Xreal launched the Air 2 and Air 2 Pro AR glasses in October, now the company adds a new class of device – the Xreal Air 2 Ultra. What sets this apart from its siblings is that it has two cameras mounted on the frame that enable 6 degrees of freedom (6DoF) tracking.
The data from these cameras is used to determine the user’s location in 3D space. The cameras can also be used to track the user’s hand, which enables controller-free interactivity with apps. That’s not all – the 3D data from the cameras can be used to create 3D meshes, for semantic scene understanding and more (with more features to be added in the future).
Tracking aside, Xreal also upgraded the virtual display on the Air 2 Ultra. It now has a field of view of 52°, up from 46° on the Air 2 (Pro). Each eye gets a 1080p image, meaning that the Ultra delivers 42 pixels per degree (vs. 49 ppd on the Air 2) at a refresh rate of 120Hz. The virtual image is equivalent to a 154” display at 4m/13ft distance and ha a peak brightness of 500 nits, so it can be used outdoors too.
Despite adding extra hardware, the Air 2 Ultra is still very light – it tips the scales at 80g (compared to 72g for the regular Air 2). This was achieved with the new titanium eyeglass frame, which has the added benefit of giving the headset a premium look.
We call this a headset, but it’s closer to eyeglasses in both look and feel. We found the new adjustable temples support to be quite comfortable even during long periods of wearing the glasses. For comparison, the Meta Quest 3 weighs 515g and offers 25 ppd (though with a much wider field of view).
The Xreal Air 2 Ultra will be available for pre-order shortly, you will find it on the company’s site. The regular price for the Ultra is $700, but pre-orders come with a $100 price cut. The new headset will start shipping in March. Xreal will also release a new version of its SDK, which will enable developers to tap into the new functionality.
By the way, if you have an iPhone 15 Pro, you can shoot Spatial Video and convert it to a side-by-side format and view it in 3D on the Xreal Air 2 glasses (the vanilla, Pro and Ultra models).
Xreal is currently the leader of the AR market – a few days ago the company announced that it reached 51% market share globally in Q3 2023. It has shipped 350,000 AR glasses to date.
Currently, it ships its glasses in the US, Europe and Asia, but the company plans to expand availability to more countries this year.
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