Replacing the monitors in my setup with a pair of smart glasses was not on my bingo card for 2023, but here I am sitting on a couch as I type this on a MacBook Air, wearing a pair of glasses. What began as an experiment to improve my handheld gaming experience has now become an obsession, and now I can’t put these AR glasses down. Using some smart glasses for gaming with Steam Deck was so fun that I wanted to attempt to use them as a replacement for my monitors. I gave it a shot, and it was surprisingly excellent.
I’ve been experimenting with these glasses for a while now, and I’ve been finding myself wearing them more and more frequently to work and play games on a bunch of virtual heads-up displays. The overall experience isn’t quite where I want it to be, but it works for my usage, and I only see it improving. But what is it like using a pair of glasses instead of monitors, and why is it even something you should bother with? I spent a week using the XREAL Air 2 and the Viture One to see if it’s worth it.
It’s like carrying a multi-monitor setup everywhere
Bet you can’t carry three monitors on your trip
The first thing on my list was to replace my still-excellent monitors with these glasses for a week for work. I have a MacBook Air M1, but the Retina display, as beautiful as it looks, simply doesn’t offer me enough screen real estate when I’m away from my desktop. I’m sure those who use a multi-monitor setup for work can understand how frustratingly limited a laptop display is. I do enjoy working on 16-inch laptops with 16:10 aspect ratio panels, but it’s not nearly as good as using multiple monitors.
Overall, I prefer XREAL’s Nebula software, which provides the necessary tools to set up the multi-monitor view I need. The Nebula software, as highlighted in my XREAL Air 2 review, works surprisingly well on macOS to enable the multi-monitor view for productivity tasks. I had my doubts at first about the practicality, but this particular Mac app offers a pretty good set of options to tweak your displays. You get to choose between a dual and a triple desktop mode, and they both include options that let you adjust the virtual screen’s distance from the eye, the size, and the display angle. It took some time for me to get used to the triple-display setup, but I am perfectly comfortable wearing these for work after a week of adjustment.
The trick is to get the eye-to-screen distance right based on the flexibility of your head movement, and you should be fine. I recommend starting with dual-desktop mode before jumping into the triple mode setup if you ever try this, so you don’t find it too overwhelming. You might feel fatigued due to the eye-to-display proximity, so take frequent breaks during your session. Continually staring at a bunch of monitors for 8–9 hours without breaks isn’t good anyway, so I’d say it’s no different from that.
I also used the XREAL Air 2 as my primary monitor when I moved my setup to a different room in my house. It took me a couple of days to get everything up and running as I wanted it, but the XREAL Air 2 never made me feel like I was missing out.
I’m not saying anyone should ditch their monitors in favor of smart glasses for work just yet. However, it’s possible to use them as a replacement if you don’t have enough space or the budget for a multiple-monitor setup. It’s also a great alternative to buying, say, a portable monitor for when you’re away from your main desktop setup. I know a few people in my circle who are constantly on the move for work, and I am sure they’d appreciate having something like this.
Carrying as many as three displays in a pocket or backpack feels like nothing less than a superpower. The fact that I can access virtual monitors for an expansive multi-monitor setup anywhere is a win. I also love that it only takes a single USB-C cable for connection, so I don’t have to worry about carrying dongles or hubs to connect to multiple monitors. And it’s perfectly usable with MacBook Air models that only have two USB-C ports, as long as you don’t have a bunch of peripherals.
Good for more than just handheld gaming
I also spend a lot of time gaming and watching movies and other media on my desk, so replacing my monitors meant these glasses had to be good enough to handle all of that. This is where things got a bit sketchy. I made a few adjustments to get a good experience.
First, there’s no seamless and easy way to connect the glasses to something like the PlayStation 5 console. The XREAL Air 2 and the Viture XR — two of the best smart glasses for gaming — force you to rely on additional accessories to establish a connection. I was able to get it up and running with the XREAL Beam and the Viture Neckband, but the overall experience is not nearly as seamless as plugging in the glasses and using software to set things up.
Notably, neither of these glasses handle high refresh-rate gaming, so you’re limited to just 120Hz and 60Hz refresh rates with the XREAL Air 2 and the Viture XR, respectively. That wasn’t necessarily a deal-breaker for the games I enjoy playing, but it’s something to keep in mind. I was able to get a solid experience eventually, but there’s plenty of room for improvement here regarding the connection and the setup process for gaming.
Spider-Man 2 as seen through XREAL Air 2 glasses.
Both glasses mirrored my PC’s screen over a USB-C connection, so I could jump into pretty much any of my favorite titles from the Steam library. Of course, I could’ve just used my Steam Deck, too, but I wanted to test how the glasses handled demanding titles. I am happy to report that I got through most of my Alan Wake 2 playthrough on XREAL Air 2, which was paired with an Alienware m16 R1, and it was a great experience. Between that and Viture’s Neckband accessory, which enables remote gaming with apps like PS Play and Moonlight. I can now play my favorite games from two of my go-to gaming platforms anytime from the comfort of my bed.
I also have to admit that XREAL Air 2 and Viture XR have almost entirely replaced the TV for me. It’s been a while since I’ve actually switched on the TV in my room. I use these glasses to watch videos in my room, be it a movie, a UFC fight, or just a random playlist on YouTube. Even the best TVs out there don’t come close to matching the immersion level I receive with a personal display, complete with audio that’s loud and clear enough in a quiet room at night.
They’re lightweight and comfortable
Very easy to carry around
I got used to wearing these glasses for long durations without much of an issue. Unlike some old smart glasses with thick and heavy designs, these newer options are very lightweight and comfortable to wear. The XREAL Air 2 and the Viture XR glasses only weigh 72 and 78 grams, respectively, which isn’t all that heavy when you compare them to your regular pair of glasses. You don’t need to wear your prescription glasses with these either, as the Viture XR comes with a slider at the top of the frame that can adjust for myopia, while the XREAL Air 2 lets you add a prescription lens directly to it with an attachment.
Both glasses are on the bigger side, but I’ve had absolutely no issues keeping them on during work, turning my head to look at different monitors, or while gaming. They also come with soft and adjustable nose pads, so they sit comfortably without applying any pressure. The stem/arms of these glasses are also light and flexible, which adds to their easy wear. I was a bit skeptical about using these glasses as I hate wearing headsets for long durations, but they never felt uncomfortable.
Would you make the switch?
I wasn’t expecting smart glasses to make a comeback in 2023, let alone start using them daily. I’m still not comfortable recommending these as total alternatives to monitors or TVs, but I am very pleased and, quite frankly, surprised by how these initial offerings work. I see these glasses and XR headsets improving in 2024. I also have my eyes set on Apple’s Vision Pro headset, which seems like a more refined version of the glasses I’ve used so far. My colleague Ben Sin had plenty of good things to say about the Vision Pro headset, and I can’t wait to see what Apple has in store for us.
All things considered, I enjoyed using these smart glasses daily and envision adding them to my everyday carry when I’m on the move. They may not be fully ready to replace gaming monitors just yet due to shortcomings like the lack of support for high refresh rates and low-latency gaming, but who knows what’s in store for us in the future. We’ve come a long way from the early versions of these glasses, and they’ll only get better with more polished software and other hardware improvements.