to the price set by the Quest 3, with some wiggle room for pricier components or to combat any additional tariff-related costs.

Taking that into account, but keeping in mind that this is purely speculative, an early estimate of the Quest 4’s starting price could be between $499 and $599.

What's next?

With the expected release of the Meta Quest 4 still a few years out, all we can do for now is keep our ears to the ground and make sure our eyes are peeled for any new tidbits of information made available through leaks or reliable sources.

We'll be sure to upgrade this page as and when any additional information becomes available, but we can't say for sure when that might be.

In the meantime, Meta Connect 2025 is set to take place later this year, from September 17. While we don't expect to see the Quest 4 make an appearance, there's a good chance we might see another headset revealed: a limited edition Xbox-branded Meta Quest 3.

While it's not expected to vary in terms of hardware or features, it should at least tide us over while we wait to hear more about Meta's next-gen VR/AR offerings.

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Say whatever you'd like about the predictability of Microsoft, but the Xbox brand has pivoted so wildly over the last several years that you'd assume its product roadmap was nothing but hairpin bends.

From banking heavily on Xbox Game Pass and cloud gaming, to sharing exclusive games with PlayStation, to teaming up with Asus for the ROG Xbox Ally handheld, and even suggesting third parties will build their own Xbox consoles in the future, it's increasingly hard to know where Xbox is heading next.

Except, we do know one thing: it's been a year and change since a very different kind of Xbox hardware was quietly announced — one that won't be a console in the traditional sense, but a VR/XR headset. Given its scope, we may even see it revealed as soon as this September.

Xbox's take on the Meta Quest 3: Powered by Horizon OS

In April 2024, Meta announced that it was opening the door for third-party manufacturers to adopt the Meta Quest 3's operating system, Horizon OS.

Alongside this announcement, Meta (and CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Instagram) revealed that this decision would spark a new generation of VR/MX hardware, with several partners already lined up to spearhead the move, including:

• ASUS ROG: Who were earmarked to develop a new stand-alone, high-performance headset optimized for gaming and powered by Horizon OS
• Lenovo: Tipped to use Horizon OS' mixed reality features to power headsets for education, productivity, and entertainment
• Xbox: Set to build upon its partnership with Meta following Xbox Cloud Gaming's arrival to Horizon OS by developing a limited edition Meta Quest headset

We didn't get to see any of these devices as prototypes, and we weren't offered any form of release date or pricing information. But Meta did reveal that each headset could be fine-tuned to suit its target audiences.

In Xbox's case, Zuckerberg suggested that this model could "come straight out of the box with Xbox controllers and Game Pass, so that you can immediately just start playing on a big screen anywhere you go."

How that translates to the final product remains to be seen, and just how special Xbox's limited edition Meta Quest headset is from the standard Quest 3 model is also up in the air.

However, we have seen Meta provide limited editions of other products, namely its Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, which have received new colorways and designs over the years. At the very least, this could mean that Xbox's Quest headset will visually stand out, likely opting for the black colorway that the console is primarily known for.

As a limited edition Meta Quest variant, we can likely rule out any dramatic changes to the Quest 3's current design or features. You can probably expect it to look pretty much the same as the current third-generation Quest headsets, though adopting the Xbox Wireless Controller's colored buttons would be a nice touch.

Big screen experience or fully VR ready?

That's if the Quest 3's Touch Plus controllers are included in the box, Zuckerberg did hint that the headset could come with an Xbox controller, after all. Thankfully, those who nab the headset when it launches will still be able to use its hand tracking for VR/MX content, and a lack of controllers could result in a sizeable discount on the headset's overall price.

If the limited edition Xbox Meta Quest headset adopts the Quest 3S as its baseline, instead of the more premium Quest 3 model, it could be an impressively affordable entry-level option for VR/MR first-timers.

However, many of the Quest's most popular games do require a pair of Touch Plus controllers. Which means, should you be swayed by the Quest's VR/MX game library, you would need to buy the controllers separately, which Meta sells for $74.99 — each.

When can we expect it?

Frustratingly, the last time we heard of this Xbox-branded headset was also the first time we heard about it. Since Meta's original post in April 2024, we've had pretty much radio silence.

Does this mean that the project has evaporated into thin air? Well, it wouldn't be the first time that Meta has announced something and failed to deliver (we're still waiting for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas VR).

However, with Xbox happy enough to work with third parties on Xbox-branded hardware (even to the point of cancelling its own plans) and the seemingly small scope of the collaboration, I'd say there's a strong chance that this headset is still due to release. The question is: when?

The answer to that question may be sooner than we think, with the upcoming Meta Connect 2025 event, scheduled for September 17-18, making an ideal stage to showcase a new headset, especially as the Meta Quest 4 is rumored not to make an appearance until 2027.

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As crazy as it might sound, I've been filtering out monitors and TVs from my life for some time now — and I haven't cut down on any of the time I spend working at a computer, gaming, or watching shows, either.

How? I've been wearing various AR glasses over the last few years, instead. Like the XREAL Air 2 AR glasses, currently on sale for $249 at Amazon (one of my favorite Memorial Day deals), and a product I personally reviewed and handed a Laptop Mag Editor's Choice award to.

Why? In a nutshell: because they're excellent. I no longer have to deal with a busy multi-monitor workstation, they work with everything from my phone, to my laptop, handheld gaming PCs, and even games consoles — and their relaxed wear and comfort means that the crick in my neck from previously hunching over my Steam Deck has completely vanished.

Owning a pair of AR glasses is like having your very own cinema screen in your pocket at all times. XREAL's frames use a combination of micro-OLED screens and birdbath optics to project holographic displays in front of your eyes, anywhere, anytime.

Better still, their 1080p resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, built-in speakers, and virtual, SBS 3D-compatible displays of up to 330 inches in size push that cinematic experience further. You get a surround sound, big-screen experience for a fraction of the price of a setup of its kind. And it all fits comfortably on your face.

Out with the old, in with the new. This year, don't waste your money on expensive gaming monitors or a second display for your laptop, and absolutely don't spend big on a TV you'll have to watch from across the room.

Spend smart, try something new! Who knows, maybe you'll be joining me as I say my farewells to flatscreens. Check out the deal below for more.

See also:

• 60 best tech deals from Memorial Day sales at Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg, Walmart, and others

Today's best XREAL Air 2 Memorial Day deal

Google I/O is a lot like Apple's WWDC. A staple of the tech calendar, where Google takes a moment to flaunt its advancements in software and AI, and show us what's on its way to Android devices over the coming year.

It's not often you'll see hardware steal the show. For that, you typically need to catch the company's Made By Google event later in the calendar year. However, this year is different.

It may not be of Google's own crafting, but Google I/O just gifted you the greatest reason to buy an Android device in years, and I'm not talking about a smartphone.

Unveiled at Google I/O on Tuesday, XREAL's Android XR-driven Project Aura XR glasses are the next major milestone for AR glasses — a technology I've been preaching about for some time now.

XREAL Project Aura: The white-hot glow of potential

The the naked eye, XREAL's Project Aura looks much like its recently released XREAL One AR glasses, with the optional XREAL Eye camera accessory built directly into the frames.

This means that we can expect Project Aura to not just offer AR experiences through its flattened birdbath optics, but for those visuals to be enhanced further with three and six-degrees of freedom (3/6DoF), allowing for immersive viewing experiences, similar to those offered by full headsets like Apple's Vision Pro or Meta Quest 3, which can anchor augmented elements in place and keep them there — even when turning your head or walking around.

Interestingly, what really sets Project Aura apart from its XREAL One/One Pro predecessors is the switch to a Qualcomm chipset from the company's proprietary X1 chip.

On the switch, Senior Vice President and General Manager of XR at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., Ziad Asghar, proudly boasts: “Qualcomm Technologies is excited to be powering XREAL’s new Android XR device,” further stating stating, "Working with XREAL, Snapdragon allows amazing immersive experiences to come to life in a unique optical see-through product.”

_{XREAL's Project Aura looks to be the perfect XR glasses to bring Google's vision for the future of AI assistants, Project Astra (as seen in the video above, showcased during last year's Google I/O event), to life, offering a mix of AI and AR tech to allow multi-modal AI models like Google Gemini to shine.}

Qualcomm definitely has a history in AR and XR, with its Snapdragon chips powering the latest Meta Quest 3 and 3S headsets. But more than a snappy processor will be required if XREAL's XR glasses are to get off the ground properly. For that, you need only look at Project Aura's use of the new Android XR platform.

“Google is thrilled to welcome XREAL to the Android XR family and to build great XR experiences on Project Aura,” said Hugo Swart, Sr. Director, XR ecosystem at Google. And I'm certain that the feeling is mutual, as the one thing holding AR glasses back so far has been software. Android XR changes that — and it brings Google's Gemini AI along for the ride.

XREAL Co-founder Chi Xu agrees, stating in a press release: "We’ve always pushed the boundaries of what XR hardware can do — combining performance, comfort, and design into something people can wear every day ... Partnering with Google on Android XR takes this vision to the next level."

XREAL's partnership with Google on using the Android XR platform isn't just a shift to a more universally available platform, it's the kicking opening of the doors and an invitation to developers to take advantage of its hardware in new and interesting ways. As Xu sees it, "this is a breakthrough moment for real-world XR.”

I'm inclined to agree.

What's next

Today was just a glimpse at Project Aura, the second official device to make use of Android XR.

To hear more, we'll need to wait for the Augmented World Expo (AWE) in June. It's here that we can likely expect to hear more about its Qualcomm potential and XREAL's advancements in hardware.

But rest assured, this isn't a preview of a technology years from the market. XREAL has been developing some of the most advanced AR glasses on the market for years. Project Aura is likely to be in your hands, and on your face, well in advance of Meta's ambitious Orion glasses, that's for sure.

To stay looped into the project, you can subscribe to news on XREAL's Project Aura at the company's website.

I've been a long-time proponent of smart glasses, and Project Aura's blend of AR and AI could make it the first of its kind to really break through the perceived mainstream barrier and make smart glasses like this a staple of modern, everyday tech.

To many, my words have been wasted all too early. An overenthusiastic response to tech that is oftentimes off-handedly dismissed as something that needs more time to cook and mature.

While I disagree, I can see why people may hesitate. Smart glasses didn't exactly get off to the best of starts when Google Glass burst onto the scene in 2013.

However, Project Aura is something new. Something different. And, if there's a message to share with those who aren't sold on the idea of your face being the platform for the computer of the future, let me tell you: we're here.

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Was the Apple Vision Pro an ambitious innovation... or a pricey gadget even lifelong Apple fans are unsure about? It sounds like it's the latter.

When Apple first announced the Vision Pro at WWDC 2023, many people, especially diehard Apple fans, were thrilled that Apple was finally getting into virtual reality. Demos of the headset left many excited to see more... until Apple revealed the headset's sky-high price tag.

The price was only the beginning of the Vision Pro's troubles.

Now, over a year later, it looks like Apple has even lost the Vision Pro's biggest fans after a recent interview with a few regretful Vision Pro buyers.

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"I wouldn’t recommend anyone buying it": Vision Pro owners speak up about their regrets

Last week, the Wall Street Journal published interviews with several early adopters of the Apple Vision Pro. A year after launch, what they had to say about the pricey, futuristic headset is definitely not what Apple wants to hear.

"I think I’ve probably used it four times in the last year," one of the interviewees, Dustin Fox, admitted.

For Fox, setting the Vision Pro aside came down to its weight. The headset was just too uncomfortable to use "for more than 20 or 30 minutes." All of the other interviewees also cited this as one of the reasons they abandoned the headset.

While it may seem small, this criticism has been a common one of the Vision Pro since launch and is clearly a major factor driving many early adopters to sour on the headset.

Vision Pro users haven't just been experiencing physical discomfort — they've also noticed a fair bit of social discomfort.

"I got pretty dirty looks from people," Anshel Sag, another one of the WSJ interviewees, shared.

Sag had purchased a Vision Pro partly to watch movies while flying. However, he said that he stopped flying with it after getting those "dirty looks," and because the headset's case is too bulky to be practical for bringing on flights. He said, "It takes up half of the volume of my carry-on."

Anthony Racaniello, another Vision Pro buyer, shared a similar sentiment: "You have to put on what feels like a 500-pound MacBook Pro, strap it to your face, and have people laugh at you."

The overarching theme of all the interviews was a profound sense of buyer's remorse, not just because the Vision Pro lacks apps or is uncomfortable but also because it lacks the "cool" factor the iPhone enjoys.

The question is, why?

Why was the Apple Vision Pro a flop? It's about more than you think

A slew of factors contributed to the Apple Vision Pro's inability to catch on the way other Apple devices have, but I think a big part of it comes down to poor timing and a lack of understanding of what consumers need and want.

Fans have often compared the Vision Pro to the Apple Watch, hoping it will make a comeback. The Apple Watch faced skepticism at first, too, until Apple realized its power as a fitness device. That's a legitimate use, and on top of that, the Apple Watch isn't as conspicuous as the Vision Pro and nowhere near as expensive.

Ironically, I think the Vision Pro may have failed because it's not like the Apple Watch. Apple has yet to pin down a "killer use" for it, and the price is far too high for the vast majority of people to afford.

That may explain why Vision Pro users get those "dirty looks" when wearing the headset in public. Its sky-high price has made it representative of a growing trend of pricey, luxury tech that isn't made for the masses.

People wearing the Vision Pro may look like they're flaunting their wealth. It certainly doesn't help that the oversized ski goggles look isn't exactly the last word in fashion.

The Vision Pro doesn't charm people because it doesn't seem like it was made for them. It doesn't solve any big problem consumers are having, nor is it a reasonable, improved replacement for any of the much less expensive tech we already have, like your laptop or phone.

In this case, it seems like Apple was betting on people buying the Vision Pro because it's a luxury, cutting-edge device.

However, the folks at Cupertino may have underestimated the frustration of all the people who just want a more durable phone with better battery life, not a $4,000 VR headset that's too heavy to wear for more than half an hour.

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AR may be coming soon to an office near you.

Sightful launched Spacetop for Windows, an AR glasses and software combo, earlier this month. Packaged with XReal's Air 2 Ultra glasses, Spacetop is a piece of AR virtual display management software, designed to solve a few key pain points in the AR space.

With a travel mode for better motion tracking, a mouse that can't be lost, and a massive virtual canvas, Spacetop intends to change the way we interact with AR spaces.

But is Spacetop for Windows worth the steep $899 buy-in price? Let's find out.

Spacetop: The highs

AR workspaces aren't exactly new. So what makes Spacetop different?

Spacetop for Windows has a unique Travel Mode feature for a better working experience on the go. It also has a massive virtual canvas and multiple quality-of-life features like tilt mode and a mouse you just can't lose.

Working in AR, especially when you're in a moving vehicle, can be a bit tricky. Just plugging your AR glasses into your laptop won't enable motion tracking, so you might end up leaving your virtual screen behind when your bus turns a corner or your plane needs to bank to avoid a bit of turbulence.

And in a case like that, Spacetop's Travel Mode, with AI-powered motion tracking, can be a total game-changer. Especially because the Spacetop software doesn't display your windows on the laptop screen, allowing you the privacy to work with sensitive documents and files while commuting or in a cafe.

Additionally, Spacetop's software is designed to give you a virtual 100-inch display, allowing you to work in multiple applications side-by-side. For the heavy multitasker, additional screen space is always a bonus, and Spacetop gives you more room than you'd get even with multiple monitors. You can lay out your virtual canvas however you like.

But if you're worried about losing your mouse in all that canvas space, don't be. Sightful has coded the cursor so you can't lose your mouse, no matter how hard you try.

Add in the tilt function to set your AR canvas at the best ergonomic angle for your current working environment, and it's a handy little piece of software.

Spacetop: The lows

No matter how you look at it, Spacetop is an expensive piece of software.

$899 for the XReal Air 2 Ultra AR Glasses and the Spacetop software is pricey. XReal's Air 2 Ultra retails for $699. The annual software renewal fee for Spacetop for Windows is $200.

So, sure. The pricing makes sense. The $899 covers the software license fee and the price of the XReal glasses.

However.

There are cheaper AR glasses with decent displays, including most of the other glasses made by XReal, not to mention the competition like TCL and Viture.

There are free alternatives made by XReal themselves (Nebula for Windows), plus Lenovo's Virtual Display Manager, and Viture's ARMoni.

In fact, both Viture's ARMoni display management software supports multiple brands of AR glasses, including the XReal Air 2 Ultra glasses that Spacetop ships with.

Of course, these free applications aren't quite as polished as Spacetop and lack the AI-powered motion-tracking capabilities.

But for most tech enthusiasts, pricing will be a major deciding factor, if not the ultimate decision point. In that case, I just can't see a future for Spacetop outside of the corporate enterprise space.

Bottom line

Spacetop was an ambitious project from the start, and moving to an app just makes sense given the current advancements in AI PCs. While Spacetop is currently just available on Intel's Lunar Lake systems right now, it will eventually be supported on any of the best AI PCs.

The application software is stable, and clearly Sightful has spent a ton of development time fine-tuning the controls to make them as seamless as possible. I had as great an experience in AR with Spacetop as I could possibly imagine.

And considering Sightful's partnership with SHI and Deutsche Telekom, Spacetop for Windows is clearly intended for the enterprise.

I just cannot get past the pricing.

Sure, enterprise pricing always exists in a somewhat ethereal state because the quoted price is rarely what an enterprise customer will actually pay per unit. And for corporate purposes, Spacetop is a fantastic solution.

Spacetop's $899 price tag may include the XREAL Air Ultra 2 glasses, but its $200 software renewal fee is difficult to swallow.

This is especially true for a regular tech enthusiast looking to get into AR computing. While other AR workspace applications may not be as seamless, they're free.

If Spacetop offered universal AR glasses support, it'd help offset the software cost, but then it also wouldn't need to ship with XReal's pricy Air 2 Ultra glasses.

While software devs on an ambitious project like Spacetop deserve to get paid for their time and expertise, it's a shame to lock a genuinely useful piece of software behind such a steep initial buy-in price.

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AR glasses are better than ever, with full visual fidelity and lighter components making AR workspaces more and more useful for professionals.

The big problem? Computer operating systems aren't designed to work in the AR space: you can lose your cursor easily, you can't tilt your AR view for better posture when reclining, and if you're working on a train or bus and the vehicle turns, you can lose sight of your windows.

Sightful's Spacetop for Windows is a software designed to ease those pain points and make working in AR as seamless as using a laptop.

Spacetop requires a high-end AI PC and a pair of AR glasses, as the software needs powerful computing power and an AI engine to fully change the way you work.

We got a preview of Spacetop at CES in Las Vegas earlier this year, but the software is now officially ready for a commercial launch.

What is Spacetop?

Sightful has launched versions of Spacetop previously, using custom-built laptops with AI smartphone processors, but this latest launch is a software-only solution designed to work with modern Windows laptops and cutting-edge AR glasses.

Spacetop is an AR productivity software that gives you a virtual canvas where you can open all of your Windows applications in one place and arrange them as you see fit.

While you can connect a pair of AR glasses right to your laptop to work, that often means your windows are still open on the laptop display, or you can't quite manage your multiple screens efficiently, since the software just reproduces a standard Windows display rather than give you a separate, private AR workspace.

Spacetop offers a massive 100-inch virtual display for a multi-monitor or multi-window workspace that's both private and immersive. You have tilt and zoom controls to customize your ergonomics to suit your current environment.

You can push, slide, and rotate your workspace as needed, bringing specific apps to the forefront when needed and dismissing them to the sides when you want to keep them in the background.

What are the tech specs?

Cutting-edge software does require some cutting-edge tech to power it.

Spacetop for Windows is designed to work on laptops with a CPU/GPU/NPU combo, which includes the latest processors from Intel, Qualcomm, and AMD.

At launch, Sightful recommends an Intel Core Ultra 7 or Ultra 9 processor from the 100 or 200 series, essentially an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H or higher CPU combined with an Intel Arc GPU.

However, Co-founder and CEO Tamir Berliner tells Laptop Mag that he expects Qualcomm and AMD support to follow.

As for the glasses part of Spacetop, Sightful recommends the XReal Air Ultra 2 AR glasses.

If you've been wondering why you should upgrade to an AI PC for your next laptop, Berliner has an answer for you. As mentioned in Berliner's press statement provided to Laptop ahead of the announcement, "Spacetop is exactly why AI PCs were designed - it unlocks the true power of the architecture."

When will Spacetop be available and what does it cost?

Starting today, customers can order the Spacetop Bundle for $899.

That price includes the XReal Air Ultra 2 AR glasses and a 12-month Spacetop subscription. The software subscription renews annually for $200.

You can purchase optical lenses for vision correction, so you don't need to wear the XReal glasses over your prescription glasses. Single-vision lens inserts cost $50 while progressive-vision inserts cost $150.

If you already have the XReal Air Ultra or XReal Air 2 AR glasses and want to purchase the Spacetop for Windows software by itself, you'll need to contact Sightful directly for pricing and to ensure your hardware and firmware meet the required specs for full functionality.

Sightful has partnered with Intel, SHI International Corp, and Deutsche Telekom to make Spacetop for Windows available to the corporate sector in the US and Europe.

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Meta's Ray-Ban smartglasses have been a surprising hit over the past couple of years and it sounds like Meta's Ray-Ban Gen 3 may arrive before the end of 2025.

We've been hearing a lot of rumors surrounding the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3, and potentially some more premium smartglasses from Meta, over the past few months. It seems likely Meta will launch its third-gen Ray-Ban glasses this year, potentially with some exciting new features.

If you can't wait to pop on the latest pair of Meta's AI Ray-Bans, here's a look at everything we know, including the price, design, features, and more.

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Meta Ray-Ban Glasses Gen 3: Release date

All year, rumors have been bubbling up about a new pair of Meta Ray-Ban smartglasses, so it's safe to say we will likely be getting the Gen 3 model in 2025.

Meta has been putting its smartglasses in the spotlight a lot recently and seems to have big plans for wearables. It has also released an updated version of the Ray-Ban smartglasses annually since the first version came out in 2023, making a 2025 update even more likely.

One potential time frame for a launch is Meta Connect 2025, which is September 17 and 18. At last year's Connect, Meta unveiled its prototype Orion glasses, so there's a strong possibility we could see more smartglasses announcements from this year's presentation.

It's worth noting, though, that the ever-evolving situation with international trade tariffs could complicate the release date, potentially delaying it or delaying availability specifically in the United States.

Meta Ray-Ban Glasses Gen 3: Price

The current base model of the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 2 smartglasses are priced at $299, so it's safe to say the next-gen model will cost at least that much, but it could end up being significantly more expensive for a few reasons.

Over the past few months, we've seen rumors about a premium pair of smartglasses in the works at Meta that will reportedly cost upwards of $1,000. These glasses, code-named "Hypernova", will feature a display and a dedicated camera app.

However, it's still unclear whether the Hypernova glasses are the same as the Ray-Ban Gen 3 or something else entirely. After all, there have also been reports recently that Meta is teaming up with other glasses brands, like Oakley, and Meta announced its own in-house, high-end mixed reality glasses, called "Orion," in September 2024.

So, there are a lot of possibilities surrounding these mysterious Hypernova glasses. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has reported that Meta will continue selling the current Gen 2 Ray-Ban glasses after Hypernova launches, so if the Hypernova glasses aren't the next-gen Ray-Ban glasses, the actual Gen 3 Ray-Bans will likely be priced somewhere between $299 and $1,000 and marketed as a mid-range option.

Either way, it seems Meta is likely working on the Ray-Ban Gen 3 since Mark Zuckerberg specifically referenced "third generation" products when speaking about AI glasses in an investor call in January.

Meta Ray-Ban Glasses Gen 3: Display

The current Meta Ray-Ban smartglasses don't have a display, so it's one of the most highly-anticipated features in the next-gen models. Meta has already made it clear that adding displays to its smartglasses is a top priority. It showed off a particularly impressive prototype of what that could look like with the Orion glasses last year.

We won't get something quite that advanced with the Ray-Ban Gen 3, but a basic display is a strong possibility.

In April, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Meta is working on a pair of smartglasses with a display, code-named "Hypernova." It's possible those are the Ray-Ban Gen 3 or a premium version of them. Those glasses are rumored to cost upwards of $1,000, though, so be prepared to pay a premium for that display.

According to Gurman, the display in these glasses will have a display in only the right lens, which will show a basic home screen similar to that on Meta's Quest headsets with circular app icons.

Meta Ray-Ban Glasses Gen 3: Camera

We know that the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3 will continue to focus on taking photos and videos like the previous models. The current Gen 2 model has a 12MP camera that can capture video at up to 30 fps.

The photo and video quality from the current model is decent for the hardware, but there's room for improvement. At minimum, the Gen 3 model will have an updated 12MP sensor, but it's certainly possible we could get a spec bump to support higher resolution photos and higher video frame rates.

Rumors around the camera have been sparse, but Mark Gurman noted in April that Meta considers the current glasses' camera quality similar to Apple's iPhone 11 from 2019. For the next gen model, it's aiming to deliver image quality on par with the camera from the iPhone 13.

Meta Ray-Ban Glasses Gen 3: Features

There's been a lot of speculation about new features we could see on the Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3, but some of them could be referring to other glasses Meta is developing.

So far, we know that Meta plans to continue emphasizing camera features with the Ray-Ban Gen 3. It will also continue to lean heavily on Meta's mobile app and feature the same capacitive touch controls on the arms of the glasses we've seen on previous models. Of course, it will also feature Meta's AI.

Beyond that, there are some more speculative exciting features on the Gen 3 Ray-Ban glasses.

For instance, there are rumors Meta will launch the first version of the neural wristband it showed off in a prototype demo for its Orion glasses last year. This wristband lets you interact with smartglasses using subtle hand gestures, a feature usually only seen on bulky VR headsets.

The Meta Ray-Ban Gen 3 could also have a built-in display, as mentioned above, although it sounds like the 2025 model will only have a display in one eye. Meta is working on a second-edition model, the "Hypernova 2," with displays in each eye, but that isn't expected until 2027.

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I travel a lot for work, and one of the necessary inconveniences is toting along a laptop so I can write while on the road. Don't get me wrong; the best laptops are great, but I've had this nagging feeling for some time now that there has to be a better solution. After all, I can't even work on a laptop when I fly, so I cobbled an iPad mini "laptop" as an alternative. But even that can't match my new setup.

I set out to find the perfect combination of devices to finally allow me to leave my laptop at home. As a big guy, I find the screen to be the biggest inconvenience when working on the go. On an airplane, or even just sitting with the laptop in my lap, I often don't have enough room to spread out the way I'd like. So, why not eliminate the screen entirely?

I've been using the Xreal One glasses paired with a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, and it changed the game again. Across three work trips in two different countries and about 30 hours of air travel combined, I left my laptop at home in favor of my pocketable AR combo. Here's how that went.

Beam Pro isn't my perfect Xreal One partner

Xreal One Glasses allow you to put the screen in the air in front of you as part of an AR display. When connected to the Beam Pro, you get a customized UI that uses the Beam Pro as a sort of 3D selector/mouse. Pair up a keyboard and you're pretty good to go. You can position the screen anywhere you want it to go, resize it, bring it closer or further away, all to your taste. You can also set the screen to follow you wherever you're looking.

The UI that Xreal developed is pretty intuitive and I like the clever use of the Beam Pro as a sort of Nintendo Wii style remote. When I'm working on an article, I can place two apps side-by-side, so I can research in one window and write in the other, similar to how I work on a dual-screen laptop. It's handy when you want a spec sheet to reference while writing about a product for example. For a lot of applications, this works really well. However, switching between typing on a keyboard and waving the Beam Pro around to switch between windows is not ideal.

Enter the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and DeX

When the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra launched earlier this year, I had an idea. I wanted to try to use Samsung DeX mode with an external monitor to build a different kind of "laptop" for traveling. What I didn't realize (at first) was that the solution was right in front of my face (literally) the whole time: Xreal One glasses.

I plugged in the glasses, fired up Dex mode and suddenly, I had a desktop-like experience hovering in front of me wherever I needed it — plane, train, or automobile. Samsung Dex even allows me to use up to five windowed apps simultaneously, with a Windows-like taskbar that allows me to switch between them as needed. At first, I used the ProtoArc XKM01 Caseup combo to go along with it. This mouse/keyboard combo completes the picture, but I ultimately found it wasn't quite right, especially for plane rides. So I tried a few other options.

It's all about the trackpad

Using a mouse and a keyboard on an airplane tray is certainly less than ideal, so I tried two other solutions. The first was the Logitech Casa Popup Desk, which bundles a keyboard, a trackpad, and a stand to prop up your laptop and raise the screen to a comfortable height. The keyboard and trackpad are separate units, which works better on a plane, but it still takes up a good amount of room. So I had one more trick up my sleeve.

The ProtoArc XK01 TP Foldable Bluetooth Keyboard with Touchpad is an even better solution. It's a foldable keyboard with a built-in, side-mounted trackpad that comes in a slim case and also bundles in a little phone stand. Of course, I don't need the phone stand for this application, but it's nice to have on a trip as an extra accessory. This solution is the best one I've found so far — it's compact, and comes in a single unit, so I don't have to worry about shuffling around space on my tray table.

Of course, it's not just about plane travel — when I get to my destination, I might want to spread out, in which case the Casa accessories work better. Your mileage may vary, but these are two very good solutions.

Leaving the laptop

As I set off to Iowa, France, and New York over a span of a couple of weeks, one thing was noticeably missing from my bag — my laptop. Instead, I took the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Xreal One glasses, and tested both the Protoarc and the Logitech accessories. On the plane, at my desk in my room, and even in some common areas, I toted the Samsung, Xreals and the input solutions with me, and plopped them down whenever needed.

Overall, the experience is killer. Just putting a screen in the air in front of you solves several problems. You don't have to look down at your laptop, which is also the problem the Casa Popup desk is trying to solve. But more than that, it feels like this is how things will be in the not too distant future. Your phone is powerful enough to accomplish most of the tasks you'll do on your laptop, but until now, there hasn't been a way to fully utilize it. Even foldables — as cool as they are — don't really address the screen real estate issue. The glasses allow as large a screen as you want, anywhere you want. But even as futuristic as this feels, it still feels like a "prototype" in a few ways.

Hurdles to overcome

The biggest handicap with this setup is the ease of use. With a laptop, you open the cover and you're ready to roll. That's not the case with the Glasses setup. There is a non-trival process to run through every time you have computing to do. Plug in the glasses, plug that cable into the Samsung, set up the keyboard, turn on DeX mode. It can get laborious at times.

Then there are the limitations of the mobile operating system. Despite the fact that DeX is a desktop-like experience, you're still limited by a few things in Android. Notably, my primary CMS doesn't function properly with Chrome for Android nor Trello. If I needed to do anything work related beyond writing, it became something of a process.

Finally, and most notably, while the Xreal Beam Pro has dual USB-C ports (one for charging and one for connecting the glasses) the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra does not, and powering the glasses takes a good amount of juice. If you plan on jamming through an eight-hour writing session, think again. I had to take breaks during my plane rides from time to time to top off the battery, during which time I had to disconnect the glasses.

CES 2025 seemed to telegraph that this may be where the industry is headed. The Consumer Electronics Show was wall-to-wall with different kinds of smart glasses, Xreal among them. It feels like this may be a new way to be productive on the go, which is why I wanted to try this little experiment.

We're not quite there, but getting closer

Overall, I'm glad I tried it out, and believe me, the Xreal One Glasses, and Beam Pro are permanent residents in my travel bag from now on; no question. While I can leave my laptop at home, I don't know that I will.

When you consider dual screen laptops, foldable laptops, rollable laptops, and more that are out there, it's a lot of capability to leave home for what still feels like a 1.0 concept. We're almost there though, and that's the most exciting part. Xreal and Samsung Dex enable productivity on the go in a way that hasn't been possible before, and I'm genuinely hoping both will continue to push the envelope even further.

Rumors about Apple's next mixed reality headset are heating up, now with the first images of what could be the "Vision Air."

Earlier this week, Apple analyst Mark Gurman reported that Apple is getting ready to launch two follow-up headsets to the Apple Vision Pro. One is intended to be a lighter, more budget-friendly model.

Now, a new leak spotted on X appears to give us our first look at that headset, plus its potential name: the Apple Vision Air.

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"Apple Vision Air" charger images leak

On Wednesday, an X user by the name of "Kosutami" posted images of what appears to be the redesigned power connector for Apple's next headset. While that might seem like a minor leak, it reveals quite a bit about the Vision Pro's successor, which Kosutami hinted at, saying it might not be called the Pro "but you can Air it out."

This new power connector resembles the one on the Vision Pro, but with one major change: the color.

While it's too soon to say how accurate this design is, this cable looks like a pretty polished prototype and features a black metallic finish and black braided cable. Could this be a hint that the Vision Air will come in more colors besides just white?

Kosutami seems to think so, noting in their post that it "all comes with iPhone 5-era black- which looks like graphite dark blue."

Kosutami's posts also support prevailing rumors that Apple's next headset will have a noticeably lower weight, which was a literal pain point for the Vision Pro.

These posts point to the use of titanium as part of that effort to create a much lighter headset, so Apple could be completely rethinking the materials it uses with the Vision Air. Of course, some of the weight loss will also probably come in the form of scrapping the flashy front display seen on the Vision Pro.

It's neat, or perhaps creepy, to see someone's eyes while they're wearing the headset, but it's definitely not a feature many users will care about sacrificing if it means a lighter, less expensive design.

What we know about the Vision Air so far

It's still unclear when exactly Apple is planning to unveil its new headsets, but it's absolutely possible we could see an announcement before the end of the year, especially with more and more leaks and rumors escaping.

Apple unveiled the original Vision Pro at WWDC 2023, so there's a chance it could launch the next two headsets in a similar manner at WWDC 2025, which is slated to kick off on June 9.

We're expecting the Vision Air to feature a design similar to the Vision Pro, but with some significant changes including a lower weight, a thinner chassis, and likely no front-facing display. The leaked images above seem to indicate it will still need a tethered battery.

However, it's also possible the Vision Air may need to be tethered to a MacBook. Earlier rumors stated that at least one of the two upcoming headsets will require a wired MacBook connection, but it's still unclear whether or not that's the Vision Air.

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Handheld gaming is peaking, thanks to the full reveal of the Nintendo Switch 2 and the pending unveiling of an Xbox-partnered ROG Ally 2.

However, one mobile game controller from VITURE and 8BitDo threatens to flip the word "portable" on its head, making even the largest of handhelds, like the 11-inch Acer Nitro Blaze, look like glorified remotes in the process — not to mention creating the headache of how to pronounce the word "alqefLod" in its wake.

How? Think big. Exceptionally big. 135-inches big, to be exact. That's the size of this handheld's display, which sounds like a misnomer, but it isn't. The controller is lightweight, ultra-portable, and fits just as comfortably in your hands as any other device of its ilk.

It sounds impossible, but the secret to this mobile gaming controller's reality-warping specs is revealed by a pair of reality-warping specs: VITURE's Pro XR glasses. The mobile controller is the world's first to support AR glasses, unlocking cinematic gaming experiences on the go that place the action right in front of your eyes.

VITURE x 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller: The world's first mobile game controller designed for XR

Announced on Monday, the unassuming Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller might look like any other, at least in function — VITURE and 8BitDo's decision to opt for a translucent design with orange accents gives it real stand-out flair, similar to 2023's Steam Deck OLED limited edition.

There's certainly no 135-inch screen on show and nothing to suggest the device can unfurl like a paper fortune teller to reveal a secret foldable wonder. In fact, the only screen you'll see is your phone's, as you'll be required to place it within the vice-like grips of the frame.

However, hidden in the right grip is a dedicated USB-C port, designed specifically for VITURE's Pro XR glasses to connect to. Once connected, that promised display appears in all of its glory — literally right before your very eyes.

The result is a set of per-eye augmented reality displays spanning up to 135 inches in size (at a distance of 6 meters), powered by micro-OLED displays within the frames and projected in front of you through birthbath optics.

Compatible with both Android and iOS devices, the VITURE x 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller turns handheld gaming into a virtual cinema experience with its AR displays, electrochromic lenses, and built-in Harmen AudioEFX 3D-tuned speakers.

Not only will you be able to play the best titles from Google Play and the App Store natively through your smartphone, but with a Wi-Fi connection you'll be able to enjoy console gaming through PlayStation and Xbox remote play; and even indulge in cloud gaming via Amazon Luna, Nvidia GeForce NOW, and Xbox Game Pass.

All of which are plastered across an enormous, visually splended, 120Hz virtual display.

Once you factor in 8BitDo's excellence, which grants users remappable buttons, precision thumbstick tweaking, and adjustable trigger ranges, the experience becomes something truly well-rounded.

But the cherry on top may fall to VITURE's new mobile app, GamePal, which is set to further expand on the device's AR potential, which (considering the capabilities of the company's SpaceWalker app) could even stretch to include 3DoF (Three degrees of freedom) support for virtual displays.

What's next

It could be tempting to write off the VITURE x 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller as something of a gimmick, but it does manage to pull together a pretty compelling package for AR glasses owners to make use of, bringing your smartphone into the action as the compute puck for a seemingly solid AR experience on the go.

If it works as well as its on-paper claims suggest, VITURE and 8BitDo's world-first may not be the last effort to bust media out of its flat screen Folsom and could go some way to showcasing the real potential of AR glasses for gaming.

Sadly, if you're looking to try out the VITURE x 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller for yourself, the company currently has no details on pricing and availability to share.

However, VITURE Pro XR owners on Android can sign up to test the device in beta and help flesh out the experience for users when the controller releases later this year.

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Two years after Google discontinued its ill-fated Google Glass AR glasses, the company is back in the smartglasses game with a mysterious new prototype that could help it compete with Meta.

At the TED2025 conference in Vancouver this week, Shahram Izadi, Google's VP and general manager of XR, showed off a pair of unnamed mixed reality, AI-powered smartglasses in development at Google.

The prototype glasses may put Google back on the map in a market that's beginning to heat up.

The question is, if Google is returning to smartglasses, does it still stand a chance of competing with Meta's cutting-edge Orion glasses?

See also: Best laptop deals April 2025

Google returns to smartglasses with XR glasses prototype

During session 3 of TED2025 on Tuesday, Google offered a sneak preview of its new Android XR operating system alongside a mysteriously unnamed pair of smartglasses.

Both are clear indicators that Google will make a return to the world of smartglasses, apparently undeterred by the failure of Google Glass, which spawned the term "glasshole" precisely a decade ago.

During his TED Talk, Izadi wore a pair of inconspicuous smartglasses, using them to display and read off his notes. According to Izadi, the glasses have an in-lens camera, which is a clever design addition, but the demo of it only lasted a few seconds, so it's difficult to gauge image quality.

The prototype glasses also had a speaker, microphone, and built-in Google Gemini connectivity. During the demo, Gemini was able to use the camera in the glasses to translate text and use visual input for context for tasks and questions.

It's unclear if Google ever plans to offer this version of the glasses to consumers or if they're simply a proof-of-concept. Google certainly seems to be ramping up its smartglasses development, though, including recent negotiations to acquire a company that makes AR eye-tracking software. Between that acquisition and this overall impressive demo, Google is trying to get back in the game.

Is it too late for Google to catch up to the Meta Ray-Bans?

Can Google Glass 2.0 compete with Meta's Orion glasses?

There is a growing number of brands competing to rule the smartglasses market, like VITURE with its Pro XR glasses or the Meta-powered Ray-Bans. The current leader is Meta, though, which stunned us last year with the first look at its Orion smartglasses.

The Orion glasses could be the most advanced mixed reality smartglasses to date, but they aren't publicly available yet. They feature much more advanced displays and controls than most currently available smartglasses, meaning Orion could be an instant hit once Meta launches them for the public.

So, it's no coincidence that Google is trying to return to the ring to challenge Meta in the smartglasses market, especially since Apple, another big rival, seemingly abandoned its smartglasses plans earlier this year.

Google's unnamed prototype glasses don't appear to be quite as advanced as Meta's Orion glasses, but both are demo products, so a lot could change by the time either launches. Price and design are also important considerations, as well as AI capabilities.

If Google can deliver less expensive or more streamlined glasses — or integrate Gemini more effectively than Meta with its Meta AI — Google glasses could stand a chance against Orion even if they aren't quite as advanced.

Of course, it's also possible that the demo glasses Google showed off this week were just that, a demo.

Google may be prioritizing developing its Android XR operating system and betting on partners like Samsung to build the hardware.

In January, Youtuber Marques Brownlee tested out an Android XR headset with Gemini, made by Samsung, as the video above shows.

Either way, this is another exciting turning point in what's shaping up to be a major year for smartglasses and mixed reality tech.

More from Laptop Mag

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Timing is everything.

That's the lesson lots of tech companies have learned the hard way, and among those companies is Google.

In 2013, Google released Google Glass, a pair of smart glasses that had a camera slapped on the side and even featured a tiny display embedded in the lens. In some ways, Google Glass was revolutionary: it was futuristic, ambitious, and offered a new way of computing on the fly.

Ultimately, however, the glasses were one thing above all else: loathed. Despite Google's ambition with its pair of smart glasses, the wearable was ultimately felled by concerns over privacy, a bad battery, and their lack of functionality and support.

The journey for Google Glass was a messy ride that soured the company's interest in smart glasses for years, leaving in its wake a new pejorative for anyone bold enough to put a pair on their face; "glasshole."

That's why, naturally, Google appears to have real intentions of bringing its most hated wearable back in a big way.

Google Glass: The Glassening

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Google is in talks to acquire a company called AdHawk, which makes eye-tracking software that's used in AR devices likes smart glasses.

While the deal apparently hasn't been finalized, it gives even more credence to the company's unspoken intentions of pushing back into smart glasses for the first time since Google Glass.

On one hand, that's surprising, given how poorly its experiment with smart glasses went last time around. On the other hand, there's never been a better time to resurrect tech's most infamous wearable. Hear me out.

A lot has happened between 2013 and now, especially in the world of smart glasses.

Two major differences are people's willingness to use XR as well as the overall sophistication of XR as it exists now. Look at Meta, for example.

Last year, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the company sold more than 1 million Ray-Ban-branded smart glasses. That's not exactly in the iPhone range of devices sold, but for a category that was previously untapped, it's a lot more than you'd expect.

And as an owner of Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, I get it. While they aren't anywhere near the final form of what smart glasses could be, Meta's Ray-Ban glasses do a lot well: they play audio, take pictures and videos, and they squeeze all of those features into a pair of glasses that look mostly like regular Ray-Bans.

What's even more surprising is that those smart glasses are sold by a company that doesn't exactly have a big hardware presence — a company that isn't so dissimilar from Google back in 2013.

So, needless to say, Google Glass may have been too far ahead of its time to work, but this is a different world and a different Google, meaning Meta may have some real competition.

A great time for Google Glass

Google has been hinting at a Glass revival for a while now.

Last year, it teased a Gemini-powered computer vision model called Project Astra that can identify objects in your surroundings, describe things, and act as a general AI assistant.

What's even more interesting is the device on which Project Astra is being envisioned: a pair of glasses. From that demonstration alone, it's clear that Google is interested in expanding into XR.

And who could blame it? Even with the not-so-rosy history of Google Glass, tech titans have been pushing toward XR in a big way. Meta isn't the only company, either. Samsung is also rumored to be developing its own pair of XR glasses to compete with Meta's Ray-Bans.

That's exciting for several reasons. First, more big companies pursuing XR likely means more sophisticated, fun, and useful smart glasses. Second, it would mark the first time a major smartphone company is offering its own pair of smart glasses, which opens up a world of possibilities through deeper integration with your phone.

Like Samsung, Google is now a major player in the smartphone world. It could theoretically offer an equally rich experience that tightly integrates features like navigation, search, messaging, calls, and more.

And then there's AI. While I'm not convinced AI will be essential to a full-featured smart glasses experience, Meta is already pushing in that direction, and the results are at least intriguing. With computer vision through Meta AI, Meta's Ray-Ban glasses are able to describe objects in your environment, translate, or even look things up.

If Gemini were geared toward a similar goal, I don't doubt that a renewed Google Glass could offer an equal, if not better, experience.

With all of that, it's clear that Google has the ingredients to cook up a pair of smart glasses that are worth considering. Whether it can pull that off is entirely different, but the seeds are there.

I, for one, would love to see Google Glass get a second shot at turning the smart glasses narrative around and vindicate "Glassholes" of yore once and for all.

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Project Moohan, Samsung's upcoming mixed-reality headset following in the footsteps of the Apple Vision Pro, is a real spatial computing supergroup moment for the virtual, augmented, and mixed-reality market. But is it destined for the same fate as Apple's highfalutin headset — impressive, expensive, and quick to fade from memory?

Moohan is the result of a collaboration between industry giants Samsung, Google, and Qualcomm, each bringing their own portion of expertise to the table through hardware or software.

The headset will reportedly be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2+ Gen 2 chipset, a follow-up to the XR2 Gen 2 chip found within Meta's Quest 3 and Quest 3S headsets, with new rumors (via 9to5Google) suggesting it packs some premier 4K display tech to secure the edge over Apple's mixed reality visor.

However, all that comes at a cost — both in price and the risk of burying Moohan's best feature, Google's new HorizonOS and VisionOS competitor and mixed-reality platform: Android XR.

Project Moohan: The more expensive they are, the harder they fall

Despite all evidence pointing to the contrary, companies like Apple and Samsung seem convinced that what the spatial computing market really needs is a headset of such incredible value that it's to be exclusively worn on the head of bankers like a high-tech crown rather than an actual product.

The Vision Pro, with its baffling $3,500 price tag, offered some impressive specs but appeared to have no idea who it was for when it launched in February 2024.

While insiders claimed that this was more of a developer-focused introduction of the tech, Apple's own ads pushed the illusion that this was a device for the average Joe or Jane as they virtually tippy-tapped their way through immersive home movies and engaged with putty-faced digital avatars over FaceTime.

Ultimately, Apple's headset has managed to impress with a pocketful of cool features but hasn't quite lived up to the potential suggested by its price tag. It's a warning you'd expect a company like Samsung to have observed and learned from.

However, Project Moohan looks to be heading in much of the same direction, with Korean outlet The Elec reporting that Samsung is aiming to incorporate some expensive display tech to push its headset beyond the Vision Pro's specs. This includes 1.3-inch OLEDOS panels that offer a pixel density of 3,800 PPI (Pixels-per-inch), over three times that of the Meta Quest 3 (1,200 PPI) and topping that of the Vision Pro (3,400 PPI).

Samsung's desire to produce the best headset with components like this may also lead to its being the most expensive. While Samsung may be able to shave some of the costs by not selling at a 100% markup (as Apple does), that won't stop it from becoming the kind of enterprise-only headset that flags for DOGE investigations when someone tries to expense it.

Android XR: How Moohan risks burying the lead

Meanwhile, Moohan's best feature risks being buried by its ballooning spec sheet. If Samsung truly wanted to make an impact, it would be by pushing Google's new spatial computing platform, Android XR, to the forefront — and into the hands of as many as possible.

Android XR has the potential to do for VR/AR/MX systems what Android did for smartphones. It offers an open ecosystem that breaks free from Apple and Meta's walled gardens, promoting a platform that all developers can take advantage of and that users of many different products within this market may benefit from.

However, if Samsung instead opts to chase what's flash for cash, Android XR's grand introduction may feel like a behind-closed-doors event, exclusive to the members of a big club, that most people aren't in or invited to.

The Vision Pro made mixed reality feel like an exclusive piece of tech far out of the reach of many. Meta's Quest headsets have gone some way to reversing that opinion, with much of that owed to the Quest 3S' impeccable $299 price tag. Samsung's Moohan looks to drag things back in the polar opposite direction. when what the spatial computing world needs right now, is a product everyone can get excited for.

Mixed reality needs momentum, not another overpriced executive tech demo. Moohan may be a move that costs Samsung the chance of leading this market but it could be a great opportunity for others to take the ball and run with it.

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If there's one sad but universal rule in tech, it's that every developer, publisher, manufacturer, or personality will inevitably betray your trust or admiration for them.

Perhaps you encountered it when Konami remade Metal Gear Solid 3 as a Pachinko machine, the moment Xbox sold its soul to PlayStation, or the weird way Mark Zuckerberg drank water that one time. Regardless, heartbreak is practically an inevitability.

However, every rule has an exception. My personal exception is Valve — which, for ethical reasons, I'll freely admit may have something to do with the thousands of dollars I've saved thanks to various Steam Sales.

Of course, no company is perfect, and I can't speak for the people within it. For all I know the Valve headquarters breaks into a fervor on Friday evenings as everybody gathers around a TV to watch illegal dogfights.

What I do know is that Valve has yet to do me wrong on the hardware or software front. I've barely been able to express how enamored I've become with Valve's Steam Deck, and now escalating rumors of the company's plans to release a new VR headset in 2025, codenamed Deckard, have me practically doing backflips as I make heart eyes at the poster of Gabe Newell hanging on my office wall.

(This is hyperbole, I don't have a poster of Gabe Newell on my office wall. It's a cardboard cutout and it stands in the corner of my kitchen.)

I have been, and always will, be a proud champion of VR — thoroughly believing that gaming's future will heavily lean into this medium in good time. I'll save you the same old spiel you'll hear elsewhere about Valve's Deckard potentially being VR's big moment to break into the mainstream because VR headsets already are mainstream.

Instead, I'll simply say this: my time with the Steam Deck has been so good, that even if Deckard is little more than the same handheld with a head strap, I'm still buying one. Here's why.

Valve Deckard: More than a Steam Deck for your face

Thankfully, Valve's Deckard is expected to be so much more. The rumored headset is claimed to include a split-1440p resolution display with a 120Hz refresh rate, running on a modified version of the Steam Deck's SteamOS platform, tailored to retool SteamVR as a standalone experience.

That means on-device PCVR gaming, free from your desktop umbilical. Better still, one reputable tech tipster claims that Deckard will run regular flat-screen games too (like the Steam Deck), using VR to project them onto large virtual screens for maximum immersion.

The cherry on top? Unlike Valve's previous VR offering, the Index, the Deckard reportedly uses inside-out body tracking, meaning you won't need to invest in expensive base stations for accurate upper body tracking.

It sounds fantastic. So, what's the catch? Well, current rumors suggest that the Valve Deckard VR headset may launch with a $1,200 price tag — far above the affordable Goldilocks zone claimed by Meta's Quest headsets.

Can't afford Deckard? Check out this $300 PCVR alternative

Rumored to cost $1,200, Valve's Deckard headset sets a pretty high bar for entry. However, that's not to say you can't recreate a similar experience to the one laid out earlier for far less.

Meta's Quest 3 and Quest 3S headsets cost considerably less, with the Quest 3S retailing for just $299, while also expanding on the Deckard's core features with full-color mixed reality passthrough — though, admittedly, offering lesser performance and resolution as Deckard rumors suggest.

It's a similarly standalone device, but that will restrict you to games and apps available within the Horizon Store. While the Horizon Store library is nothing to sneer at, it is restrictive, and the Quest 3 family's affordability has resulted in a younger population with less cash to burn, causing it to lean into free-to-play and discount titles that risk making HorizonOS the VR version of Android and iOS' shovelware amusement park app stores.

As standalone as it may be, Quest headsets are made all the more better by PCVR. Not only can you play PCVR games on Quest headsets, but you can also use the Steam Link app to stream PCVR games from SteamVR directly to your headset.

While it's a little "The Valve Deckard we have at home," for all but the most hardcore of VR enthusiasts, this is a pretty affordable route to PCVR gaming with a few extra mixed reality bells and whistles for bragging rights.

PCVR needs a 'Steam Deck' moment

Before the Meta Quest 2 rolled around in 2020, it felt like VR had been stuck in early access for years, but that headset's unrivaled success painted a positive picture for the medium. Has it lived up to that hope? Somewhat.

The Quest 3 and Quest 3S were major milestones in VR's continued push for acceptance, but some five months on from the latter's release and it feels like that momentum has stalled harder than a particularly anxious learner driver at their first set of traffic lights.

I'm sure that's exactly the kind of feeling the pre-2022 handheld gaming PC community would resonate with, right up until the moment one healthily bearded Gabe Newell stepped into the market and turned everything on its head.

Now you can hardly move around in the tech space without needing to kick several variations of handheld out of your path, lest you intend to ski-doo your way around on a pair of ROG Allys.

While VR doesn't necessarily need Deckard to spur a new wave of hardware, its focus on PCVR gaming and making that vast and varied landscape of titles available to even more people (especially those who don't own a powerful VR-ready laptop or desktop computer) is vitally needed to ensure momentum continues to build.

Valve's Deckard is unlikely to be the headset that brings VR to the forefront of gaming. However, the company's effort to push PCVR to the forefront of accessibility may go a long way to promote the same mentality from others, marking an important stepping stone to the larger VR goal. One I hope to be a part of.

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Some call it nauseating, a cheap gimmick, and even a con. Mission Impossible and the Cornetto trilogy's Simon Pegg once said it's a bit like "seeing someone you respect trying too hard. Like witnessing your dad in leather trousers," and Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee once referred to the medium simply as "purely bad." Then again, what would he know, he made 2003's Hulk.

Of course, I'm talking about 3D in movies, games, and media. Not the shift from pixels to polygons, but the "hand reaching out from the screen with a wink and a nod" kind of 3D — the kind of 3D I unashamedly love. To me, when done right, 3D media can transform screen into stage, and it doesn't bother me one iota that people look at me like I've just confessed to liking Ska music whenever I say so. In fact, as an act of defiance, I'll be quietly skanking my way through the remainder of this article in the background.

Sadly, despite its obvious supremacy, 3D exists only on the fringes of media now, with the ghost-like appendages of the LaserDisc and the Steam Machine reaching out menacingly to pull it into the abyss. 3D settings in games and at-home 3D media have all but shuffled off this mortal coil, sporadically reappearing in public for the occasional movie theatre release, with its last vestiges of life potentially trapped within my 3D Blu-Ray case for Dredd, like a Ghostbusters muon trap. Ironically taking up shelf space as a relic, considering I no longer own the correct TV to make full use of it.

Similarly, the so-called death of smart glasses was called too soon. These AI and AR frames are now clawing their way out of the grave-like tech landfill of HD DVDs, iPods, and about a million E.T. Atari cartridges into the limelight they deserve — and they're dragging the gone-too-soon promise of 3D media with them. Thanks to devices like the VITURE Pro XR glasses and its Immersive 3D software for Windows, Mac, and iOS, 3D is back. It is so back. And, against all odds, having tried it myself, I have to admit, the experience is nothing short of magical.

As VITURE co-founder Emily Wang tells Laptop Mag, "In the past, we were limited by the lack of 3D videos and games, but that's changing now. Immersive 3D is revolutionizing the experience, adding a real-time 3D dimension to almost any 2D content using AI."

Immersive 3D: The comeback tour starts here

Every product needs a "killer" app or feature, something that shifts gears from "neat" to "need." While AR glasses have plenty of use cases, VITURE's Pro XR glasses may have just found their defining feature in Immersive 3D, a real-time 2D to 3D converter for the company's AR glasses line, powered by AI.

I roll my eyes just as hard as the next person whenever I see "powered by AI," but after connecting the VITURE Pro XR glasses to my laptop and installing the Immersive 3D software, my doubts were sharply silenced. In fact, everything was silenced, as I was a little lost for words.

I'm not saying that VITURE's 2D to 3D tech is magic, but I'm not not saying it either.

Sadly, Emily Wang is. Bursting the arcane suggestion, she revealed the tech-based efforts to develop the Immersive 3D software by telling Laptop Mag, "We've been working hard on our proprietary VITURE AI algorithms that identify depth cues and spatial relationships, making the 3D effect feel natural, especially along edges, while minimizing latency."

Pull up a picture or video from your hard drive and the results are immediately apparent. The borders of windows instantly become portals that peer into 3D worlds, all in real-time, with no lag or delay. Images so accurately pop from the screen that I kept tilting my head, half-expecting to peer behind subjects.

I can't say it's perfect. There are moments when elements appear out of order, or subjects seem too close or far away. However, they're generally few and far between. The process works so well, that while checking out VITURE's recommended playlist of YouTube videos to witness the effect in full, I genuinely had to check the videos on another computer to make sure I wasn't being bamboozled.

At one point, I even disconnected my internet, wondering if there was some sort of cloud computing shenanigans running behind the scenes. But everything just worked. Not in the Bethesda/Todd Howard sense, either. Everything legitimately just worked, and it all ran on-device.

Immersive 3D: It's intense, and intensive

The fact that Immersive 3D runs on-device is potentially its biggest blessing and most obvious bottleneck. While it's great for reducing lag, it also requires some considerable power to compute the effect in real time.

That's not much of an issue at all when it comes to images and videos, or even your favorite streaming apps. However, gaming is a different story. You're going to need a capable machine to avoid any performance hiccups as the software can use up around 30% of your GPU in operation.

VITURE recommends you use Immersive 3D on systems paired with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 or higher GPU. For gaming, an RTX 4080 is preferred, with the company claiming that you can run Black Myth: Wukong at max settings with a stable 45 FPS — or 60 FPS and above if you dial back ray-tracing and drop the graphics presets from "Cinematic" to "Ultra High."

Of course, it's early days for the software, and efficiency is bound to improve. VITURE is already eyeing optimizations for CPUs with dedicated NPUs (like AMD's Strix Halo and Intel's Arrow Lake processors). As Wang tells Laptop Mag, "It's definitely something we're working on, but it's highly dependent on the GPU of the device."

You have to see it to believe it, and that's the problem

Perhaps the most frustrating part of writing this article is that I can't accurately show you just how well Immersive 3D works or how impressive the results are. The struggle is real, and it made me think back to a previous conversation I'd had with VITURE's Emily Wang in June 2024, when talking about the struggles AR glasses face when going mainstream.

"We see the market booming as more and more people are excited about it, but another hurdle we've hit is that people have to see it to believe it," Wang revealed at the time. Sadly, the same is true once again.

Back in the present, Wang re-emphases the impact of VITURE's AR glasses and the free tools like Immersive 3D that capitalize on this tech, telling Laptop Mag, "Experiencing 3D is something everyone needs to try to truly understand the magic behind it. It's kind of like Apple Vision Pro — there are so many incredible moments, but the barrier is so high, so few people get to see it. If we can lower that barrier and make it accessible to everyone, it will truly be magical."

To help lower that barrier, Immersive 3D is free, works with all VITURE AR glasses, and is available for Windows, Mac, and iOS, with Android soon to follow through the company's proprietary app. As Wang tells Laptop Mag, "We're working on bringing this to SpaceWalker Android ... It'll work really well on high-end Android phones."

In the meantime, I can't recommend Immersive 3D enough. If you know someone with a pair of VITURE AR glasses, I implore you to give it a whirl. And, if the concept really sways you, dive in on the AR glasses experience today and reap all of the benefits of the company's catalog of AR glasses in full by checking out their homepage or Amazon web store.

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Having the hardware required to run a game is half the equation. The other half is having a display that lets all of that graphical prowess shine. Laptop owners have a leg up in this sense, as the best gaming laptops come readily equipped with some pretty impressive displays.

The downside? You're typically limited to a much smaller screen. Even the largest of gaming laptops, like 2017's ludicrous Acer Predator 21 X (I mean, seriously. Look at this monstrosity), with its 21-inch curved screen, pales in comparison to a decently-sized standalone gaming monitor.

It's at this stage I could easily steer you towards checking out some of the best gaming monitors to augment your gaming setup — and by all means, if you're looking for a great display to amplify your game time, go for it. However, to borrow a phrase from Star Wars' wise old sundowning swamp gremlin, "There is another."

Let's do away with the long-winded wind-up: I'm talking about AR glasses. Specifically, the XREAL Air 2 AR glasses — face-worn displays that make you look as cool as The Fonz while offering sharp, vibrant, full-HD, micro-OLED per eye pictures with up to a 120Hz refresh rate on virtual displays of up to 330 inches (cutting through the marketing talk, this is seen as about a 27-inch to 32-inch display in front of you), featuring impressive open-ear stereo audio and capable of connecting to any DisplayPort over USB-C compatible device, including smartphones, laptops, handheld gaming consoles, and tablets.

"All of that in a pair of glasses weighing only 75 grams?" I hear you dubiously question. "What is this? Some sort of pitch for me to invest in the research and development of a product that surely only my children's children will enjoy?" I hear you skeptically suggest.

No. These Happy Days are yours and mine, and if you act now, you can save $60 off of the typical $359 asking price of a pair of XREAL Air 2 AR glasses, securing your very own frames of tomorrow, today, for the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses rivaling-price of just $299 at Amazon.

Subtle references to 50-year-old American sitcoms aside, it's worth pointing out that this isn't some blind recommendation on my behalf. I wear smart glasses all of the time and I've previously given up monitors entirely to work and play on a setup powered by these very XREAL Air 2 glasses.

While my initial experience was positive, things have only gotten better with time following XREAL's proprietary Nebula software arriving to Windows (albeit in beta at the moment) alongside several third-party options that enable better 3DoF (three degrees of freedom, essentially the ability to "pin" a window in a particular place for you to turn to and away from at will), and multi-display support.

Not to mention the release of the XREAL Beam Pro, a smartphone-sized spatial computer that allows you to do away with your laptop entirely and work or play at a truly impressive spatial setup. If you'd prefer to go all out on the AR computing experience, then you can also save $60 on XREAL's Air 2 and Beam Pro bundle, now only $548 at Amazon.

Still, as a standalone pair of AR glasses attached to your usual array of devices, the XREAL Air 2 makes for an especially impressive viewing experience thanks to the increased immersion of the focus-stealing displays and open-ear audio.

Do you have a Steam Deck or similar handheld gaming console? AR glasses like XREAL's can greatly improve the viewing experience while allowing you to recline comfortably, soaking up all of the action on a larger display without having to hunch over a smaller screen with the posture of a gargoyle.

Do you have limited space in your home office? Ditch the flatscreen. A pair of XREAL Air 2 AR glasses means you can make the most of even the most cramped conditions while foregoing none of the benefits an external monitor would previously offer you. Sorry, webcam, you're going to need to find a new place to perch.

Do you need a portable setup that matches your "cofficer" lifestyle? Not only do AR glasses offer improved privacy from prying eyes, but you can run your entire setup using XREAL's Beam Pro as your computer and a lightweight portable keyboard to get just about everything you need to be done anywhere at any time.

XREAL's Air 2s offer impressive versatility, and with several deals knocking down the price on these fantastic frames, I'd be remiss not to make the suggestion: it might just be time to say farewell to the flatscreen.

More from Laptop Mag

• XREAL Air 2 AR glasses review — An augmented reality check
• Smart glasses make me look like the Unabomber, but that's a you problem in 2025
• Meta is hell-bent on making 2025 the year of smart glasses — and I've never been more ready
• I gave up my laptop for this XREAL spatial computer and smart glasses combo, I felt like I was living in the future

It's been more than a year since Apple released its Vision Pro headset to a lukewarm reaction among even the most hardcore Apple fans.

The VR headset offers incredible tech making it one of the best VR devices available, but its $3,500 price tag makes it difficult for many to justify buying one.

In April, Apple will release a slew of new features for the Vision Pro in the upcoming VisionOS 2.4 update including the incorporation of Apple Intelligence, as first reported last week.

VR is about to get more intelligent.

Apple Intelligence on Vision Pro will bring tools that users with an iPhone 15, iPhone 16, the upcoming iPhone SE 4, and Apple hardware that uses the company's M1 chips or better can already make use of. Writing Tools will let Vision Pro users proofread, rewrite, and summarize text; Image Playground generates images; and Genmojis, which can be created just by speaking a description to Apple Intelligence.

There's also Smart Reply so Vision Pro users can respond easily to texts and emails, as well as Memory Movie, which can create videos with storylines based on descriptions users type in and will consist of their own photos and clips using a similar theme.

A new app coming to Vision Pro with the VisionOS 2.4 update is Spatial Gallery. The app lets users look at spatial photos, videos, and panoramas curated by Apple. This includes photographs from Jonpaul Douglass and Samba Diop, Cirque du Soleil experiences, and behind-the-scenes moments from Apple shows such as Severance.

Another major feature coming to the Vision Pro is the Vision Pro app for iPhone. Not only will users be able to queue up apps and games for download to their headset, but they will also be able to set up guests to use the headset. Vision Pro owners can set up a Guest User by setting up what apps they can access and save the guest's eye and hand setup for 30 days from their last use.

Will these new features be enough for the Vision Pro?

The inclusion of Apple Intelligence with the Vision Pro is going to be a big help in selling the expensive VR headset. Apple struggled to sell the Vision Pro when it launched more than a year ago as the $3,500 price tag was a hard pill to swallow. The company understands the issue as it already has another Vision Pro headset in the works.

There is still a growing interest in VR with the market estimated to grow by $133 billion in the next four years, according to Technavio. Gaming is still the driver for VR, but Apple's Vision Pro headset was intended for professional users. With the incorporation of Apple Intelligence that could drive interest up as AI adoption continues to grow.

Apple Intelligence launched last year after the release of the iPhone 16, but it's still not fully "released." The AI is still limited, and Apple intends to have a full launch later this year. There was a plan to integrate the AI features into Siri in April, however, that launch window has reportedly been pushed back due to engineering challenges and bugs. The overhaul could be coming in May, or it might be unveiled at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference, which typically takes place in June.

Apple's Vision Pro had a lot of hype before its launch, but since then, the VR headset has been a bit of a flop for Apple. The company struggled to sell the Vision Pro when it launched one year ago from this month, no thanks to its $3,500 price tag.

Apple already has another Vision Pro headset in the works, but it appears the company is not totally giving up on the hardware. In fact, it's going to add more features to make it more attractive in hopes of drumming up more interest.

Apple Intelligence will come to the Vision Pro in its visionOS 2.4 software update, according to a report from Bloomberg Saturday. The company will also add an updated mode for guest users and a spatial content app.

The new OS will reportedly roll out as soon as April, and developers could begin working with the feature within the week.

Some of the Apple Intelligence features coming to the Vision Pro include the Writing Tools interface, Genmojis, and the Image Playground app, the report says.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for confirmation.

Can Apple Intelligence save the Vision Pro?

Apple Intelligence has yet to become the big selling feature for Apple. The feature launched last October following the release of the iPhone 17, but it still has yet to be fully "released." The number of tasks Apple Intelligence can currently do is limited, and the company is expected to fully release the AI later this year.

Some of the features currently available with Apple Intelligence include the previously mentioned Writing Tools interface, Genmojis, and the Image Playground app. Siri also received an upgrade as it can now tap into the power of ChatGPT to understand images and documents as well as summarize phone notifications.

Although Apple Intelligence may not have all the bells and whistles of ChatGPT or Google's Gemini, it does offer some privacy when it's being used. It can do this with Private Cloud Compute, which enables the use of the cloud to process a request. That request, however, is completely secured with the data anonymized to ensure the privacy of the user.

So far Apple Intelligence is only available on the iPhone 15 and 16, as well as the upcoming iPhone SE 4. Apple hardware that uses the company's M1 chips or better can also make use of Apple Intelligence.

Apple reportedly trashed its rumored augmented reality smart glasses, but it appears that the company isn't letting go of the idea of making its own glasses.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported Sunday that Apple does have plans in the works for standalone AR glasses. Details about those glasses aren't expected anytime soon.

The plans Apple reportedly scrapped were for a pair of AR smart glasses that tether to a Mac. Initially, the glasses would pair with an iPhone, however, the phones couldn't produce enough processing power for the glasses. Apple changed direction, deciding to use a MacBook to provide the processing power to the glasses, but disagreements over the glasses' design and features led to the whole project being shelved.

Apple, however, appears to be continuing work on standalone AR glasses. According to the report, these glasses have been a long-term goal for Apple, and the company is currently working on the technology such as screens and silicon to make the device work.

As is the case with a lot of tech trends, if Apple isn't first, it wants to make its version the best available in the market. That, however, is not always the case as evidenced by the company's VR glasses, the Apple Vision Pro.

Released last year, the Vision Pro shocked tech fans with its price tag of more than $3,000, leading to the glasses staying on shelves. The company's strategy for this high price tag is to attract professionals and not the casual customers who wanted to try out VR.

Apple is reportedly going to stop producing the VR goggles, but it's not giving up the VR fight. The company has plans for a more affordable Vision Pro, but when that may come out is still a mystery. When these cheaper VR goggles come out, there will be a lot of ground to make up to catch up with Meta, which has the largest share of the VR headset market.

Meta is also the big name in the AR goggle market. The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses came out back in September. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company sold more than a million units of the glasses, and it appears to not be slowing down. Meta is reportedly moving quickly to add a display to the glasses in the near future.

Mixed reality is already a hot niche, but if a leaked roadmap from Meta is any indication, it's about to get even hotter.

According to a memo unearthed by Business Insider, Meta's Andrew Bosworth ("Boz" as he's known) says that there are lots of AI gadgets in store for the year ahead.

"Next year is going to be the most critical year in my eight years at Reality Labs. We have the best portfolio of products we've ever had in the market and are pushing our advantage by launching half a dozen more AI-powered wearables," said Bosworth in a memo according to Business Insider.

"AI-powered wearables," as we've learned over the past year, can mean a lot of things, but if there's one category I'm almost certain Meta has its eye fixed on, it's smart glasses.

A big year for mixed reality

It's no secret that Meta is big on mixed reality. It's poured billions into carving out a niche for its Quest headsets, creating a whole new category and ditching the likes of Apple and Samsung in its wake.

But just because headsets have been a magnet for R&D dollars doesn't mean they're the only device on the menu. Increasingly, smart glasses are becoming a category in their own right.

Meta's Mark Zuckerberg revealed last week that the company sold 1 million units of its Meta Ray-Ban glasses last year, which isn't too shabby for a product category that's still technically finding its footing.

While Bosworth doesn't cite smart glasses specifically in the leaked memo, it wouldn't be too much of a leap to assume that the category will be a major part of its vision of an AI wearable — especially since the addition of Meta AI to the glasses late last year.

What its potential plans for smart glasses will look like is anyone's guess, but there's already some evidence that they could make Meta's Ray-Bans a lot more sophisticated.

According to a Financial Times report from December, Meta has plans to add a display to its glasses, which would be a significant step toward making a pair of smart glasses that feels smart.

As I've written previously, I'm a big fan of Meta's Ray-Ban glasses, which are surprisingly useful for taking calls, navigation, audio playback, and taking pictures, but there's still always a minor disappointment when I tell people they lack a display.

Adding one might finally convince potential buyers who are on the fence but waiting for the smart glasses to feel truly smart.

And the most exciting part of all this is that with six new AI wearables in the works, Ray-Ban glasses might not be the only thing to get excited over. It's hard to say where else Meta will expand its ambitions, but I personally wouldn't mind seeing a device similar to what Xreal offers, which is to say a lightweight pair of AR glasses that doubles as a big virtual screen.

Yes, the Quest already does this, but bringing that ability to a form factor with a much lower footprint — that is to say, not a headset that covers your face — is a lot more convenient.

Which brings me to my next point...

A race to the AR future

As important as headsets are to the current crop of Meta hardware, it's clear that strapping a computer to your face is not the ultimate goal.

If that wasn't clear enough already, Meta hammered that home this past October in its annual Connect conference by revealing its vision for our mixed reality future: Project Orion.

In case you missed it, Project Orion is a novel, if still experimental, pair of holographic AR glasses, that combine the ability of a Quest into a form factor that's only a bit bigger than a pair of normal glasses.

For lots of reasons — miniaturization of components for one — that reality is a ways off still, but at the end of the day, that's what mixed reality titans like Meta are working toward.

Perhaps the most exciting part of Meta's push into mixed reality, or AI wearables as Bosworth put it, is that with enough investment and ingenuity, Meta stands to crack smart glasses wide open.

And if rumors are true, it's not the only company that is devoting resources to trying. Samsung is rumored to be developing its own pair of smart glasses which could be released this year and Apple has been trying its hand as well.

The latter of the two companies, however, is reportedly shelving its plans for smart glasses for unknown reasons — tepid response to the Vision Pro and cost could be two major reasons.

So, that leaves Meta and maybe Samsung in the game, and only one of those companies actually has a product you can buy right now. It's obviously too early to say how Meta's plans to ship more AI wearables will go in 2025, but if there's one tech company with enough interest and funds to make it work, my money is on Meta.

Here's to hoping that Bosworth puts Meta's money where its mouth is and finally cracks the code to the future-leaning smart glasses we deserve.

Apple's Vision Pro may feel new, but as of this week, it's already one year old.

One year is no time at all by most metrics, but in technology years, a lot can happen — and a lot has.

Since the release of the Vision Pro, Meta launched its Quest 3s (an ultra-affordable XR headset with a lot to offer), and Samsung unveiled a prototype of what will eventually become its Vision Pro competitor, Project Moohan.

Also looming is Android XR, a platform for headsets developed jointly by Google and Samsung.

And all that action is to be expected. XR is an emergent category, and naturally, any company with deep enough pockets wants to get in before it's too late. That's great for anyone excited to get their hands on more XR hardware, but for Apple and its Vision Pro, it means one thing: the pressure is on.

A premium proposition

The expectations for the Vision Pro are, well... high.

Not only is this Apple's first foray into the world of XR and a rare debut of new hardware from the company, but it's also — how should I put this — wildly expensive.

The Vision Pro debuted at an eye-watering $3,500, making Meta's failed Quest Pro headset, which had an MSRP of $1,500, seem tame. However, in Apple's proposition, that premium is worth it for several reasons.

One reason is that the Vision Pro offers one of the best XR displays money can buy — a micro-OLED screen with 23 million pixels that, in my experience with the headset, blows the Quest 3 out of the water, objectively and anecdotally.

Secondly, there's Apple's vision of "spatial computing." In Apple's eyes, the Vision Pro isn't just a device for watching immersive content or playing XR games. It's also meant to be a general computing device you wear on your face.

That means Apple is positioning the Vision Pro not just as a premium headset but as an alternative to your MacBook. It has Apple's ecosystem of apps and a UI designed to streamline the headset-using process.

That's a tall order for a first-ever in an Apple product category or any headset, for that matter. And the results of that lofty endeavor? Well, they've been less than extraordinary.

The way of the Apple Watch

Needless to say, the Vision Pro hasn't quite taken off yet.

Late last year, Apple reportedly scaled back the production of its headset amid tepid demand. It's only been a year since its release, so it'd be premature to sound alarm bells just yet, but clearly, the Vision Pro has some room for growth.

If recent reports of Apple's scrapped smart glasses are any indication, the company's XR experiment is not exactly going according to plan.

In some ways, Apple's headset harkens back to the release of the Apple Watch, which — while ubiquitous now — was seemingly a device without any real direction.

Sure, you could use some apps and receive text messages, but at the end of the day, the Apple Watch landed more as a redundant companion to your iPhone than a true, standalone gadget of its own. That perception, however, has since changed.

Thanks to health tracking in particular (and some much-needed ingenuity in UI) the Apple Watch has a unique identity in Apple's ecosystem of hardware.

That's all to say that, yes, the Vision Pro is searching for an identity now, but that doesn't mean that it's doomed for failure. Then again, it doesn't make it destined for success either.

A few major obstacles could prevent Apple from turning the Vision Pro around

The way I see it, a few significant obstacles could prevent Apple from turning the Vision Pro around. One I've already mentioned is the price.

Apple has built a whole business around justifying a premium, but when it comes to headsets, that proposition may be much tougher to sell. As lovely as the Vision Pro is from a hardware and software perspective, it's still not a device anyone needs.

Sure, it can do a lot of what your MacBook does and is a game console and technically a TV to boot, but it's still not as good at doing any of those things as the comparative devices individually.

That means the Vision Pro is a toy — and an expensive one — and few people are clamoring to spend $3,500 on one. There are scores of discussion threads online about the price. (Here's just one from Hacker News.)

Then there's the competition. While the Vision Pro finds its purpose, competitors are making headway by incorporating elements of Apple's headset.

Samsung's Project Moohan, for example, appears to have a similar UI and input method — two things that make the Vision Pro unique. And that does not even count how similar the two look.

Meanwhile, Meta has moved even further into driving the price down of its Quest headset, with the Quest 3S clocking in at just $299. That means Apple's Vision Pro faces competition on all sides — from aggressive pricing to hardware and software.

There are still rumors that Apple is working to drop the price of its Vision Pro down with a Vision Pro S or Vision Pro Air, but it's safe to say that one year later, the clock is ticking. Apple is no stranger to competition, but when it comes to XR, things are more like the Wild West, and if the Vision Pro doesn't draw quickly enough, plenty of companies are ready to outgun it.

Apple's rumored AR smart glasses could be joining the Apple car in the company's graveyard of shelved products.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple has shelved a project to develop AR smart glasses to pair with the MacBook. The shutdown came after an initial failed design that paired the glasses with the iPhone. When the iPhone couldn't provide enough processing power and battery life for the glasses, Apple pivoted to connect them to the MacBook instead.

As reported by Gurman, executives weren't happy with the new design and couldn't agree on the features it should have, so the project was shuttered.

That's obviously bad news for anyone looking forward to an Apple-made competitor to Meta's Ray-Ban glasses, but it could also be even worse news for an Apple product you can buy right now.

Apple's felled smart glasses are far from the first product that it's scrapped over the years, but it could be a pivotal failure that leaves Apple high and dry in a competitive emerging product niche. The AR glasses' failure may also be bad news for the Vision Pro and its rumored "Vision SE" or "Vision Air" successor.

Could this be the beginning of the end for Apple's XR hopes?

Apple's Vision is blurry

When the Apple Vision Pro launched last year, everyone knew it was meant to be a first generation product, the precursor to something lighter and more affordable.

While that sequel, the "Vision SE" or "Vision Air," appears to still be in development, Apple's AR glasses could have been an even more ambitious follow-up to the Vision Pro. A pair of glasses may still be the ultimate end goal Apple envisions for its headset line-up, but this early failure doesn't bode well for Tim Cook's team.

Apple arrived late to the headset game with the Vision Pro, but it delivered hardware that certainly had its strengths, despite a high price. Apple has long had a better-late-than-never approach to innovation, so it could still theoretically find a place in the headset market with a less expensive model that provides most of the same features as the Vision Pro.

The glasses are a tangent from that strategy, though. Apple may have been rushing to catch up to Meta, which could be the reason Apple's AR glasses didn't pan out, at least not right now.

The Vision Pro still needs a lot of refining, a killer app, and wider adoption. A less expensive Vision SE is the obvious next step toward a pair of AR glasses, but Apple clearly isn't there yet.

For the sake of innovation and friendly competition in the AR glasses market, I hope Apple figures out how to get its headset strategy back on track. However, it doesn't look good for the Cupertino team shuttering its AR glasses development while Meta pushes full steam ahead with Orion.

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Samsung's recent Galaxy Unpacked event was a letdown if you were dead set on learning more about its mysterious new XR headset.

While the company expounded on Galaxy AI, gaming, a new lineup of Galaxy phones, and even a teaser of the Galaxy Edge, Project Moohan, as it's been dubbed, got only a passing mention — that is until this week.

In a recent exclusive with YouTuber Marques Brownlee, Samsung showed off Project Moohan and, well... it looks a lot like Apple's Vision Pro.

It has a glass front, similarly grey head straps, an external battery pack, and an input method similar to VisionOS. That's to say, a lot of Project Moohan is about what you would expect from a Vision Pro competitor.

A lot, but not everything, and there's one difference in particular that could put Apple on notice.

It's all about AI

AI might be in everything now, but I've long maintained that headsets are — buzz aside — actually the perfect place for it.

As Brownlee's exclusive video shows, Samsung seems to agree, which is why it integrates Google Gemini and some of its best features.

In the video, Brownlee walks through how Samsung integrates Google's Gemini to do quite a few things.

Much of that involves using the headset's interface. That means integrating features like Circle to Search, which will allow users to circle something and then automatically conduct a web search for it, as well as sophisticated voice commands.

Voice-controlled on-device AI could be a massive boon for headset UI.

Meta has already begun exploring that territory with Meta AI, but Gemini seems to be even more integrated and, most likely, more sophisticated.

That's great news for anyone who plans on buying a headset made by Samsung, but for competitors like Apple, it may spell trouble.

Due to on-device AI and other advantages, Samsung's early lead in this era's headset wars could propel it to victory over Apple. At least until Apple has an opportunity return fire with its on on-device AI.

The Vision Pro still hasn't taken the AI plunge

Apple has slowly but surely started integrating Apple Intelligence, its suite of ChatGPT-powered AI features, into all of its products, but one product is suspiciously absent: the Vision Pro. (The Vision Pro does have Siri, but not Apple Intelligence.)

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, new AI-powered VisionOS features are on the way, but there is no specific deadline.

In the meantime, both Meta and Samsung seem to be moving forward. Meta introduced Meta AI to the Quest a few months back, and while we don't know for sure, it likely has plans to expand.

And Samsung's headset, though there's still a lot we don't know, might be even more of a competitor to the Vision Pro than the Quest 3, especially if looks are any indication. There are rumors that it might even enter the field at a price point between Meta's Quest 3 and the Vision Pro, which means (effectively) it's gunning more at the latter.

If Samsung can make a headset with a UI and display quality that rivals the Vision Pro (preferably less heavy), consumers can decide which one to buy based on these factors.

While brand loyalty is strong, Apple might be unable to justify a $1,000 premium, especially if Project Moohan is easier to use and, thanks to AI, feels more cutting-edge.

The race is on

Again, there's still a lot we don't know about Project Moohan and Apple's AI plans, but if Apple delays using AI to streamline Vision OS or fails to connect the dots in a way that makes sense to users, a Gemini-powered headset could give Samsung the edge.

And maybe even scarier for Apple is that it's likely that not just Samsung's headset would gain an advantage. Android XR, the operating system for Project Moohan jointly developed by Google and Samsung, will likely be used in other headsets once it finally rolls out.

That's huge for anyone not named Apple who makes a headset. However, for Apple, it might be more of an existential threat.

We'll have to wait and see what transpires in the XR and AI world — a lot can change quickly — but it looks like Samsung and Android XR could have the upper hand right now.

AI might not be a great fit for everything we do, but Apple might want to consider whether Samsung can deliver a headset and a genuinely easier platform.

It was all about the Galaxy S25 during Samsung's January Unpacked event.

That's no surprise since this is always the season for new Galaxy devices, but just because the phone fanfare was expected doesn't mean there wasn't any novelty.

While much of the new news came courtesy of a slew of Galaxy AI updates (and boy, was there a lot of AI), the biggest, most tantalizing bit was actually, technically, the smallest.

I'm talking about the Samsung Edge.

The cutting Edge

Samsung's Edge, teased as a "one more thing" announcement at the end of Galaxy Unpacked, is precisely what it sounds like — a slimmer, maybe even lighter, Galaxy phone.

While we don't know much about the Edge, Laptop Mag got a preview of the device after Samsung's Unpacked event concluded. And to the eye, it looks pretty damn thin.

While I'd love more information about the Edge, we have very little concrete information right now. However, its very existence says almost everything you need to know: smaller phones are returning.

And that's something I couldn't be more excited about.

Bigger ain't always better

Sure, big phones are pretty popular, but not all of us love the idea of hauling around a brick of titanium and glass.

I count myself among Big Phone detractors, which is why I still use (for my everyday carry) the iPhone 13.

Is it the latest or greatest iPhone? No, it is decidedly not — it wasn't even technically that when it was released in 2021. But it is one thing: compact.

I've always appreciated the compactness of that particular generation of iPhone, especially as I've watched phones from Apple and Samsung balloon in size over the years.

And who could blame them? Big phones sell, but even big phone lovers have their limits, and clearly, the Samsungs of the world are taking note of that with the Edge.

Again, I can't say how far the Edge moves the needle in the thin and light direction, but Samsung isn't the type of company to not back up a claim like that, especially regarding its most successful flagship line of phones.

Miniaturizing without sacrificing performance is one of the most impressive feats of any technology. If the Edge does that, I'd say Samsung probably has a hit on its hands. And the best part? It's likely not alone in its endeavor to shrink our ever-growing phone sizes.

The era of slim phones is here

Samsung isn't the only one chasing a slimmer smartphone.

Apple is rumored to be working on the iPhone Air 17, which occupies a similarly slimmer space.

According to recent rumors from frequent Apple leaker Mark Gurman, the iPhone 17 Air "will be about 2 millimeters thinner than existing iPhones." For comparison, a nickel is 1.95 millimeters thick. For context, the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus measure 7.8 millimeters thick, and the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max are 8.25 millimeters thick.

This is all to say that rumors suggest Apple aims to make the iPhone slimmer and lower-profile.

We don't know if the iPhone Air is real yet and probably won't know until September. However, these rumors and the very real Samsung Edge make for a clear trend: slim phones are in.

Whether or not either phone will be slim enough to make its case to consumers is entirely different. Still, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't legitimately excited by the prospect of a smaller device. Here's to hoping the future is thinner.

Galaxy Unpacked 2025 provided new updates on what to expect from the future of Gemini AI, alongside breakdowns, release dates, and prices for the new Samsung Galaxy S25 series, but it ended with nothing more than a passing mention of the company's most exciting upcoming project.

We anticipated that Samsung would give us a deeper look into the hardware and software capabilities of Project Moohan, which is the company's mixed reality headset that it announced back in December.

Considering Samsung had already unveiled it and confirmed its existence, we were certain it would be shown off at Unpacked, but its mention was brief before being glossed over after a few seconds.

We won't be seeing Project Moohan until later in the year

While we did hear about Project Moohan at Galaxy Unpacked, Samsung didn't share anything new, and the company's statement was just communicating that we'll have to wait until later in the year to learn more.

Jay Kim, Head of Customer Experience at Samsung, entered the stage during Unpacked and said "As we announced with Google in December, we're co-developing the Anroid XR ecosystem, working hand-in-hand to define the operating system, user interface and hardware. These upcoming XR devices, with multi-modal AI, will change how we interact with the physical and virtual worlds. Interactions will be more natural and intuitive, and we can't wait to share more details later this year."

While we appreciate that Samsung at least had the decency to mention its Android XR efforts rather than leaving us in the dark, it's still not much to work with. Even with our lack of information, there's still a good bit we do know.

Back when Project Moohan was announced in December, Samsung wasn't shy in stating that it's being made possible through "open collaboration with industry leaders like Google and Qualcomm, culminating in the creation of an entirely new Android XR platform."

Considering Qualcomm is in direct collaboration with Google and Samsung to develop the platform, we can expect that the device will be powered by a currently unknown Qualcomm chipset.

It's also important to keep in mind that Samsung has multiple projects planned underneath the Android XR umbrella, and Project Moohan, as pictured above, is merely one of them. "Moohan" means "Infinity" in Korean, and while that codename might not stick around when the official product launches, Samsung claims it connotes its belief to "deliver unparalleled, immersive experiences within an infinite space."

Laptop Mag also got the opportunity to see Project Moohan in person at the event, but no information was provided. All we saw were prototypes with notes that the final design is subject to change. We were at least hoping for some concrete details on hardware, or even something other than just a code name, but alas.

This might be why the company unveiled the project in a blog post just a month before Galaxy Unpacked, as perhaps Samsung never intended for Android XR and Project Moohan to be a focus of the showcase.

For now, all we know about Project Moohan is what we learned from the December blogpost. This includes that it will have passthrough capabilities and natural multi-modal input, alongside featuring "state-of-the-art displays," but that's too vague to mean anything at the moment.

Samsung confirmed at the event that we'd learn more about the device later in the year, so we can only wait.

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In April 2024, Quest headset maker Meta announced in a press release that the operating system and storefront that powers the standalone portion of its popular virtual and mixed reality headsets, Horizon OS, was going multi-platform.

Microsoft Xbox, Lenovo, and Asus ROG were among the first companies interested in adopting Meta's operating system for new hardware releases, suggesting that we could expect at least three Horizon OS headsets to make an appearance in 2025.

Unfortunately, since that time, word on third-party Horizon OS headset development has gone about as radio-silent as Microsoft whenever anybody mentions Windows 12.

In fact, within that span of time, Google announced its own operating system for virtual and mixed reality headsets, Android XR. Samsung's Project Moohan is reported to be one of the first devices to use the platform. A potential reveal of the headset is tipped for Wednesday's Galaxy Unpacked event.

However, according to one tipster, progress is well underway from at least one of the original trio of Horizon OS adopters, with Asus ROG's headset, codenamed "Tarius," reportedly offering eye and face tracking, and a considerable upgrade over the Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S' LCD optics.

Asus' ROG Ally has tasted great success...

A little over a year after the Steam Deck's February 2022 launch, Asus unveiled its own handheld gaming PC, the ROG Ally. At the time, the announcement was so unexpected that its April 1 reveal was taken as a legitimate April Fool's joke. However, Asus' console has been anything but a laughing matter, offering an impressive Windows gaming experience on the go and spawning a popular mid-cycle refresh in the ROG Ally X.

Asus managed to get into the handheld gaming market early while the going was good, establishing itself alongside the Steam Deck as one of the major players long before saturation became a hurdle for manufacturers to clear.

Right now, the handheld gaming PC market is rife with options, with Lenovo, Acer, Ayaneo, MSI, GPD, and OneXPlayer all competing for the high ground. Still, Asus' early adoption keeps the ROG Ally in the spotlight, even without as of yet announcing new models designed to take advantage of AMD's latest Ryzen Z2 chips which were unveiled during CES 2025 (a follow-up to the Ryzen Z1-Series chips that power current models).

Following the release of the Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S, Asus finds itself in a similar position, able to capitalize early on the availability of Horizon OS and bring its own VR/XR/MR headset to market before others can stake their claim. But is Asus ROG's rumored "Tarius" headset up to the task?

... But can the ROG "Tarius" headset do the same for VR?

According to information provided by tipster Luna, Tarius will offer more features comparable to the Meta Quest Pro than Meta's standard third-generation headsets, including face and eye tracking and potentially a quantum dot LCD (QD-LCD) if not uOLED display.

Should this information prove true, Asus already has a pretty formidable headset on its hands, and that's without knowing anything about its processor, which could stretch as far as featuring Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon XR2 Gen 3/XR3 chip, offering an impressive boost in performance over Meta's first-party hardware.

That said, Asus faces a unique problem if it chooses to target more powerful hardware. While the ROG Ally could outperform the Steam Deck, the results were far easier to spot, as Asus' handheld could effectively strive to offer improved frame rates, better graphical fidelity, and a higher resolution already available to Windows games.

When it comes to Meta's Horizon OS, much of Tarius' potential advancements may only matter if developers decide to incorporate them into their titles. Something that no doubt takes additional time and expense to do so.

However, the Tarius HMD's PCVR support may be where the majority of these advancements come into full effect, with its standalone mode mostly benefitting from improved resolution and smoothness.

What's next?

We're still without official word on what to expect from Asus' headset, but given the company's success in the handheld gaming PC market, it would make sense that its VR ambitions haven't been dampened.

With Horizon OS and Android XR both being viable platforms for future hardware to adopt, we're sure to see an influx of headsets released in the near future that can rely on Meta and Google's platforms in the push to bring this medium forward.

Exactly when we can expect this to begin, remains unknown. However, if these details prove accurate, then it would seem that we won't have long to wait before Asus ROG is ready to dazzle us all with a new hardware venture.

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Thanks to the occasional side eye in the street, the cocked brow of a cashier, or the cold sweat forming on the forehead of couriers as I hand over parcels, I'm well aware of a distinct... Unabomber chic that comes with wearing a pair of smart glasses or AR frames in public.

Perhaps that's partially the fault of many models' Wayfarer sunglasses-like style being ill-fitting for the current coldest portions of the year. Maybe it's their slightly unnatural posture on my face. Or it could be some deep-rooted paranoia from Joe Public about being caught on candid camera.

Either way, judging by the influx of smart glasses heading our way after several big CES 2025 reveals, these things are clearly shaping up to be the wearable of the future — and, if you can't get past your technophobic 'ick' for smart glasses? Well, that's a you problem.

The "Glasshole" double standard

Pull out your phone in public to record yourself eating a meal, rubbernecking at an automobile accident, or LARPing as a gym-goer for thirsty Twitch users, and nobody bats an eye.

Pop on a pair of smart glasses or a slightly thicker pair of AR frames with a tethered cable, and people look at you like you just sloped out of a white van with "Free candy" painted on its side.

People are practically falling over themselves to be willingly data-farmed by Chinese state-sponsored video platforms like TikTok, but the second somebody notices I'm wearing a pair of Ray-Ban Metas, suddenly I'm the privacy issue.

"Is that recording?" No. Don't worry, you're boring.

No, I'm not recording you, I'm watching 'The Sopranos'

According to Google, over 500 hours of content gets uploaded to YouTube every minute, no doubt from millions of young, aspiring Bugatti owners who think the pathway to success is paved by having a perm and a chip on your shoulder.

I fail to see how, amongst all that, a video of you eating a breakfast roll on the subway would be my golden ticket to social media celebrity status. No, I am most certainly not recording you.

Similarly, friendly barista, I'm not staring at you pouring hot water into a cup as part of a wider plan to make a viral video, I'm making sure you don't spit in my tea and virally infect me.

Smart glasses aren't some always-on James Bond spy gadget, they're just a hands-free extension of my phone. If I wanted to invade your privacy I'd follow you on Instagram or apply for a job at Google.

As it happens, 99 percent of the time while I'm wearing smart glasses, I'm either listening to a podcast about how lizard people built the pyramids, or discretely watching James Gandolfini exhale through his nose in thinly veiled frustration across six seasons of The Sopranos.

Today's weird, tomorrow's trend

Contrary to popular belief, he who laughs first or loudest, rarely laughs last. Once upon a time, Bluetooth headsets were ridiculed for making middle-aged businessmen look like they were having a psychotic break.

Now you'll be cast out like a social pariah if you don't have the modern AirPod equivalent poking out of at least one ear canal at all times in public.

There was also a moment in history when the action of talking to your electronics would've resulted in you being awarded a very snug, rear-fixing jacket courtesy of the state.

Now I can freely admit to spending up to ten percent of my day telling Amazon's Alexa to shut up, and half of you are enthusiastically nodding along in agreement as you read that.

As is often the case with technology, what feels alien today becomes second nature tomorrow, and we're primed for an explosion in smart glasses popularity in 2025 and beyond — whether it be due to emerging AR glasses brands like XREAL and Viture, or big-name players with the rumored announcement of Samsung's upcoming frames at its Galaxy Unpacked event later this month, Apple's smart glasses set for 2027, or Meta's continued success with a third-generation of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses expected to be unveiled later this year.

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CES 2025 is in full flow and brands from around the world are populating Las Vegas, Nevada to show off innovation from a diverse selection of consumer tech markets, including my personal favorite: smart glasses.

Not only did smart glasses have a pretty successful 2024 thanks to the surprise mainstream success of the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, but last year also painted a pretty impressive vision of things to come thanks to display-touting concepts like Meta's holographic Orion glasses and Google's Android XR-powered frames. The latter adopts a multimodal Gemini 2.0 AI model previously seen in the Project Astra teaser from the Google I/O event of May 2024.

Heading into 2025, the next step for smart glasses was clear as day: while AI glasses like Meta's, the Solos AirGo3, and AirGo Vision would act as the tip of the spear, the addition of display tech would be the feature that truly pierces the hide of the mainstream.

Just days into a new year, we're already seeing several smart glasses featuring displays catch the eye of many amid the madness of CES 2025, and I predict these wearables might catch many by surprise by the time Samsung and Meta get in on the action with their own offerings rumored to release later this year.

The heads-up-display could be a major player in 2025: Here are the glasses that prove it

We're over a decade removed from the original launch of the Borg-like Google Glass, and smart glasses have managed to squeeze an incredible amount of potential into frames that you might have to look twice at before you notice anything different about them.

While some smart glasses certainly deliver an uncanny valley sensation due to their thicker profiles or oversized temple tips, they've ultimately become incredibly useful and wearable, if not impressively fashionable at times too.

If the big trend for smart glasses in 2024 was the adoption of AI assistants, 2025 promises to usher in the next generation of these wearables by adopting a visual component for reading messages on the go, navigating new places with ease, and even subtitling our lives, including the ability to translate languages on the fly.

CES 2025 has given us our first real peek at this new smart glasses wave, and here are three impressive products worth keeping your eyes peeled to across the year ahead.

Halliday Smart Glasses

Thanks to their unique DigiWindow projection method and proactive AI agent, Halliday's glasses have been the talk of the town at this year's CES, and perhaps rightfully so.

Halliday's frames look indistinguishable from your regular pair of bifocals but offer an invisible display (controlled by a gesture-controlled smart ring) that projects images directly to the eye allowing wearers to discretely and privately send and receive messages, receive navigational prompts, display the lyrics to their favorite songs, and act as a teleprompter for speeches or presentations.

However, it's Halliday's proactive AI that steals the show here, a genuine copilot for your day-to-day life that can translate languages, fact-check information, and automatically take down notes and propose answers to questions asked of you, all in real-time.

While that sounds like a concept you'd have to wait until the next decade to enjoy, Halliday's glasses are expected to ship in late March, with pre-orders open now at the Halliday website.

Even Realities G1

The Even Realities G1 are a more elegant option that looks to bring a luxurious, minimalist styling to the smart glasses realm. Their slender frames and temples are the last thing you'd expect to see on a pair of smart glasses capable of projecting a virtual display in front of you. However, its chunky temple tips give away that there's more to these glasses than meets the eye.

Even Realities' G1 smart glasses use waveguide lenses to display its HUD, offering what the company calls "undisturbed connections" through notifications, prompts, and tools that won't distract from the world around you.

Glasses like the G1 and others can seamlessly integrate into your life, affording you a fast and fluid way to interact with your tech without becoming lost in it, be that through breaking the language barrier with real-time translations or firing off a few quick replies to messages mid-meeting.

They're simple, they're elegant, and they're available to order now in Panto or rectangular frames.

RayNeo X3 Pro

Perhaps the most advanced smart glasses on show at CES are the ones presented by TCL RayNeo. The X3 Pro are a follow-up to the company's impressively forward-thinking X2 frames that also offered Micro-LED optical waveguide displays, this time returning with a Qualcomm Hexagon NPU for powerful standalone AI features to run on alongside Qualcomm's powerful Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 processor to handle augmented reality capabilities and even hand tracking.

The X3 Pro is a bit of everything rolled into one, and probably most closely aligned with Meta's Orion more than other glasses in this list, giving us a taste of tomorrow, today.

Its impressive features only continue, with a built-in high-definition camera for photography, an open-ear, four-speaker array for enjoying music, and a full-color virtual display that boasts a 200,00:1 contrast ratio with a 154% sRGB color gamut.

Quite frankly, it's one of the most advanced things you could put on your face today without duct-taping a MacBook to your head. You can expect these futuristic frames to launch in mid-2025, with more detailed release information to follow.

Meta and Samsung are rumored to join this vision for the future

You may not be familiar with the brands above, but this isn't a flash-in-the-pan venture by a few smaller names looking to cash in on the smart glasses hype.

It seems pretty clear from the actions of many smart glasses manufacturers that this year will be a big moment for face-worn displays. However, if that doesn't quite sell you, maybe the fact that both Samsung and Meta are rumored to be among the first two major names to take a stab at this technology themselves in 2025.

Samsung's rumored display-touting smart glasses could make an appearance as early as later this month, with the company's first Galaxy Unpacked event of 2025 taking place on January 22.

Alternatively, Meta will most likely showcase its third generation of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses in September and is also hotly tipped to include a display in its latest model.

Why heads-up displays are having a moment

Having worn smart glasses daily for well over a year now, I feel pretty confident in my prediction that we're looking at one of the next staples of smart tech going forward. And the industry's desire to add a heads-up-style display to these devices could be exactly what's needed to propel smart glasses onto the faces of the average Joe or Jane, if for nothing else than convenience.

A report on cell phone usage released by Reviews.org in 2024 showed that the average American will check their phone up to 205 times per day, a 43% increase on the 144 tally racked up in 2023.

And why wouldn't we? Our smartphones have become a vital source of information in our everyday lives. It's how we stay in contact with those close to us, catch up on news or current events, browse entertainment, and even play games. Smartphones can do so much, that the same report suggested that, on average, Americans' screen time sits at just over five hours per day.

I'm not here to judge that figure or lay claim to the opinion on whether it's a good or bad thing. To each their own, that's my perspective. However, the heads-up display offered by smart glasses seems like the natural follow-on from our pocket-fumbling obsessiveness to check out devices.

To some, it'll be a way of staying connected to things without getting too distracted by their smartphone's other features, to others, it'll be a way of distancing themselves from their smartphone and opting for a more relaxed and aware approach to their digital lives.

Either way, both groups benefit, and that's without thinking about the great benefits to be found in navigation tools or on-demand AI assistance, all without completely pulling you out of the moment by forcing you to pull out your smartphone.

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While you never get a second chance at a first impression, a second impression can be more potent than a first one. So it often is in tech, where the first release of a device’s software often has functional gaps and shortcomings that are often addressed and sometimes promised in subsequent releases. Even in the world’s largest tech companies, the early reception of a product can have an outsized weight on its future in the constant battle for development resources.

The past few years, for example, have seen the demise of such product lines as Meta’s Portal video calling devices, Amazon’s Halo health devices, Google’s Jamboard smart whiteboard, and (unofficially) a slew of Microsoft’s Surface family devices, including the Studio desktop, Duo smartphone, headphones and earbuds.

Apple's vision for the future of computing

With Apple’s alleged decade-long flirtation with entering the automotive market ending in retreat and its home robot aspirations mere output of the rumor mill for now, the Apple Vision Pro remains the company’s most ambitious product in terms of envisioning the future of computing (or at least stationary computing). Indeed, it is the boldest product with the broadest platform potential that Apple has launched since at least the iPad. While that device, initially marketed as a “tweener” product between the iPhone and MacBook, has matured into something more of a Mac competitor than a complement for many tasks, Apple’s other platform launches have gravitated toward entertainment (tvOS) and health (watchOS).

If spatial computing is to go mainstream, it won’t be in the back of today’s Apple Vision Pro, with its lofty price tag, cumbersome weight, and external battery. But it’s no coincidence that the product’s initial setup includes a rendering of a script “hello,” a signature image from the launch of the original Macintosh. If limitations such as weight, size, and power consumption can be overcome, why couldn’t spatial computing — with its larger “screens” and richer interactions — replace today’s desktop and notebook experiences? The advantages are as clear as comparing a desktop wallpaper to one of the visionOS immersive environments such as Bora Bora or Yosemite (no disrespect, macOS 10.10).

Such a transition, if it ever happens, will take many years. However, Apple’s foundational work in enabling it shined through in visionOS 2. They included new gestures that select items and access the Control Center in a literal pinch, as well as access time and volume controls as familiarly as the back of your hand and recognizing and displaying a physical Apple keyboard in immersive settings to ease typing. Speaking of input, Messages gained the ability to transform speech to text after a glance at the input field. The update also introduced new spatial features, such as support for TabletopKit, which facilitates the development of experiences, such as spatial “board” games, on a nearby surface.

That said, as broad as the potential is for spatial computing generally, it helps to have a hook. And for visionOS, it’s spatial photos and videos. Beginning with the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, and then the iPhone 16 models, Apple enabled all iPhones to capture spatial photos and videos. However, the payoff is in the Apple Vision Pro, where you can view what is essentially a deeply compelling spin on personal media because it allows you to relive moments of your important people, pets, and places almost as if you are there in person. These images and videos, which will proliferate at an explosive rate because of how easy they are to capture on an iPhone, offer higher-quality representations than the holographic videos we've often seen in movies, like Tom Cruise’s character viewing his son in Minority Report. These videos can, of course, be edited in Final Cut Pro.

And those are just two examples of how tightly integrated the Apple Vision Pro is with other Apple software and services. Unlike the iPhone, which came to market at a time when the hot-selling iPod obscured the limited reach of Apple’s Mac platform, visionOS became the latest neighbor in the now bustling neighborhood of the company’s technologies, including Safari, FaceTime, AirPlay, and SharePlay. And Apple hasn’t even hinted at how Apple Intelligence may factor into its future yet.

Competing for the spatial computing crown

After the release of the Apple Vision Pro, Mark Zuckerberg released a video where he called the Meta Quest 3 a better product — not just, as the Quest’s far lower price would support a better value — than the Vision Pro. The Meta CEO pointed out several product attributes that favor the Quest. But to me, the video echoes one in which former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer infamously laughed at the iPhone, pointing out advantages that Windows phones had at the debut of that game-changing device.

Meta’s prolonged efforts in extended reality have yielded a leading library of VR games and some pioneering lifestyle apps. However, they haven’t come close to creating what it will take to build the next-generation computing platform Apple is clearly focusing on. The next wave of competitors will come from Android XR. While Google hasn't had much success building Android-powered device categories beyond smartphones, the platform has the potential to spawn a range of headsets that could compete with Meta on price and Apple on features.

If Black Friday and Cyber Monday listings were anything to go by, Meta sold a massive number of Quest 3 and Quest 3S headsets last year. Meaning, by the power of deduction, that was likely your Christmas present, either from someone else or yourself.

As a grizzled veteran of the VR space (having weathered the storms of motion sickness adjustment and testing the limits of my home insurance through various damaged furniture claims), I'd like to catch you up to speed on a few tips to help you as you kickstart your journey to finding your virtual self in the Metaverse. It's not all fun and flailing around like an octopus having a tantrum, after all. (Well, actually, it is. But that's sort of the problem.)

So, as you come to grips with your new headset, consider this your official guide to surviving and thriving in your virtual domain — and causing as little damage as possible to yourself, your home, and your reputation along the way.

12 rules for life (now that you own a Meta Quest headset)

Rule #1: Shut off the outside world

You don't know it because you can't see it, but I assure you: you don't look anywhere near as cool as you might feel while gliding between Gotham City's rooftops in Batman: Arkham Shadow.

From your perspective, you are the living embodiment of vengeance, skimming your way from point A to B on a quest to dish out justice to a coterie of supervillains via knuckle sandwiches and bat-shaped boomerangs.

To passersby who glance through your window, you're engaging in some form of avant-garde interpretive dance designed to plunge your social credit score into negative figures.

Just remember, it's not only the initial shame of hearing somebody call you out during your vulnerable VR moments; it's the fact that this person is likely equipped with a smartphone and a data plan.

Unless you want your sweaty, awkward, rhythmless visage to become 2025's most cringe-tastic TikTok video, close the blinds. For God's sake, close your blinds.

Rule #2: Always be prepared

Donning a headset can feel quite isolating, so it's no wonder that VR can make you feel like you're in your own little world at times. However, if you want to be in a world of your own, make sure you're actually alone.

While avoiding ridicule from passersby in the street is as easy as closing the blinds, avoiding the silent judgment of people you live with is a whole other story.

As such, it's probably best that you master the emergency pause and casual pose combination as fast as you can. The first of which is done by simply double-tapping the temple of your Quest 3 or Quest 3S to enable passthrough mode, granting you an immediate look at your real-world surroundings while still wearing the headset.

This gives you the opportunity to make sure nobody is readying their smartphone or sneering in your general direction. It also lets you become more aware of your surroundings, freeing you up to switch to a more casual pose that doesn't involve you squatting like Spider-Man on the edge of your sofa, making the entire VR experience seem a lot less strange to those unaware of what's going on within your headset.

Just act casual, and when you're sure they're gone, a quick double tap will return you to the action, free to be your Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube-self once more.

Rule #3: Create a safe space

More important than your social standing, for the sake of your sanity and the health of your heart, make sure that you're truly alone before indulging in some of VR's spookier and scarier titles.

The last thing anybody wants is a roommate or partner sneaking up on their sensory-deprived selves and whispering "Boo" into their ear unexpectedly. It's the kind of thing that will destroy all forms of interpersonal trust and have you trading virtual reality for cartoon reality as you leap so high into the air you leave a comical outline of yourself in the ceiling above.

Spare yourself the cardiac event on this one, lock the doors, and make sure you're alone, lest you spend the entirety of your play session completely on edge and unable to enjoy anything about the actual game at hand.

Rule #4: Clean your room

Americans suffered 36.1 million preventable home injuries in 2022. I'm not saying that a good portion of this figure had anything to do with the release of the Meta Quest 2 in late 2020, but I'm also not, not saying that either.

VR headsets offer the most incredibly immersive way to play games to date. However, it's easy to forget that, in actuality, you're being blinded from reality by two LCD screens — though it's incredibly easy to remember this as you tumble over your coffee table and directly onto your face.

Want to avoid VR-related injuries as much as possible? I recommend performing a quick sweep of your play area before donning your Quest headset. Avoid stray cables, poorly placed drinks, or general clutter at all costs.

The only thing worse than catching a stray hospital bill for a late-night ER visit is the embarrassment of having to explain to medical professionals that the reason your forearm has developed a new point of articulation is that you stepped on a rogue Lego while getting too invested in a game called Superhot.

Rule #5: Respect boundaries

Stressing the previous point, always make sure to set up an appropriate Guardian Boundary while gaming. Use your Quest headset to draw up a safe space in which you can play your game of choice, and then absolutely respect these guardrails at all times.

What might seem like an overprotective child-proofing measure forced upon you by the Meta nanny state will pay off in the long run, trust me.

With so much of the VR experience requiring the swinging and throwing of your hands, the last thing you need is to have your mindless flailing intercepted by your expensive TV or the sensation of your hand passing directly through drywall.

If you're a fan of using Roomscale while you game, then respecting the Guardian Boundary is even more vital. Darting, diving, and dashing about your living room can lead to disaster or deviated septum if you get a little too carried away with things and end up faceplanting into a door.

Rule #6: Do no harm

Thankfully, unless you're donning some sort of specialized haptic vest accessory, being attacked in VR can't actually hurt you. That said, those you accidentally attack in the real world while windmilling your fists like you've become a human propeller absolutely can be.

Thankfully, there are two solutions to this: you can either clear the room of beloved pets and smaller humans too mentally underdeveloped to understand the dangers of wandering carelessly into the realms of your one-man mosh pit (or "children," as they might be colloquially referred to as).

Or you can respec your life's attribute points into psychopathy and become immune to the guilt of giving Kibble the cat PTSD and your child or younger sibling a knockout haymaker.

I'm assuming that the former of those options is the most appealing to you. If not, you probably need 12 further rules for life written by somebody whose name is followed by medically approved post-nominal letters.

As such, while engaging in a pre-gaming clean-up of your play area for stray Legos and wires, be sure to shepherd out any particularly skittish pets or danger-oblivious children from the room. Or get used to being the worst human you know. Your choice.

Rule #7: Know when to let go (and when not to)

There's a reason that Meta's Touch Plus controllers come with those little wrist straps, and unless you want to recreate some of 2006's most awkward moments of plasma screen destruction by way of a kamikaze Wiimote, I'd recommend you make full use of them.

If you're new to VR then you're especially at risk of the signals between your brain and hand becoming confused when handling these controllers, resulting in anything from an accidental drop to launching it like a javelin into the face of your unsuspecting roommate.

While potentially hilarious in outcome, such mistakes can be costly, especially as replacing said controllers can set you back up to $75 a pop. Oh, and I suppose friendship is also a valuable thing to risk.

Use the straps. It's not uncool to do so, and it will save you (or someone else) a headache in the long run. Plus, these straps just make things a lot easier, allowing you to drop the controllers and let them dangle from your wrists like a set of high-tech mittens if you need to take a break, without needing to scramble around blindly in search of a safe place to put them down.

Rule #8: Trust wisely

Immersion is a vital component when it comes to allowing your mind to fully invest in the gaming worlds you inhabit. VR is probably the pinnacle of gaming immersion, tricking your eyes and mind into fully believing yourself to be within these spaces. It's the reason you'll be far more animated during gaming sessions, more impacted by the action you become a part of, and scream like a baby when a spiderbug crawls across your visor in Metro Awakening.

However, that immersion does have its downsides. Trick your brain enough, and you'll catch yourself doing absent-minded things like taking a sip of a drink and then trying to place it on a table that doesn't actually exist—leaving you to mop up Coca-Cola from your carpets from the next hour—or attempting to lean against a piece of virtual furniture, only to stiffly topple onto the floor like a felled Redwood of shame.

Yes, as much as you'll need to be aware of your physical surroundings in VR, you'll also need to stay mentally acute enough to be able to avoid careless mishaps like this.

While half the fun in VR is becoming a willing participant in its digital illusions, there's nothing more immersion-breaking than a bruised coccyx and soggy socks.

Rule #9: Adjust to new environments

To those new to VR and encountering a case of stomach churn after even the briefest gaming session, I've some bad news for you: VR motion sickness isn't a once-and-done affair, and it'll take exposure and perseverance to make it through to the other side.

While VR might have you initially feeling green in the gills, the motion sickness you feel while playing games is eventually something your body can adjust to and overcome. In the meantime, to help you on your way, make full use of games that offer tweakable comfort settings such as snap rotation, teleport-style movement, and screen vignetting.

Think of these options as training wheels for the VR experience, allowing your body to slowly adapt in the least taxing way available.

You can change these settings over time, and you'll eventually find yourself completely at ease with smooth movements and turning. At this stage, you'll be able to play games long enough to encounter VR's secondary impact on your body: the strange unreality hangover you'll feel after taking off the headset following extended play sessions.

Rule #10: Nourishment is flourishment

Just because the symptoms of VR motion sickness are inevitable for some doesn't mean you have to take it lying down. There are several steps you can take to combat this feeling, but the most effective steps will often require drinking and eating the right things before, during, and after your play sessions.

First of all, stay hydrated. You're likely being much more active in VR than you would be in front of a flatscreen. Add to this the pressure of an elastic strap around your head and the heat from the headset itself, and it's no wonder you can feel a bit sluggish, your eyes may feel fatigued, and your head a little tender. Thankfully, remembering to top up on H20 can solve most of those symptoms entirely.

As for the motion sickness, I recommend giving yourself an excuse to down a few ginger cookies. Ginger has been proven to help stabilize digestion, maintain blood pressure, and improve gastrointestinal motility. All of which is boring medical speak for "reduces nausea," allowing you to game for longer and feel less of the effects for it.

Rule #11: Know when to step back

If there's one other way to help you adjust to your new VR headset, it's ensuring that you're giving your body enough rest and recuperation so you can enjoy things for longer.

Time moves strangely in the Metaverse. One minute you're enjoying an afternoon by popping your headset on to check out the latest release, the next it's 4 a.m. and you're left completely confused about where the rest of the day went.

You're also more likely to suffer from that VR hangover sensation after such a long spell in your headset. It's essential to set alarms or timers to give yourself occasional breaks to prevent overstimulating your senses, grab a drink or a bite to eat, and take note of how long you've spent under VR's influence.

Rule #12: Laugh at yourself. Everyone else is.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly: Enjoy your VR experience, and laugh at the fact that you probably look ridiculous and unhinged while doing so. VR isn't the most flattering of platforms when it comes to maintaining an aura of cool, but that shouldn't detract from the amount of fun it offers.

If you're a new Quest owner, enjoy the fantastic library of games available to you (several of which can be played cooperatively in mixed reality with a friend who also owns a Quest headset), give spatial computing a try using some of Horizon OS' latest Remote Desktop features, or enjoy all of the headset's 3D entertainment features.

However, I wouldn't recommend wandering the streets in your new headset. Not only does it make you ripe for the picking when it comes to candidates likely to get robbed, but nobody likes a "glasshole."

More from Laptop Mag

• VR headsets are mainstream, and I'm tired of pretending they're not
• 'Batman: Arkham Shadow' is a must-play game, making the Meta Quest 3 or Quest 3S a must-buy console.
• Metro Awakening's scariest moments are a VR feature and not just a bug

When it comes to computers, the name "Valve" should almost certainly have you picturing the Steam digital storefront—which starts 2025 with a peak concurrent player count of 38.8 million, up some five million from roughly the same time last year.

However, Valve is responsible for so much more, and I'm not only referring to the incredibly popular gaming franchises the company is responsible for, including Half-Life, Team Fortress, Counter-Strike, Portal, DotA, and Left 4 Dead.

The Bellevue, Washington-based Valve is also responsible for several pieces of impressive (and sometimes overlooked) hardware, like the Nvidia Shield-like Steam Link, the console-esque Steam Machine, the Valve Index VR headset, and the device that launched handheld gaming PCs into the mainstream, the Steam Deck.

It's the software that has powered this selection of hardware that I expect to come into full force this year, with leaks pointing to the Linux-based SteamOS powering third-party hardware for the first time—not to mention the persistent rumors of Valve's reentry into the VR headset space with "Deckard," a new headset claimed to run SteamOS for a standalone SteamVR experience.

If Valve gets things right, SteamOS could propel the Steam Deck from a singular product into a hardware category, and open similar doors for VR headset manufacturers to adopt its operating system in a similar manner.

Decked out: SteamOS to impress on third-party hardware in 2025

The success of the Steam Deck is evident in more than the "multiple millions" of units it has shipped to date. In its wake, we've seen some of the best handheld gaming devices follow in its footsteps and create a booming handheld gaming PC market.

Devices like the ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and later the MSI Claw have all offered Windows-based handheld gaming experiences in the wake of Valve's Steam Deck, with popular refreshes in both the ROG Ally X and MSI Claw 8 AI+.

However, we may have some time to wait before we get an official Steam Deck refresh, with Valve hardware engineer Lawrence Yang claiming that the company won't be releasing new Steam Decks at a "yearly cadence." In fact, Valve isn't looking to release a Steam Deck until there's a "generational leap in compute" available.

That said, we appear set to receive a new Steam Deck of sorts in 2025—just not one from Valve.

As early as this year's CES 2025, starting January 7, we may be introduced to the Lenovo Legion Go S, a refresh of the original Legion Go that drops its Windows 11 backing in favor of SteamOS.

While it won't be an official Steam Deck, the rumored handheld will be a spiritual successor of sorts, offering improved hardware and graphical capabilities.

Better still, it may just be the first of many Steam Deck-like handhelds, with Valve updating its brand guidelines to include new "Powered by SteamOS" logos, suggesting that the Steam Deck could morph from product to hardware category in 2025 and beyond.

Portable PCVR? Valve's "Deckard" VR headset may use SteamOS for standalone gaming

Like it or lump it, VR is mainstream now. At least that's how I now see things as we head into 2025 expecting to see virtual and mixed reality hardware offerings from several major manufacturers like Asus, Lenovo, and Samsung's Project Moohan.

And as Meta's Horizon OS prepares to face off against Google's new Android XR platform to power this new wave of hardware, Valve may be preparing SteamOS to act as a viable alternative, debuting a standalone SteamVR experience in a new VR headset dubbed "Deckard."

Long-standing rumors surrounding Valve's Deckard headset suggest that Valve may be seeking to mobilize the PCVR experience, ditching the need to use a PC for compute and running PCVR games directly on the hardware—similar to the Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S.

If successful, not only will we potentially gain one of the best VR headsets in 2025, but Valve could once again position SteamOS as a potential candidate for third-party manufacturers to adopt, and invite a host of Deckard-like options to help further popularize VR gaming over the coming years.

More from Laptop Mag

• VR headsets are mainstream, and I'm tired of pretending they're not
• Why Nintendo's Switch 2 already has me bracing for disappointment
• There may be a Steam Deck 2 on its way, just not Valve's

Virtual reality, always the bridesmaid, never the bride. At least that's what a lot of people parrot when they make claims about the technology's constant struggle to find a home in the mainstream.

Because of this, it's easy to write off VR as some fringe hobby, like trainspotting or competitive duck herding. However, nothing could be further from the truth.

In January, I made the claim that 2024 is make-or-break for VR, and the Quest 3 or Vision Pro won't save it alone. In doing so, I repeated the same old tired trope of VR's struggle for mainstream success.

However, in one of those rare cosmic instances of happenchance, I was wrong. Almost a year on, I've reframed my perspective on things. Even with a mostly successful 2024 under its belt, VR didn't secure its long-awaited place in the mainstream. Because VR is already mainstream, and I'm tired of pretending that it isn't.

The numbers don't lie

Skeptical? I don't blame you. But in the, now immortally memed, words of Scott Steiner: the numbers don't lie.

As of March 2023, total sales of Quest headsets had reached nearly 20 million, the original PSVR is estimated to have sold over 5 million units, and in 2024, global VR shipments were expected to total 9.6 million according to analyst TrendForce.

Taking only these numbers into consideration, and keeping in mind that this is just a fraction of available headsets and sales, that's at least 34 million VR users worldwide—with an up-to-date tally of Quest headset owners alone rivaling the population of Australia.

On Christmas Day 2024, the Meta Horizon app, which is essential for setting up Quest headsets, topped the App Store charts in the US and the UK, signaling a further wave of interest in the medium, likely spurred on by the recent release of the Meta Quest 3S, an ultra-affordable, $299 gateway into mixed reality experiences.

It's getting better all the time

We're long past the days of the Nintendo Virtual Boy, a 1995 mass-produced gimmick that introduced gamers to the concept of at-home VR and cluster migraines.

As 2024 draws to a close, we've headsets from Apple, Meta, Poco, Valve, HTC, and Pimax to name a few. Beyond that, companies like Lenovo and Asus are interested in developing their own Quest-like headsets running on Meta's Horizon OS backbone, and during January 2025's Galaxy Unpacked event, we're likely to hear more about the Android XR-based Project Moohan mixed reality headset from Samsung.

On the software side of things, VR gamers are having a whale of a time thanks to the release of games like Into the Radius 2, Ghosts of Tabor, Alien: Rogue Incursion, and the arachnophobia-inducing Metro Awakening.

Those games join an already impressive library of stand-alone and PCVR titles like Half-Life: Alyx and Beat Saber—the latter of which had sold four million copies by February 2021 and reportedly generated $255 million in title and DLC sales by October 2022.

Not to mention a brand new entry in the massively popular Arkham franchise with Batman: Arkham Shadow, exclusive to Meta Quest headsets. Does that really sound niche to you? An exclusive entrant to a highly regarded series like the Arkham games is hardly likely to pop up on something like the Playdate, after all.

What does it even mean to be "mainstream," anyway?

We can continue to obsess over invisible boundaries that keep VR and mixed reality hardware out of the realms of the mainstream limelight all we like. The reality is, that what's "mainstream" has nothing to do with raw sales or adoption figures. It's about cultural relevance and visibility.

The Meta Quest 2 had a Super Bowl ad in 2022. In that sense, how much more mainstream can a console get? (Even if, admittedly, said commercial did receive some flak.)

It's getting harder by the day to continue to admit that VR hasn't clawed its way into the mainstream. Furthermore, the more you look at it, the harder it is to say it hasn't been there for some time.

Saying VR isn't mainstream because it doesn't have the numbers to rival sales of the Nintendo Switch is a bit like saying Tom Hanks isn't a household name because he hasn't donned spandex and pranced about in a Marvel film.

From Batman to Beat Saber, VR has had its place in the mainstream for years already, proving you don't need mega sales to lay claim to cultural clout by the bucketload.

More from Laptop Mag

• Pimax seems confident in its Vision Pro-like Dream Air VR headset. Me? Not so much
• A week on, Google's Android XR is stealing the VR/AR spotlight from Meta
• 'Batman: Arkham Shadow' is a must-play game, making the Meta Quest 3 or Quest 3S a must-buy console

Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses can do a lot more than you probably think.

They're surprisingly capable Bluetooth audio conduits, have a decent camera, and even come equipped with Meta AI, which imbues them with computer vision and other tools like live translate.

However, the one thing they don't have is the one thing that would make them truly next-gen — a screen.

And according to a recent report, that revolution might already be in the works.

The screen we've been waiting for

If recent reports are any indication, Meta is on track to make the smart glasses breakthrough we've all been waiting for.

According to a report from the Financial Times, Meta plans to add a display to its Ray-Ban smart glasses as soon as next year. This would make them the first significant pair of glasses since Google Glass to feature an inter-lens screen.

The Financial Times, citing people familiar with the project, reports that the display will be used for precisely what you might think — delivering notifications and showing responses from Meta AI.

It's not difficult to imagine why a small display — even a limited one — could be useful. Screens, generally speaking, are ideal vectors for conveying information. Right now, Meta's Ray-Ban glasses lean heavily on Meta's voice assistant. If you've ever tried to use Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant, you'd probably agree that the experience of using voice input can leave something to be desired.

To augment the non-display experience, Meta's Ray-Ban glasses pair with the Meta View app, which allows you to view pictures or get information about your glasses. The extended app experience works fine but makes the Ray-Ban glasses feel less like a standalone gadget and more like a smartphone accessory.

While a display might not seem like a big deal on the surface, it would mark a significant step toward the company's ultimate vision of lightweight, low-impact AR glasses like its Project Orion prototype.

It might finally convince people of something that Mark Zuckerberg and anyone pursuing AR desperately try to prove: smart glasses are the real deal.

A new computing platform

Zuckerberg and companies like Apple and Samsung, rumored to be developing their own pairs of glasses, have big expectations for the future of smart glasses. Smartphone-upending expectations, to be specific.

In case you had doubts about the smart glasses fervor, Zuckerberg recently made a confident claim on Threads, calling them the "next major computing platform."

Post by @zuck

View on Threads

On one hand, that's a lofty claim, but on the other, it doesn't feel entirely impossible.

Smart glasses are perhaps the most underrated gadget of the year. The addition of a display will make them even more helpful, and notifications are just the start.

With a savvy enough display and deep enough integration, a display could augment functional capabilities like turn-by-turn navigation or even enable video calling features. In the future, you might even be able to browse the web or see recent photos and videos.

In essence, a display would drive glasses closer to becoming a true, standalone wearable with genuine interest. Before smart glasses become the next platform, they have to become genuinely helpful — useful in the way that a watch or a smart ring is.

Of course, there are many "ifs," and Meta isn't alone in its ambitions. Recent rumors about Samsung suggest it's readying its own pair of smart glasses that could (in theory) outperform the Ray-Bans.

Coupling smart glasses with the tight integration of Samsung's phones would undoubtedly deliver the most seamless smart glasses experience we've seen yet. So, if Meta is going to remain top dog in the burgeoning world of smart glasses, it will have to push the boundary even further.

Whether it will be able to do that before the competition beats Meta to the punch is anyone's guess, but adding a display is a significant step toward defending its foothold.

Either way, there's never been a more exciting time to get into smart glasses, even if you're scarred from the controversial days of Google Glass.

With its successful Galaxy Ring launch in July 2024, Samsung edged into the smart ring market, and so-called "smart glasses" may be next.

Whether called Samsung Galaxy Glasses or something else, the company may tease them at Samsung Unpacked in January. (Considering UploadVR discovered Samsung filed a trademark for "Samsung Glasses" in the UK in November 2023, these mystery spectacles may be called just that.)

These smart glasses are thought to be the baby of not just Samsung but also Google and Qualcomm. The Samsung Glasses will supposedly utilize a Qualcomm chip and Google's Gemini AI model, and from what we've heard, they could give the highly rated Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses a run for their money.

There are still many unknowns regarding the Samsung Glasses, but we've filled in at least a few blanks with rumors and leaked info on release dates, prices, specs, and potential features. Here's what we've gathered so far.

Samsung Glasses: Announce date and price

The now well-reviewed Samsung Galaxy Ring was announced at the January 2024 Galaxy Unpacked event and launched at the July Galaxy Unpacked event. According to Korean outlet Yonhap News, Samsung may be planning to similarly announce its long-awaited smart glasses.

If Samsung chooses to announce its smart glasses at the next Galaxy Unpacked event, we'll only have to wait until January 2025 for our first glimpse. Regarding a specific date, a few rumors suggest January 22 could be the official day of Galaxy Unpacked (via Tom's Guide).

Following the same schedule as the Galaxy Ring, a January announcement could indicate a July release at Samsung's second Galaxy Unpacked event in mid-2025.

We're still unsure of the price. If Samsung matches the competition's price (which it did with its smart ring compared to Oura's smart rings), we can make a decent guess by looking at today's most popular smart glasses.

The Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses start at $299. To properly compete with Meta, I'd expect Samsung to lean more toward the $299 price point, but if it promises extra features, I could see the company reaching up to $349.

Samsung Glasses: Specs

All the specs that we've gathered so far for Samsung's smart glasses are based on rumors and leaks. No official specs from Samsung, Qualcomm, or Google has been published yet, but as soon as we hear any definitive specs, we'll be sure to update this table.

The one piece of official news directly from Qualcomm's CEO Cristiano Amon in an interview with CNBC:

“It’s going to be a new product, it’s going to be new experiences,” Amon said, "But what I really expect to come out of this partnership, I want everyone that has a phone to go buy companion glasses to go along with it."

In this chat with CNBC, Amon referenced Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, which are similarly linked wirelessly to a phone, so it's safe to assume specs will be fairly matched between the Meta Ray-Ban glasses and Samsung's smart glasses.

Samsung Glasses: Design

A patent filing on WIPO spotted by 91mobiles gives us a tiny glimpse into what Samsung's smart glasses may look like. The patent primarily addresses an XR headset, but Samsung includes a line in the filing that describes the pictured device as "AR glasses and/or a head-mounted device."

Overall, we expect the Samsung Glasses to look and feel very similar to the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses.

Samsung's smart glasses reportedly feature a 155mAh battery and weigh 50 grams, while the Meta Ray-Ban glasses feature a 154mAh battery and weigh about 48 grams.

And just like the Meta Ray-Ban glasses, Samsung's glasses aren't expected to feature a display. Via an X post by @Jukanlosreve, "Samsung's first AR device will not feature a display" simply because "micro-LED technology is still immature."

The leaker goes on to explain that Samsung has plans to bring micro-LED displays to possibly the second or third generation of its smart glasses in 2026 when Meta is similarly expected to launch glasses with micro-LED displays.

Samsung Glasses: Features

Without any official information from Samsung (or its potential partners, Google and Qualcomm), we don't know much about what the Samsung Glasses can do feature-wise.

According to Wellsen XR Research (via a Korean newspaper), Samsung's "smart glasses can be used for payment with QR code recognition, gesture recognition, and human recognition functions," with some of those features utilizing AI to work.

The Samsung Glasses will supposedly rely on a custom version of Google's Gemini language learning model for its AI-powered features. In comparison, the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses rely on Meta AI.

As we've seen when comparing Android tablets versus iPads, software can make a huge difference in user experience. The biggest software-related difference between Meta's Ray-Ban glasses and Samsung's glasses will likely be the ecosystem.

Suppose you're unfamiliar with the term "ecosystem" in tech. In that case, it's used to represent a wide variety of tech within one company that integrates seamlessly, often sharing features between tech. In the Galaxy ecosystem, for example, someone might have a Galaxy smartphone, a Galaxy smartwatch, and a Galaxy tablet or laptop — and they'll all share data and function more as a unit rather than as standalone devices.

Meta's Ray-Ban glasses are pretty capable, and Meta AI is great, but Meta doesn't have the ecosystem reach that Samsung does. Samsung could finally unlock smart glasses' true potential with its existing Galaxy ecosystem.

If executed properly, Samsung Glasses could integrate well with calendars, timers, text messages, voice assistants, and more via someone's Galaxy smartphone or tablet. Imagine taking a picture with your smart glasses and seeing it immediately appear in your photos app. That'd be a massive selling point over Meta's Ray-Ban glasses.

Samsung Glasses: Outlook

Samsung (along with Qualcomm and Google) has been relatively quiet about the Samsung Glasses, but we've gleaned an impressive amount of information from a few reliable leaks and rumors.

If one rumor is to be believed, we won't have to wait much longer for the company to officially announce its Samsung Glasses. By the end of January 2025, we might have seen the first demo of Samsung Glasses at the company's semi-annual Galaxy Unpacked event. And oh boy, what an exciting day that'll be.

Samsung teased its Galaxy Ring at the January 2024 Galaxy Unpacked event but waited until the end to do so — as in, within the last two minutes. And then, just six months later, the Galaxy Ring was here.

With a seemingly more advanced piece of tech like smart glasses, this short window between January and July may be too short. However, we've heard rumblings about a collaboration between Samsung, Qualcomm, and Google for years. They could be ready for the market as soon as they're announced, but only time will tell.

For more news, rumors, and updates on everything related to the Samsung Glasses and all things tech, follow Laptop Mag on X, Facebook, and Flipboard for the latest news as it arrives.

Perfectly positioned to act as the final holdover gift of the 2024 Holiday season, Samsung Galaxy Unpacked will arrive in January 2025 to give us our first look at some of the best products we expect in the consumer tech space over the next 12 months.

But what, and when, can we expect Samsung to reveal during its biannual showcase? Well, thanks to the recent Project Moohan reveal, we can hear more about the company's mixed reality partnership with Qualcomm and Google, which may also include a glimpse at Samsung's first venture into the modern smart glasses market.

However, rumors of a new Galaxy Ring 2 wearable smart ring suggest it joining the January event's staple showcasing of a new Samsung Galaxy S-Series smartphone lineup. If reports are to be believed, the S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra will be joined for the first time by a new S25 Slim handset.

Let's take a closer look at what to expect during January's Galaxy Unpacked event and some of the products we hope to make an appearance.

Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, January 2025: What to expect

While we can bank on Samsung to showcase its latest Galaxy S25-Series of smartphones, we could potentially get more information about its recently revealed Project Moohan mixed reality headset, too. However, there's still a lot up in the air about the upcoming event.

From hardware refreshes to all-new reveals, Unpacked has the potential to impress across several fronts. Much of what we know so far is based purely on historical showings and leaks from previously accurate tipsters. We won't know for certain what Samsung has in store for us until the showcase itself takes place.

In the meantime, here are some of the more likely products to feature during next month's Galaxy Unpacked January 2025 event.

Samsung Galaxy S25-Series

Samsung's opening Galaxy Unpacked event of 2025 is sure to focus heavily on this year's Galaxy S25-Series of smartphones, which are rumored to be receiving a series of upgrades including a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, 16GB of RAM, and the usual tweaks and refinements to this series' impressive camera offerings.

However, reportedly joining this year's expected Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, and S25 Ultra handsets will be a new model of smartphone, the Galaxy S25 Slim. Whether or not we'll be seeing this new handset in full, or simply teased for an eventual outing during a second Unpacked event in July 2025 remains to be seen.

However, the announcement of a new "slim" smartphone for the Galaxy lineup will do much to counter Apple's own smartphone announcement this year, as it is expected to reveal a similar iPhone 17 Air model in September.

• Read more: Samsung Galaxy S25 leaks cause color confusion and put iPhone 17 Air on notice

Samsung Galaxy AI

Last year's Galaxy AI launch saw Samsung's smartphones become some of the best-equipped handsets for AI on the market, unlocking powerful AI-assisted editing, image creation, language translation, search, and more.

Samsung's Vice President of Product Management for mobile devices, Drew Blackard, stated in September that 75% of users have "actively engaged" with Galaxy AI so far and that the company was expecting the powerful toolset to reach 200 million devices worldwide by the end of 2024.

As such, it seems almost certain that we'll be seeing more from Galaxy AI at Unpacked 2025, especially following the launch of Apple Intelligence and a looming AI upgrade for Siri. Could we see Samsung's Bixby get a similar conversational AI refit?

Samsung Galaxy Ring 2

Last year, Samsung used its January Unpacked event to offer a preview of the upcoming Galaxy Ring, a health and fitness tracking wearable. This year, we may outright be presented with its successor in the Galaxy Ring 2.

Given its stiff competition from industry veterans Oura, the Galaxy Ring 2 is rumored to provide improved battery life, a thinner profile, new size options, and potentially better integration with Galaxy AI.

for a brief stint in 2024, smart rings caused some considerable buzz, but following the eventual launch of the Galaxy Ring, hype seemed to return to its normal levels. Perhaps Samsung can once again energize the space by offering some impressive upgrades for its latest wearable.

Project Moohan mixed reality headset

Qualcomm and Google appeared during Samsung's February 2023 Galaxy Unpacked event to announce a partnership to develop a new mixed reality platform to challenge the Apple Vision Pro.

After over a year of radio silence on official channels, the dam finally burst in December 2024, with the reveal of Google's Android XR operating system and an all-new premium mixed reality headset from Samsung going by the name Project Moohan.

The two are set to work in tandem to deliver impressive mixed reality experiences enhanced by Gemini AI capabilities, with a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon processor acting as the hardware's engine.

• Read more: Samsung's Moohan mixed reality headset eyes the Vision Pro, but should be targeting Meta Quest 3 and 3S

Samsung Galaxy Glasses

Much like the reveal of Meta's Orion holographic glasses prototype stole the show during Meta Connect 2024, Samsung may be preparing to reveal its own pair of futuristic frames to go head-to-head with the popular Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

Samsung has been interested in developing a pair of smart glasses for some time, with the leaked (and seemingly abandoned) Samsung Glasses Lite concept impressing as far back as 2021.

However, thanks to Android XR, Samsung may finally be preparing to make its smart glasses dreams a reality with the reveal of a display-touting pair of smart glasses not dissimilar to the rumored third-generation Ray-Ban Meta frames or the glasses showcased during Google's Project Astra tech demo from Google I/O 2024.

• Read more: Samsung may debut an all-new product during January's Galaxy Unpacked event

Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2025: When is it?

Now that we've covered what we might be lucky enough to see during the upcoming Galaxy Unpacked event, the only question is when can we see the event itself.

According to a recent leak, shared to X by tipster Sondesix and lining up with similar rumors regarding the upcoming event, Samsung's first Galaxy Unpacked event of 2025 will take place on January 22 at 10 a.m. Pacific, live-streamed from San Jose, California.

While this is by no means an official confirmation, it does pair up with a claimed leak of a Galaxy Unpacked 2025 poster shared by reputable leaker Evan Blass in December showing the same date. The image has since been removed from X following a copyright report by Samsung, which adds significant weight to the January 22 claims.

More from Laptop Mag

• Samsung Galaxy S25 leaks cause color confusion and put iPhone 17 Air on notice
• A week on, Google's Android XR is stealing the VR/AR spotlight from Meta
• Samsung and Google's XR headset looks like an Apple Vision Pro killer

One of my favorite VR headsets of 2024 was the Pimax Crystal, which we reviewed in July. While its 4-star Laptop Mag review is commendable, it suggests there are a few issues yet to be solved by Pimax, especially when compared to the 4-and-a-half-star score we gave to the Meta Quest 3S in October.

So imagine my surprise when Pimax made a huge announcement before January's CES 2025, unveiling an all-new VR headset called the Dream Air. The Dream Air looks like an incredibly premium VR headset and solves several of the issues I encountered while reviewing the premium Pimax Crystal.

It's lighter, easier to set up, thinner, ditches the barren stand-alone mode, adds hand and eye tracking, micro-OLED displays with pancake lenses, and a more comfortable head strap.

It's a compelling series of wins on paper, so why am I not sharing Pimax's enthusiasm for the upcoming PCVR headset?

Pimax Dream Air: A Vision Pro-like PCVR headset

"It's the world's smallest full-feature 8K resolution VR headset," claims Pimax during the company's pre-CES "Frontier" presentation. "A small form factor with high performance and full features to really go where no one has gone before."

The Pimax Dream Air features micro-OLED pancake optics at a 3840 x 3553 per eye resolution, eye-tracking, improved ringless controllers that mirror the Meta Quest Touch Plus peripherals, integrated spatial audio, a simple Type-C DisplayPort connection, and a much more refined slim and slender design that's more visor than headset.

In terms of specs and price, Pimax's new headset sits snugly between the Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro (by about $1,500 each way) while offering the highest per-eye resolution the full suite of eye, hand, and inside-out tracking, and the lowest weight. Sadly, the Dream Air suffers in refresh rate, capping at just 90Hz.

Unfortunately for Pimax, this middle ground has been chased before, even by Meta. The Meta Quest Pro was supposed to bridge the gap between consumer affordability and high-end enterprise equipment.

However, the attractiveness of the Quest 2's price tag was its undoing, and comparing the specs, the vast majority of non-enthusiasts are unlikely to be swayed by Pimax's headset based on its micro-OLED panels and eye-tracking alone.

The bigger problem: too many irons in the fire

Of the many things you could say about VR headset maker Pimax, having a lack of ambition isn't one of them. However, Pimax's recent switch to quantity may end up affecting its quality.

The company has been a constant presence on the front lines of cutting-edge display tech in its Crystal headsets for years now, but it does have a bit of a problem when it comes to announcing grand plans for headsets only to get distracted by others along the way.

Case in point, Pimax's 12K QLED headset, yes, a truly groundbreaking dual 6K display VR headset ideal for enthusiasts and sim-lovers to fully immerse themselves in the action like never before. However, after being announced in October 2021, the headset has still yet to make it to market, completely skipping its Q4 2023 release window, with Pimax's site still claiming that work on certifying the headset is at 70%.

When it comes to the Dream Air, I'm worried we may see the 12K QLED story repeat itself. All we've seen of Pimax's upcoming Dream Air headset is a poorly put-together render that has obvious seams visible. We're yet to see a working prototype of the headset, let alone the final working product, and Pimax believes that it can ship in time for May 2025.

Pimax has a bit of a rocky history of following through on things promptly, with the company's users pointing as much out in the comment sections of its new Frontier presentation, in X reply threads, and on Reddit.

What's next?

All that said, the Dream Air is something very new for the Pimax team, and this shift in focus could spread beyond just the hardware at hand.

While it does seem like a lofty promise, and Pimax definitely has an uphill battle on its hands to make good on its product in time for a May 2025 launch, there's no need to write Pimax off from the get-go.

Giving Pimax the benefit of the doubt, for the company, this could be a new year, new headset, and a new leaf.

More from Laptop Mag

• Best VR-ready laptops 2024: 6 best laptops for VR tested and reviewed
• 5 must play Meta Quest VR games under $20
• A week on, Google's Android XR is stealing the VR/AR spotlight from Meta

The Meta Store's game library is packed with hundreds of VR games for the the latest Meta Quest 3S, Mest Quest 3, and now discontinued Meta Quest 2. Like on every other gaming platform, VR titles range across several genres and price points.

Whether you're new to the virtual reality world or long-time veteran since the Oculus Rift went mainstream back in 2012, your VR experience is only as good as the games you play.

Browse: Meta Store VR games and deals

Besides the 2024 Best VR/AR Game Award-winning Batman: Arkham VR which you can download free for the Meta Quest 3S and Meta Quest 3, there are many other VR games that fall under the must own category.

That's why I'm sharing 5 must play Meta Quest VR games for your consideration starting with Bounce Arcade for $19.99.

Fun, challenging, and futuristic, it's an arcade-style mashup of pinball and TRON. Meta Quest owners like this game for its intuitive controls, realistic feel, and smooth animations.

From this popular pinball VR game to an action-adventure VR game Star Wars fans will love here are 5 must play Meta Quest VR games under $20.

5 must-play Meta Quest VR games under $20

More from Laptop Mag

• Meta Quest 3S review: I'm shocked that affordable mixed reality looks this good
• Meta Quest 3 review: Elite features at an affordable price
• Meta Quest 3 vs. Meta Quest 3S: A VR headset head-to-head

The new Meta Quest 3S Batman: Arkham Shadow Bundle is one of the most-wanted gifts of holiday 2024. Meta now sweetens this excellent value even more by throwing in a freebie.

For a limited time, when you buy the 256GB Meta Quest 3S: Batman Arkham Shadow Bundle for $399 from Meta, you'll receive $30 of Meta cash for free. This bundle includes a Meta Quest 3S headset 256GB, 2 Meta Quest Touch Plus Controllers (with AA batteries included), 2 x Wrist Straps), a free full-game downloard of Batman: Arkham Shadow, and a 3-month trial of Meta Quest Plus (valued at $70 total).

That's a total savings of $100 and one of the best gaming deals I've seen all year.

The virtual spending cash included in this deal can be used in the Meta app store to snag Beat Saber, Blade & Sorcery Nomad, and NFL Pro Era. All priced at just under $30.

Browse: Last-minute gifts at Meta

Alternatively, apply the cash bonus to the Meta Holiday Starter Kit which is currently on sale for $72 ($47 off) and drop it to $42 ($77 off). The 5-in- 1 game bundle includes Synth Riders, Job Simulator, Walkabout Mini Golf, Demeo, and Moss.

One may also want to take advantage of Meta's VR game deals and snag two or more games like The Thrill of the Fight for $6.99 ($3 off), GOLF+ for $19 ($10 off ), and Among Us VR for $5.99 ($4 off). In fact, $30 in free Meta cash goes a long way since Meta's experience library is packed with a wide range of VR games starting from as low as $1.

In our Meta Quest 3S review, we gave it a 4 out of 5-star rating for its solid passthrough and hand tracking. It's the most affordable Editor's Choice virtual reality headset. Meta was kind enough to send me a review unit to try for myself and it changed my perspective of VR. Literally and figuratively.

While playing Creed: Rise to Glory Champion Edition with the Meta goggles, I was floored by how realistic it felt. Sure, it's only a game, one that I've previously played on PC and PlayStation. However, the VR version is a whole horse of a different color since it puts you into the game's environment which makes you feel like you're in a real life boxing match.

I was surprised by how nervous, anxious, and excited I felt while trading blows with the muscular, mean-mugging opponent across from me. While I didn't get a chance to play the much raved about Batman: Arkham Shadow game yet, I plan to over the holidays.

At just under $400 this Meta Quest 3S Batman: Arkham Shadow Bundle is an excellent value. Especially now that it includes a $30 Meta cash bonus. Act now to have the Meta Quest 3S shipped to arrive at your doorstep before Christmas Day.

This offer ends December 31.

Today's best Meta Quest 3S holiday deal

Google's Android XR was only announced last week, but the mixed reality platform is already making a splash, securing software and hardware partners right out of the gate and impressively throwing down the gauntlet to Meta's Horizon OS.

While Meta's operating system has a clear head start, Google's promise of an open, unified platform (similar to the Android OS that powers smartphones, tablets, TVs, smartwatches, and even cars) offers a bright future for the consumer and enterprise XR market by delivering a true standard for all to benefit from.

As Resolution Games, the developer behind the impressive digital tabletop RPG Demeo — one of the first games expected to arrive on Android XR through Samsung's Project Moohan headset, CTO Johan Gastrin tells Laptop Mag: "Android XR has the potential to speed up standardization in the XR space."

Android XR may be the rising tide that raises all boats, granting hardware manufacturers and software developers an even foothold from which to build. In turn, they're free to build customized experiences backed by a dependable library of tools and frameworks tailored to various devices.

Gastrin tells Laptop Mag, "Android XR has the potential to bring XR to a wide variety of XR devices, ranging from immersive VR headsets to AR glasses, all using the same ecosystem."

It's an enticing promise, and it's one that's already attracted the attention of developers like Resolution Games, not to mention potential hardware partners in Samsung, Sony, Lynx, and XREAL.

Android XR: An open challenge to Meta's monopoly

Announced on December 12, the Android XR operating system is poised to fuse mixed reality and artificial intelligence to power a new generation of VR headsets and smart glasses — in direct competition with Horizon OS, which powers Meta's impressive Quest headsets.

It's a bold challenge to Meta's dominance in this space, but Google has a wealth of experience and a vast ecosystem in its corner heading into this fight. Resolution Games' Johan Gastrin tells Laptop Mag, "Sharing a common ecosystem across devices from multiple manufacturers is great for both developers and consumers."

In speaking of that ecosystem, Gastrin continues: "Android XR also has the benefit of having an existing portfolio of games and applications that will make the platform vibrant from the get-go."

Following Android XR's announcement, Resolution Games became one of the first developers in the XR space to announce it would be porting its most popular title to the platform.

While the impressive Demeo may be among the first games to join Google's new platform, we wouldn't expect it to be the last. Highlighting the ease at which developers can shift from a Meta-familiar landscape to Android XR, Gastrin tells Laptop Mag, "Both Android XR and Horizon OS adhere to OpenXR. That, plus us using Unity for the majority of our titles, makes the development process very similar."

That's good news for gaming hopefuls when it comes to Google's new platform. Aside from Demeo, many of Meta's most popular games are built using the Unity game engine, including Beat Saber, Bonelab, Walkabout Mini Golf, LEGO Bricktales, and even Batman: Arkham Shadow.

The latter of those games is unlikely to make the switch due to it being a Meta Quest exclusive title, something that Android XR has yet to claim. When asked whether Resolution Games would be interested in developing exclusively for the platform, Gastrin tells Laptop Mag, "Right now we are focusing on taking Demeo to as many players as possible on whatever platforms they wish to play."

"We will continue to support as many XR platforms as possible, and the support for the OpenXR open standard from all major vendors have greatly improved our ability to do so."

Backed by hardware heavyweights

Clearly, Google's Android XR has an excellent opportunity when it comes to delivering great software. However, from what we know so far, Google won't be bringing Android XR to users through its own dedicated hardware — something Meta can rely on in pairing its Horizon OS platform with its Quest headsets.

However, while Google won't be supplying its own headsets or smart glasses, Android XR isn't short of interest from manufacturers looking to adopt the platform for their own devices.

As part of the Android XR announcement, Google revealed that Lynx, Sony, and AR smart glasses maker XREAL are all interested in making use of the platform to power future devices. one of which may be the XR head-mounted display showcased by Sony in January.

Meta also has plans to open Horizon OS for third parties, with Asus, Lenovo, and Microsoft all interested in adopting the platform, but little has been heard of this since its announcement in April.

Outlook

Having only been announced last week, already being lined up to appear on Samsung's future headset, and with many parties interested in bringing the platform to other devices, Android XR is off to a great start out of the gate.

It serves as an excellent expansion of the Android ecosystem and brings AI to the forefront of Google's vision for a mixed-reality future.

Whether the Android XR platform outpaces Meta's remains to be seen, but each provides the other with the necessary element to see innovation thrive: competition.

More from Laptop Mag

• Samsung's Moohan mixed reality headset eyes the Vision Pro, but should be targeting Meta Quest 3 and 3S
• Don't cry for HoloLens, Meta keeps spatial computing alive on Windows 11 with new Quest 3 update
• New XREAL One 3DoF AR glasses show that while Meta talks, XREAL walks

It's an exciting time to be a VR nerd.

You have all sorts of things to hope for. Meta is driving the price of headsets down while still delivering a complete XR experience. Apple is pushing the boundaries of fidelity and UI, and companies like Xreal are giving us a template for what honest-to-God AR glasses might look like.

And now, right on schedule, Samsung and Google are entering an increasingly crowded XR arena, making the most exciting space in consumer tech (at least in my opinion) even more exciting.

Samsung and Google's XR ambitions

If a pair of Samsung smart glasses weren't enough to get you going then a recent teaser should do the trick.

On Thursday, Google and Samsung took the wraps off their joint ambitions in XR, which includes a platform based on Android but also real, tangible hardware to go along with it.

Introducing: the Vision Pr — I mean... Project Moohan.

The first thing you'll probably notice about Project Moohan is that its shape and overall exterior design resemble Apple's Vision Pro. According to Bloomberg, which got a preview of the device, the similarities don't stop there.

Bloomberg says Project Moohan, like the Vision Pro, also connects to an external battery pack, uses premium display technology, and can switch between full VR modes and mixed reality, which combines your surroundings with a digital overlay using external cameras.

Sound familiar?

While Project Moohan shares many similarities with the Vision Pro, a few key differences have me legitimately excited. The number one difference that has me hopeful is Project Moohan's weight.

The Vision Pro might be an almost unparalleled consumer headset in terms of display and compute power, but all of that high-end hardware comes at a financial and physical cost. Honestly, Apple's Vision Pro is way too heavy.

Weight is a problem with a headset you are meant to wear on your face for long periods. According to reports from media members who have seen Project Moohan, Samsung and Google's headset headsets doob of lightening the load.

To make matters even scarier for Apple, Bloomberg says Samsung's headset also advances comfortability, a large cushion on the back of the device's strap, and an adjustable strap that reportedly distributes the weight more evenly.

Project Moohan may also challenge Vision Pro on another front: UI. Reports have highlighted that Samsung and Google's headsets focus on AI, which could aid computer vision tasks like identifying objects in the environment or supercharging a voice assistant and enable it to carry out more complex tasks.

Samsung and Google have even gone as far as to copy the Vision Pro's unique input method, which involves a mixture of hand and eye tracking and is easily the best, most intuitive input system I've used in a headset yet.

And I know what you're thinking: if it looks like a Vision Pro and works like a Vision Pro, it will cost as much as one... right?

A more affordable Vision Pro competitor

The most enticing aspect of Project Moohan is that it promises to do much of what the Vision Pro does but for less than $3,500.

That's obviously a low benchmark in many ways — $3,500 for an XR headset is eye-watering — but if Samsung and Google manage to undercut that Apple premium, they could have a real contender.

As I've said, price is a considerable barrier for headsets, mainly since they are expensive toys. It's hard to say what most people's price threshold is for a gadget that they don't particularly, but if Samsung and Google can hit the $1,500 mark I'd say they have a shot at, actually selling a few of these.

There's still a lot we don't know about Project Moohan, including when exactly it will be unveiled or released. Still, for the first time, the Vision Pro seems to have a competitor with specs and abilities that match those of the headset.

Yesterday, the partnership between Samsung, Google, and Qualcomm finally broke its silence, revealing the fruits of its labor: a brand-new mixed reality headset from Samsung (referred to as Project Moohan), powered by an as-of-yet unidentified chipset from Qualcomm, and running on Google's debut Android XR platform.

Talk about a trifecta.

Individually, all three of these parts make for an impressive grab of the headlines, but combined? Samsung's hardware, Qualcomm's silicon, and Google's software expertise are the Big Tech equivalent of a musical supergroup — the technological embodiment of the wall of sound produced by Them Crooked Vultures, Velvet Revolver, or Cream.

Perhaps even more impressive is that, unlike Meta's recently unveiled Orion glasses, we won't have to wait until the end of the decade to see this tech placed in consumer's hands. While some of the more technical details surrounding Project Moohan are still under wraps, Samsung's headset is expected to arrive in 2025, locked and loaded and ready to challenge the... Apple Vision Pro?

Moohan should take the market, not the benchmark crown

If Samsung's goal with Project Moohan is to make a big splash in mixed reality, then it's a little puzzling that the company would choose to lock horns with Apple's Vision Pro — a headset whose $3,499 price tag sees it placed in the ultra-premium (and scarcely populated) corner of the market.

That's how it appears to be positioning itself, anyway. The headset by no means looks inexpensive, let's agree to that much at least.

There's no arguing that the Vision Pro is a top-tier contender in the space. Its on-paper specs alone prove as much. However, it's hardly what you'd call a market leader, let alone anything approaching a mass-market must-buy. With its towering asking price, Apple's Vision Pro feels more like a public-facing dev kit than a ready-for-consumer product. A concept alluding to a much more accessible and affordable headset released a few years down the line.

Instead of facing off against the Vision Pro, Samsung should have taken the fight to the headsets that actually dominate the mixed reality space, the Meta Quest 3 and 3S.

Moohan's Quest for glory

Sure, there's an argument to be made that Meta's Quest headsets are primarily game consoles, while Apple and Samsung might be catering their headsets toward spatial computing. But, in all honesty, I'm beginning to wonder if that excuse isn't just marketing speak for "We don't have any games."

Yes, gaming on Quest headsets is probably the major selling point, and taking a look at the Steam Hardware Survey for November shows that of all active users enjoying PCVR content through that platform, over 55% are Quest headset owners.

Meta's platform is also beginning to blossom with exclusive titles like Batman: Arkham Shadow that flex the hardware's potential as a major console competitor. However, there's far more to the third generation of Quest headsets than gaming.

With every update that arrives on the Quest's Horizon OS platform, spatial computing on Quest headsets gets stronger and stronger. The most recent v72 update added Remote Desktop access to Windows 11 computers just by looking at them. The link is fast and smooth, and the experience can be spread across three sizable virtual displays in augmented reality.

This only adds to the Quest headset's current offerings, which include Meta AI integration and a suite of productivity and light entertainment-focused apps.

There's no doubt that Samsung coming out of the gates and gunning for the market's high-spec status symbol will make a statement, but targeting the affordable, expanding, and versatile line of Quest headsets may have resulted in more of an impact.

Outlook

Still, a lot of this is still up in the air. While Samsung's Project Moohan does look like a high-end headset ready to take on Apple's Vision Pro, it may do so by being more affordable. Whether it could be as affordable as the $299 Meta Quest 3S is perhaps a stretch, but thanks to the Android XR platform that Moohan runs on, there's no ruling out another piece of hardware adding some competition to the more affordable end of mixed reality headsets.

Google's Android platform has been powering some of the best budget smartphones on the market for over a decade, and you have to wonder if the release of Android XR might do the same within the mixed reality space.

Hardware is just one part of the issue when developers enter this world. Software is a major hurdle that sees many a company stumble and fall to its doom. If we look at the AR glasses market, only now are the companies responsible for incredible pieces of hardware like the XREAL Air 2 or Viture Pro XR glasses truly making the most of their products after painstakingly developing better software integration.

If a platform such as Google's Android XR were available to these companies on day one, who knows the heights their hardware may have already risen to?

Android XR perhaps stands as the real competitor to Meta from yesterday's reveals. Horizon OS has long been the best VR/AR platform to use by a long shot, and Google's presence may shake things up to a large degree, especially if it can power devices that are equally as affordable.

More from Laptop Mag

• Best VR-ready laptops 2024: 6 best laptops for VR tested and reviewed
• Don't cry for HoloLens, Meta keeps spatial computing alive on Windows 11 with new Quest 3 update
• New XREAL One 3DoF AR glasses show that while Meta talks, XREAL walks

Meta's excellent third-generation Quest headsets offer impressive standalone gaming experiences in virtual and mixed reality. However, they're so much more than that, and a new experimental feature released with the latest Horizon OS v72 only proves my point further.

There's no arguing that gaming is the primary focus of Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S headsets, but their mixed reality capabilities also make for an impressive spatial computing experience.

With the new Horizon OS v72 update (rolling out now), users will be able to enjoy these spatial computing moments even easier to access than before thanks to a partnership with Microsoft that unlocks seamless Remote Desktop access to Windows 11 computers.

Similar to how the Apple Vision Pro pairs with MacBooks, the Quest's Remote Desktop option allows you to mirror your PC or laptop's display simply by looking at it.

Windows 11 Remote Desktop on Quest

Microsoft may have decided to put its HoloLens dreams on ice for the time being (having revealed in October that HoloLens 2 production has ended, and so will support for the headset in 2027), but it's clear that the company still sees the value in mixed reality, or spatial, computing.

The latest update for the Meta Quest's Horizon OS platform offers the most direct integration with Windows 11 to date, granting users a faster way of pairing their Quest to PCs using the Windows 11 Remote Desktop protocol.

With your headset and Windows 11 PC paired, your display shuts off and you're presented with a large AR display, mirroring your screen. From here you can work as normal, or extend the display further with support for up to three virtual monitors at the same time.

It sounds too good to be true, but it isn't. However, there's also a catch. As easy as it will be to connect to your Windows machine through your Quest 3 or Quest 3S headset, it does require a little work to set things up.

First of all, you'll need to make sure that your PC is running Windows 11 22H2 or newer, that both your Quest headset and PC are on the same local network, and that your machine meets the minimum hardware requirements.

Following this you'll need to navigate the Microsoft Store and download the Mixed Reality Link app.

From here, put on your Quest 3/3S headset and open up the Settings menu, then to Advanced Settings and enable the option that says "Pair to PC with Microsoft Mixed Reality Link." Your headset should then attempt to pair with your computer and run you through a wizard to complete the process.

After this, you can connect to your PC at any time by looking at it in mixed reality mode and tapping on the virtual Connect button.

What else is new in Horizon OS v72?

Horizon OS v72 is no one-trick pony, and as good as Windows 11 Remote Desktop integration is, Meta has plenty more to show in this update.

• Hand Tracking 2.3: Meta has improved the accuracy, stability, and ease of use for interacting without controllers on Quest. Several updates will roll out across the next few weeks making finer interactions easier to control and a hand ray visualization to help with locating the cursor.
• Broader passthrough keyboard support: Meta has expanded its passthrough keyboard support to identify and track generic keyboards.
• Media Gallery: Meta has added a Media Gallery app to users' libraries to help better manage screenshots, video captures, and more.
• Better captions: Meta has expanded its accessibility options to allow for live, real-time captions to be displayed when making or receiving calls from the People app.
• Instagram Direct Messenger: Meta has expanded its Quest Instagram app to now include Instagram Direct Messenger, allowing you to chat and share with friends without needing to reach for your phone.

More from Laptop Mag

• Best VR-ready laptops 2024: 6 best laptops for VR tested and reviewed
• New XREAL One 3DoF AR glasses show that while Meta talks, XREAL walks
• Samsung may debut an all-new product during January's Galaxy Unpacked event

When Meta unveiled its Orion glasses in September, a light was finally shone on one of the most exciting markets in tech: smart glasses. Mark Zuckerberg's fancy frames were a glimpse into the future, though that may be a long-distant future, with reports indicating that we won't see Orion's final form until we approach the end of the decade.

However, the era of facial computing isn't waiting around, and AR glasses maker XREAL has just unveiled its most advanced pair of smart glasses yet, the XREAL One.

Smart glasses, while by no means a new invention, are an emerging market, at least when it comes to mainstream recognition. That said, the tech you'll find within this category is leaps and bounds ahead of what you'd expect, even when compared to its Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro mixed reality cousins.

XREAL's new One-series of glasses (split between standard and Pro models) is a bold step in delivering the full standalone AR glasses experience of the future. While we've some way to go, these AR glasses are set to stand as the best effort yet.

XREAL One: The 'One' you've been waiting for

You may not be familiar with XREAL, but if I were to draw up a list of some of the more impressive achievements in this market over the last year, XREAL would make up 47.2% of it. Which is coincidentally also the market share the company claims within the augmented and extended reality industry.

XREAL's latest AR glasses showcase this prowess in full, not only offering a wider field of view (50-57 degrees), improved optics (with the One Pro featuring a flat Bird Bath design for the first time), brighter and more stabilized displays (that can render a screen up to 147 inches as viewed from a 4 meter distance), BOSE audio, and a redesigned interface, but also a proprietary chip that enables virtual elements to exist with 3DoF (three degrees of freedom) all maintained within the frames — no computing puck required.

The chip responsible is called the X1, and it's solely developed by XREAL. While companies like Meta, Lenovo, and reportedly even Samsung lean on Qualcomm's Snapdragon XR platform, XREAL is introducing its own silicon solution which is fine-tuned for speed, delivering faster chip-to-photon speeds (3 ms) than even Apple's Vision Pro.

The result is a supremely stable picture, devoid of flicker and blur, offering crisp, color-accurate images, with minimal latency at a universal 120Hz.

I've made great use of XREAL's Air 2 AR glasses over the last year, especially since the company released its Beam Pro device — an Android-based spatial computing solution that unlocks much of the true AR potential these glasses have.

However, the new XREAL One frames, with their X1 chip onboard, offer native 3DoF experiences, allowing you to enjoy more immersive AR experiences through any device with a DP over USB-C output.

What is 3DoF, and why is it important?

Previous models of XREAL glasses functioned as static, wearable displays. This allowed you to mirror the screen of compatible devices into your field of vision, but the image would remain squarely locked into place.

While this is fine for watching movies or playing games, it can be quite restrictive and the fixed nature of the screen can feel slightly off to the eye.

The company's Nebula software was developed to emulate a virtual environment, using the AR glasses' gyroscope to track head movements and render virtual displays in a 3D space.

This allows you to 'turn away' from anchored displays, with screens being virtually locked to a particular space. This is what is meant by 3DoF. While your head can turn, the virtual elements will remain in place, and it makes for a more comfortable and immersive static/seated viewing experience.

If you move or walk around, those displays will follow you, but they'll remain "anchored" to the direction you positioned them in.

6DoF is where you can move around freely and these virtual elements will remain in the position you placed them in, which is something you'll find in full mixed-reality headsets such as the Vision Pro or Meta Quest 3S.

The XREAL One's on-device 3DoF capabilities will produce a faster, sharper, and more natural viewing experience that improves comfort and makes these glasses a true standalone AR experience, and less of a wearable display.

Outlook

The XREAL One is no pie-in-the-sky campaign that hopes to bring AR glasses into the light of the mainstream. This is a company with the means of production to produce at scale and the backing of proprietary technology and industry partnerships that position them in the top tier of smart glasses manufacturers.

I'm a massive proponent of smart glasses. I wear a pair of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses every day, and I've found that AR glasses are a fantastic alternative to flatscreens.

However, the XREAL One-series of glasses is the first time we're set to see a true AR experience come to the company's catalog of wearables, and I can't wait to get my hands on a pair and see just how much of an improvement this next generation of frames really is.

The XREAL One-series is now available to preorder in the US from the XREAL online store and at Amazon, with the standard 50-degree FoV model available for $499 and the Pro 57-degree FoV model with flat Bird Bath optics available for $599.

The standard model will begin shipping in mid-December, while the Pro model is expected to begin shipping in early 2025.

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With 2024 drawing to a close, it's time to look ahead to a new year that could be filled with bold steps by major tech players. As rumors swirl about a foldable iPhone, the Nintendo Switch 2, a Galaxy S25 Slim smartphone, and redesigned OLED MacBooks, Samsung may topple them all in 2025 by once again debuting an entirely new product.

Earlier this year, Samsung welcomed the all-new Galaxy Ring into its catalog of wearables. It announced the smart ring during January's Galaxy Unpacked event and revealed its release during the company's second Galaxy Unpacked event in July.

According to the Korean outlet Yonhap News, Samsung may be preparing to start 2025 in much the same way, with the company reportedly planning to finally unveil its long-awaited smart glasses during January's Galaxy Unpacked event.

See also: Samsung Smart Glasses in January 2025? Here's everything we know so far

Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2025: Are smart glasses in the cards?

According to a report by Yonhap News, Samsung is expected to reveal its first venture into the mixed reality space as early as January's Galaxy Unpacked event.

The smart glasses expected to be revealed are the result of a collaboration between Samsung, Google, and Qualcomm first announced during Samsung's February 2023 Galaxy Unpacked event.

The trio seeks to not only develop a pair of mainstream AR glasses, but a new mixed reality platform — including the software that powers them.

Each of the trio's inputs seems fairly intuitive: Qualcomm will supply the processor (as it does with Meta's third-generation Quest headsets and the popular Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses), Samsung will design the frames themselves, and Google will provide the platform.

The latter will likely be an adaptation of Google's 'Project Astra' tech demo, which was showcased during Google I/O in May. (Video shown below.)

It was believed that the initial collaboration would be to develop a premium mixed reality headset to compete with Apple's Vision Pro.

However, during an interview with CNBC in September, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon revealed that a pair of mixed-reality smart glasses were in the works. With the high-tech frames being designed to pair with smartphones.

It's presently unclear if a premium headset is still a potential outcome of the partnership. However, a recent leak purporting to reveal the technical specs (no pun intended) of Samsung's upcoming smart glasses would suggest that they're the most likely candidate to be debuted first.

Samsung Galaxy Glasses: What can we expect?

Samsung's smart glasses ambitions go back much further than its partnership with Qualcomm and Google.

In 2021, a leak revealed an internal showcase of a product called Samsung Glasses Lite. These frames worked similarly to current AR glasses like those offered by XREAL and VITURE.

However, unlike those products, Samsung's glasses were shown to be wireless and make use of hand gestures for interaction — something that both VITURE and XREAL have yet to fully offer (though rumors point to this not being a distant dream for future commercial products, especially following the launch of VITURE's Pro Neckband).

That said, the Samsung Glasses Lite never materialized as an actual product, and with Qualcomm's Cristiano Amon stating that the trio's smart glasses would be set to pair with smartphones, it is fair to assume that the upcoming frames will use smartphones as a computing puck, similar to how XREAL use the XREAL Beam Pro to power the more advanced features of its AR glasses.

That said, while the original report from Yonhap News does indicate that the new Samsung AR/XR glasses will be briefly showcased with an image or video during January's Galaxy Unpacked event, there's no reason to believe that these will be the first of Samsung's smart glasses we will see.

Similar to how Meta revealed its advanced Orion smart glasses during Meta Connect 2024, Samsung may be willing to give us an advanced look at a later model of its AR glasses, while providing us with something more modest in the meantime.

After all, the recently leaked specs for Samsung's smart glasses don't indicate a pair of frames set to challenge XREAL or VITURE, but a pair of AI smart glasses that more closely resembles the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses.

Outlook

While we can split hairs over which type of smart glasses Samsung may be preparing to showcase at next year's opening Galaxy Unpacked event, it would seem that there's growing evidence to suggest we will at the very least be seeing something smart glasses related from the South Korean giants in January.

At present, we expect Samsung's first Galaxy Unpacked event of 2025 to take place on January 23. However, an official date is yet to be confirmed.

In the meantime, the Yonhap News report does suggest that the XR platform Samsung's glasses will make use of may be revealed as soon as this month. While not as exciting to most as an actual product, this could be the first look at a true rival to Meta's impressive Horizon OS, which powers the company's mixed-reality headsets.

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