My dream pair of AR gaming glasses needs to have these nine features

I’ve spent several months testing the latest AR glasses from Xreal and Viture in the lab. By “lab” I mean the place where I sit comfortably on my couch every night playing my Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch 2 on a giant, virtual screen that only I can see through these glasses.

Using AR glasses as portable displays for your handheld (and other USB-C devices like phones, tablets, and laptops) is nothing new. However, there is one must-have common feature in the latest versions: three degrees of freedom, or 3DoF, which lets you anchor the screen wherever you want, rather than having it shake nauseatingly with every head movement. This would make AR glasses not worth their $400-plus cost for most gamers. But it makes them more useful if you travel a lot, or if you want a more ergonomic handheld setup.

I tested three popular models – Xreal’s $449 1S, its $649 One Pro, and Witcher’s $549 beast – and there’s no best pair that everyone should buy. Each does some things well and some things not so well, leaving me with no other choice but to list the ingredients that could make a perfect pair of AR glasses for gaming.

The comfort, sound quality and ease of use of Xreal glasses

All of these AR glasses are heavier and thicker than regular glasses, but Xreal’s 1S glasses are the lightest model of the group. On my kitchen scale, they weigh 85 grams (for comparison, the One Pro glasses weigh 91 grams, while the Witcher Beast glasses weigh 96 grams). One small thing that’s actually a big deal is that they (as well as the One Pro) have more weight distribution and thinner temple arms than the Witcher Beast, which helps me feel less pressure on my ears. It’s great that Xreal’s most affordable AR glasses are just as comfortable as its most expensive pair.

The 1S and One Pro glasses offer better-sounding audio through their temple arms than Witcher’s latest glasses. The Xreal’s audio is tuned by Bose, and the glasses have balanced audio with surprisingly good low-end performance. The Witcher is tuned by Harman, and the Beast specs pack quite a bit of oomph, with more emphasis on the mids and highs. Music, movies and games are all more fun to listen to with Xreal glasses, even at low volumes.

The 1S and One Pro glasses have fewer buttons than the Witcher glasses, which reduces the learning curve. Xreal’s glasses have a total of four buttons, all of which are on his right temple arm. To be honest, it takes a while to learn the button layout of all AR glasses. But the Beast has a total of six on both temple arms, two of which are one-button rockers dedicated solely to adjusting the opacity of its electrochromic lenses – that’s a lot.

Improved contrast and clarity of the Witcher Beast glasses

The three pairs of AR glasses I tested use the same Sony micro-OLED screens, but the Witcher glasses are my favorite when it comes to displaying games with the same rich contrast, inky blacks, and bright highlights as would appear on the OLED TV in my living room. Equally important, the picture quality looks great no matter where you use these glasses because their optics cut down on reflections (though, they’re not “4K-like”, as Witcher misleadingly advertises). The

Unfortunately, the Xreal 1S’s biggest weakness is reflections. Bright rooms expose their OLEDs to crushed blacks, making them look like LCDs in these scenarios. They can produce a good image in low-light scenarios, although content appears blurry through them compared to other glasses.

Excellent fit and finish of Xreal glasses

Xreal is unmatched when it comes to build quality, and its $449 1S feels just as high-end as its pricier One Pro. Both pairs have flimsy metal hinge mechanisms that prevent their temple arms from accidentally opening (the ones on the Witcher’s Beast open quickly and look cheap). Plus, Xreal’s glasses look more like real sunglasses than the Beast glasses (Witcher can’t resist going with a slightly gamer-y look that you’ll either love or hate, although the Beast glasses look more sophisticated than its Luma series). Yes, these features are indistinguishable once they’re on my face, but given their high cost they’re worth considering.

The user experience has been further enhanced with Xreal glasses. My Steam Deck and phone are a few seconds faster to connect than the Xreal 1S and One Pro, and as mentioned earlier, the learning curve is shorter. Xreal also currently has a better 3DoF implementation as the screen remains stable even when anchored. With the Witcher Beast glasses, the “anchored” screen moves, slowly sliding out of view. That’s a deal-breaker.

Xreal’s Real3D feature, which is better than I expected (by a small amount)

The Xreal glasses with the X1 chip (which were launched in the last two or so years) now feature Real 3D. This mode can convert 2D content to 3D, and has a multi-step software slider to enhance the effect. I enjoyed using its lightest conversion setting more than I expected.

The 3D effect isn’t as pronounced as the Nintendo 3DS’s 3D effect, but the subtle improvements are easy to notice. This works especially well in games that don’t require very fast movement.

witcher switch 2 compatibility

Unfortunately, no AR glasses can connect to the Switch 2 with a single USB-C cable (blame Nintendo). You need a compatible dock, one of which doesn’t exist just for Xreal glasses owners. The company canceled its Neo charging dock announced at CES 2026 due to reliability concerns (the unit they sent me for testing still works great with my console). So, people with Xreal Glasses and a Switch 2 will need a different accessory to play.

This is easy if you have the Witcher glasses, but not exactly economical. Witcher makes a $130 Pro Mobile Dock that works perfectly with the Switch 2 for the Beast. This dock doubles as a 13,000mAh battery so you can charge while you game. If the Switch 2 isn’t your thing, the dock has a full HDMI port, letting you view the console’s video feed within your glasses. Video passthrough also works for Xreal glasses, but audio doesn’t work well enough for me to recommend it.

Photography by Cameron Faulkner/The Verge