Xreal One Pro and Eye review: better, but not for everybody
A layoud of the contents. | Image by PhoneArena
The Xreal One Pro glasses — could you have imagined that these don't come in the box?
— could you have imagined that these don't come in the box? Prescription Frame — if you need to fine-tune your experience, this thing will let you do that
— if you need to fine-tune your experience, this thing will let you do that USB type C to C cable — braided and bent on one end, for extra comfort (for what that's worth)
— braided and bent on one end, for extra comfort (for what that's worth) Nose pad set — not mint-scented, which is extremely important for people like me
— not mint-scented, which is extremely important for people like me Cleaning cloth — mind you, a very oddly shaped one, but still
— mind you, a very oddly shaped one, but still Protective case — sturdy, feels premium and brings that satisfying snap when you close it
— sturdy, feels premium and brings that satisfying snap when you close it Paper inserts — the obligatory extra What doesn't come in the box, however, is the Xreal Eye, which we will also take a look at in this review. This is an accessory, which adds extra functionality to the Xreal One Pro glasses. It comes in its own tiny box and plugs in between the nose pads, so it looks extra awkward. Sorry, no pics: we got this one a bit late, but I did manage to try it out. Overall, the unboxing experience is very good. You get to what you're looking for really fast. The USB-C cable can comfortably fit inside the protective case, so you don't need to worry about carrying anything else.That being said, the case is rather bulky and barely fits in my medium EDC backpack (which can fit an MTG commander deck with a deckbox), so take that as you will.
Almost normal from the front. | Image by PhoneArena I've got to give credit where it is due: the glasses feel very sturdy. When you put them on, they are also very lightweight (about 87 grams), and I can easily forget that I have them on. That being said, they still look funny. It's fair to say that, right? In terms of apperance, the One Pro look pretty distinct from something like Meta's Ray Ban smart-specs, which look like any other pair of sunglasses from afar.If I have the One Pro equipped, however, you'll be able to tell that I've got something weird on my face, regardless of your particular distance from me. Despite that though, Xreal were optimistic enough to add UV protection on these, so take that as you will.
I'd also rather not have the One Pro on at all times, because seeing the real world through these is borderline impossible (unless you are screen recording all the time, which isn't even a supported feature).
Images by PhoneArena And here's where I can finally reveal the core issue with these: cables. They need to be connected to something at all times. Even if your phone will end up being the thing in question most of the time, it still means that you have this irritating cable going from your left ear down to your pocket.
Sure, it can't be disconnected by accident easily, but it's still an extra inconvenience. It's also one that we criticized the Vision Pro for. Then again: the Xreal One Pro has nowhere near the count of innovative features on board. Sure, one of these is an XR headset, but they both require the same level of inconvenience, which doesn't feel fair.
Images by PhoneArena The glasses have a slew of buttons on their frames, by which I mean: too many. Not only that, but each of those buttons offers a multitude of functions. Some require a double-click, others: for you to hold the button. I can't really say that it was the most optimal user experience.
This lad? Could be watching anything. | Image by PhoneArena
The screens on Xreal products have always been pretty great, and the Xreal One Pro is no exception. Here's the basic specs: Powered by two Sony 0.55' Micro-OLED screens
Resulting image is said to be capable of rivaling a 222' screen
57' FOV (field of view)
Supports a high 120 Hz refresh rate But what do all of these specs feel like? In terms of color and brightness, these screens are great. The issue is, however, that these are still really tiny screens, so getting the image in perfect focus is a challenge. Blur is a factor, and an almost ever-present one at that. Yes, you have 3 IPD (interpupillary distance) settings to try, but in my experience, none was quite what I was hoping for. Which is, in all honesty, a shame, because in the moments where the screen got perfectly in focus, I could see that the sharpness was really good. The claim about the 222' screen? Could very well be technically comparable to one, but it still feels like a huge image, floating just in front of my face, which is simply not the same as having a great TV at home, or going to the cinema. Our eyes prioritize and rely on depth for a reason. But let me share a quote that I find meaningful here:
— Avi Greengart, President of research and advisory firm Techsponential
That last bit? Pretty important. These are still pretty great screens, which you can take with you practically anywhere. If you are interested in such a product, then you will probably be able to live with the downsides that come with the Xreal One Pro.
One funny detail I noticed was that the iamge I was seeing was way clearer when I had the Xreal One Pro connected to a PC, rather than a phone. Keep in mind: I'm daily driving the OnePlus 13, set to a 4K resolution. Despite that, having my 1080p work laptop connected resulted in a better image. Weird .
Still, this specific model outshines the competition in some key aspects.
Here's where the cable goes in. | Image by PhoneArena While these specs aren't exactly 'smart', but they do have a chip inside. And that allows them to do some pretty cool things.
— Xreal, 2025 Now, let me translate that to human. These glasses offer features, which while not exactly new or innovative, are staples of the AR/VR category for a reason. Namely: Anchor Mode , which utilizes 3 DoF (degrees of freedom) in order to allow the screen you view to sit in place
, which utilizes 3 DoF (degrees of freedom) in order to allow the screen you view to sit in place Follow Mode , which disables DoF so that the screen always appears static in front of you, which is how things usually are with similar products
, which disables DoF so that the screen always appears static in front of you, which is how things usually are with similar products Spatial Anchor Mode, which is like the first one, but takes advantage of the Xreal Eye accessory to improve the experience even more Having an on-board chip also allows for some important extras: The Xreal One Pros have built-in storage space of 4GB
The X1 chip enables the specs to have ultra-low latency of 3ms
Adjustable Dimming levels: Clear, Share and Theatre, which change the areas around the screens to be more or less see-through So, what all of this boils down to is that you can have what you are looking for sit in place, while you move your head around. To me, this is imperative, because having a screen constantly stuck in front of your face is just confusing for the brain. Think about it: when looking at your monitor, if you shit your head, the entire image doesn't just bob downwards along with you, right?Furthermore, the extra processing power allows the movements to be really smooth and fluid. It also lets the Xreal One Pro have its own menu section, where you can adjust the settings of the screen, volume and the sort.There is a major downside to all of this though, and I already mentioned it above: cables! These glasses, along with their features, just don't work without a power source. That can be a computer, your phone or Xreal's own proprietary mini-computer, the Beam (or Beam Pro). But it means that you always have to keep these things plugged in. Beyond that, the Xreal One worked fine on my end, save for two specific things: Switching to Ultra-Wide mode in the menu always led to the product crashing and restarting
Despite the amount of fine-tuning on my end, the screen always looked slightly skewed to the left
Both could be quirks of our specific review unit, or patched via software updates down the line. In any case: the software experience is far from perfect.
This is where it plugs in. You can't make this up. | Image by Xreal
This is a tiny, honestly cute 12MP camera, which plugs into the Xreal One Pro in the most bizarre of ways. Right between the nose pads, there's a latch which is very difficult to open without some sort of prying tool. When you get the cover out of the way, this camera effectively goes right in front of your nose. And that's just too awkward for me to take seriously. But hey: this is a design thing, and right now we're looking at figuring out if the clumsy looks can be overlooked for the sake of the extra features.Right off the bat, I can tell you that I didn't notice any real difference between the 3 DoF and 6 DoF options on the One Pro. Maybe it gets noticeable only when working in tandem with the Xreal Beam Pro, but I didn't utilize it for the sake of this review. And if you want to find out why: keep reading.So what else can the Eye do? Well, taking a page from the Meta/Ray Ban smart glasses book, it can take photos and record videos. There's a button on the right frame, which you can press once to get a snap or hold to record a video. Both can be transferred over to whatever device is connected to the glasses at the given time.You read that properly, by the way. As previously established, these glasses rely on external devices to get power. As such, you can't really record anything without having them be connected to something portable, likely: your phone.
This, in turn, means that you'll be staring into your phone's screen every time you are not recording. For me, this meant that I was always seeing the black candy-bar shaped always-on display of my OnePlus 13 . As you can probably imagine, having a large, black, opaque object floating in front of your face makes walking in real life quite difficult.
For the record, I was able to walk around and do stuff while wearing the Vision Pro or Quest 3 just fine. Yes, I know : those are headsets. But still . If you want a warning, here it is: don't try to wear the Xreal One Pro outside. It not only looks weird, but you can actually hurt yourself if you're not careful enough. But I digress. Let's take a look at what I took with the Xreal Eye.
Images by PhoneArena Trust me, I wanted to give you more sample photos. In fact, I have tens of snaps ready. But I wasn't prepared for the insanely-high FOV that this cam covers. All other snaps showcase my living space in all of its low-definition glory, and I'm not quite ready to become this type of influencer yet . The odd thing is that I got really close to some of the objects that I tried to photograph, yet still I got more background than main object in the results.
And due to my head doing this thing where it moves a lot (thankfully!), most photos came out really blurry too.
On the one hand: yes, I can't expect too much from a 12MP camera, which doesn't have amazing post-processing power behind it. On the other hand, if the plan is to let people share these online, I honestly don't think anyone would.So what about video?
Video by PhoneArena The Xreal Eye can only record up to 15 seconds of video, before it stops automatically, so what you are seeing above is three separate clips combined. The good news is that it records audio pretty well, but the bad news is that there is a noticeable delay between pressing the button and the recording actually starting, so you can hear how my voice got cut-off at every attempt.
For the record, when I said in the video that my hand is really close to my face, I mean that it was just 5 centimeters away from my nose. That's insane . In the video, it looks as if I have my hand extended, but that was not the case at all. So imagine how high the FOV really is!
Regarding quality, thanks to videos being, well , in motion, it looks a bit better, but in reality, if you start examining the fine details, it won't take long for you to see that this isn't really usable footage.
The 15 second limitation is making me think of social media, as for example, Instagram stories are most often that specific length. The Xreal Eye, however, only records horizontal footage in the quality seen above. Would you upload this anywhere, or try to make a memory out of it? Because, again: you have your phone with you, remember? The Xreal One Pro is getting juice from it. So at this point, why not just use your phone? If you ask me, the Xreal Eye is, first and foremost, here to enable 6 DoF. Where that would be utilized, though, is beyond me, as there isn't really a companion app that you can use.
So your only option is the Xreal Beam Pro. Which, in turn, is an extra purchase, just like the Xreal Eye, both of which go on top of the already expensive Xreal One Pro kit. Hmm intensifies.
Sound quality
The Xreal One Pro's soundscape is created in collaboration with Bose. But don't get too excited about that.In terms of loudness: you'll be able to hear the tiny speakers on this thing just fine. But it won't be enough to drown out any external sounds, and it doesn't offer any extra features such as ANC (active noise cancelling). The soundscape itself, though, is pretty lacklustre. And the UI elements are confusing too by the way, as there is no indication for when you've reached max volume, for example.
It seemed to me like increasing volume only served to increase the highs in the mix. Regardless of what I tested these out with, mids were practically non-existent, and the bass range was more audible than felt.
And in case you are not an audiophile like me, this means that music felt a bit hollow and not lively, like you'd most like it prefer it to be.
Obviously, I wasn't expecting anything mind-blowing, but for the asking price, I think it was fair for me to hope for a better experience.
This could be you, but you don't own an Xreal Beam Pro. | Image by Xreal
Whatever the case, you must connect the Xreal One Pro (and Eye) to another device in order to use it. As with any other pair of glasses of this type, you have the usual options: PC or phone (or Switch, or Steam Deck: you know the drill). The great thing about this is that the Xreal One Pro is effectively a plug-and-play device, so you don't have to spend much time waiting. For the phone front: there is no official, one-for-all app that Xreal offers. If there is, it's not available on the international Play Store, and the paper inserts' QR codes do not take you to any sort of download link.They do, however, lead to another product page: that of the Xreal Beam Pro. This is where the One Pro gets unique, as Xreal offers their own mini-PC, which enables extra features. While that is the case, I didn't utilize the Beam Pro for the purposes of this review.And I'll tell you why: it's 2025. The Meta smart glasses exist, and Google teased a next-gen Glass successor. In this same reality, Xreal is still relying on an external power source, despite finally incorporating a processor into its flagship product. To top that all off, fans are expected to spend extra to get a legitimate smart experience? The math, simply put, does not check out on this one.
For the cumulative asking price, I'm just not seeing the benefits. I honestly expected the Xreal One Pro to be way more capable out of the box, and for the Eye to be able to — at the very least — rival the Meta Ray Ban specs. But that's simply not the case.
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