The brightest XR glasses are one of the best for Steam Deck gaming.
2023 has been a huge year for improvements in gaming hardware, as I predicted in January. While the PSVR2 and Quest 3 are taking virtual reality to brave new places, handheld streaming consoles like the PlayStation Portal and Razer Edge have introduced new methods to play games. XR glasses, wearable screens that let you watch and play on huge 200" panels that only you can view, are possibly my favourite new category of technology. I've had the opportunity to try products from all of the big rivals in the XR market, and although they all please me for various reasons, the RayNeo Air 2 is the one that, at least cosmetically, has the most wowing.
The Nxtwear and RayNeo lines from TCL have been iterating with XR glasses for some time, and the RayNeo Air 2 is the company's lightest, brightest, and most game-centric frame to date. For incredibly clear, high-performance gaming, the 76g glasses have dual tiny OLED screens that replicate a 201" panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate. The Air 2 offers by far the finest image quality of the three frames I've tried, but sadly almost every other aspect of it falls short of the competition.
There are advantages and disadvantages to the Air 2's simple design among XR glasses. The only controls on the frame are a brightness control and a volume control. Depending on how long you hold down the buttons, these controls can do a variety of different tasks, including 3D and a discrete mode for more private listening (more on that later). Because there are no additional nose pieces for various sizes, you must just bend the nose pads into shape, which made me nervous that I would break them. I like how easily the glasses can be adjusted, even if it require a lot of force and sounds a little unnervingly like plastic breaking. The arms themselves can also be angled up and down to get the perfect fit. I wish the Viture One XR glasses could be adjusted this easily.
The Air 2 only has those features to offer. Like previous XR glasses, these don't have a shade to cover the lenses, and there is no multi-stage electrochromic dimming on the lenses either. Fortunately, my fears about the darkness of the glasses not being sufficient without some additional tint proved unwarranted. Thanks to the 600-nit display, I had no trouble viewing the image well even in the brightest settings. These pups are obscenely bright; they are far brighter than any other types I've tried, which necessitates additional shading to be comfortable during the day. I already misplaced one of the One XR's shade covers, thus I believe this strategy is preferable.
A simple USB-C cable is used to connect the glasses straight to your phone, tablet, or Steam Deck from the rear of your right arm. I was astounded by the image quality as soon as I put them on. After experimenting with other XR glasses, it became evident that the Air 2s offered a completely different visual experience. Even on the darkest settings, the image has great colour clarity, and despite only displaying in 1080p, there is no screen door effect. As with all the XRs I've tested, they do tend to crush the blacks, but I didn't notice any of the distracting colour banding that typically occurs in dim lighting. The Air 2s, in my opinion, are the ones to beat if having the highest image quality possible is your top goal.
The good things I can say about these glasses stop there, though. I regret to inform you that the audio quality is terrible. Even at maximum volume, every game I tested on the Steam Deck was just too quiet. The background noise was completely removed, yet I could still hear things like conversation, gunfire, and activities near me. There is so much you can't hear while wearing them normally, and you can tell how much of the soundscape you're losing if you cup your ears to funnel the sound back towards you. The audio just becomes muffled and softer in the discrete mode.
The issue with testing videos on Netflix and YouTube was the opposite. A loud enough audio track will utterly destroy the headset speakers, making them shake and sound bad in general. I am aware that there isn't much room inside for powerful speakers, but the audio coming from the Air 2 is essentially useless.
There are currently several XR limits, and each brand has come up with a unique solution to deal with them. The Switch is still the most widely used mobile console, but a converter is needed because its USB-C connector lacks video. TCL's solution is a docking station for your Switch and your glasses called a JoyDock, which is battery-operated.
Instead of giving me a JoyDock to try, the Miracast Portable Adapter was the item that I received. In order to use your phone while wearing the glasses, this portable power bank connects to your phone and has charge passthrough functionality. Using the magnetic mounting bracket that is provided, you may attach it to the back of your phone and use it as a wallet. The style is rather elegant, however, the adapter doesn't function in my tests on two different tablets and a Samsung phone.
TCL's portable adapter requires you to download a Miracast app; it is not plug-and-play. When everything is hooked in, the glasses only show a screen that says "Please connect your phone or tablet" because the app didn't function on any of the connected devices. I'm not clear why a Miracast app is necessary here when putting the glasses directly into your phone works just fine and doesn't require the download of any apps like Virtue's dock does for all devices.
The Air 2's portability is severely hampered by the need for various peripherals, especially when the Miracast software doesn't function at all. The early bird special price of $299 is much less than the other XR glasses I've tested, but the trade-offs simply aren't worth it. The XR market has potential for an entry-level product, but the RayNeo Air 2 would need to be much less expensive to make up for the compromises in sound quality and device compatibility.
With that said, I'm excited to see TCL develop XR further, especially with picture quality this good. On the official RayNeo Air 2 XR Glasses website, you can learn more about the frames and sign up to receive notifications when they go on sale on Amazon. The JoyDock is also given away for free to the first 100 clients. You should buy some excellent earbuds with the money you save because you'll need them.
.jpeg)
