The mixed reality headsets from Apple and Meta are intended to be the digital experiences of the future. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in particular has repeatedly attracted attention through his public contributions on this topic. Now, however, the US tech giants are confronted with Chinese competitor Xreal and its new VR glasses.
• Xreal: Chinese alternative to Apple and Meta
• New generation with improved functions
• Good prospects for the future of augmented reality
Mixed reality headsets: new competition for Apple and Meta
Competition for the mixed reality headset market is in full swing. Currently, the flagships of the US tech giants Apple with the Apple Vision Pro and Meta with the Meta Quest are particularly well known. However, some people may also remember the price. Although the Apple Vision Pro impressed when it was introduced, it is being offered for $3,500. The Meta Quest 3, on the other hand, is already available for $500, as gamestar.de reports.
Apple and Meta now face new competition, especially in the price and comfort categories. The Chinese company Xreal, according to the American business and financial news channel CNBC, is bringing a new generation of augmented reality glasses onto the market. These are not only more cost-effective, but also significantly easier to wear than the large headsets from the US competition.
Xreal Air 2 and Xreal Air 2 Pro: New generation in focus
The online portal beyondpixels.at reports that Xreal has been offering significantly smaller augmented reality glasses than the models from Apple and Meta since 2021. The new generation, Xreal Air 2 and Xreal Air 2 Pro, are expected to be available in the United States, United Kingdom and some European markets during November 2023, following the successful launch in China. According to beyondpixels.at, the new generation products will be 10 percent thinner and lighter than their predecessor models. This difference is likely to have a particularly positive effect on wearing comfort.
In addition, the company’s new models have integrated an adjustable immersion level from zero to 100 percent. This setting indicates how intensively users immerse themselves in virtual reality, i.e. how strongly they perceive it. The new generation devices offer a Full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels per eye and a refresh rate of 120 Hz. The brightness has been increased from 400 nits to 500 nits. In the Pro version, the audio system has also been improved to minimize sound loss, and the quality of voice and video calls has also been increased. The Xreal Air 2 Pro also offers users the option of unblocking external light, meaning the glasses can also be worn in “normal” mode. In productivity mode, 35 percent of outside light is blocked to improve concentration, as beyondpixels.at reports.
In addition, the portal explains that the new Xreal glasses are less intended for access to metaverses and more for simple entertainment, such as low-resource games, YouTube videos and films. According to CNBC, both glasses are priced lower than the competition at $399 and $499 respectively. However, which experience users prefer remains to be seen.
Looking into the future: Forecasts seem promising
By May 2023, Xreal had already sold 150,000 glasses, as the portal reported. There are now 250,000 pieces. Peng Jin is one of the founders and told CNBC that the company plans to sell over a million units annually in the next two to three years.
The International Data Corporation (IDC) states that sales of VR glasses fell by 44.6 percent at the beginning of 2023 compared to the previous year. However, the market research company expects sales figures to increase by around 46.8 percent in 2024. The current estimate is 30.3 million units sold by 2027. The increasing sales figures and the forecasts for the coming years indicate a promising development in the industry.
Editorial team finanzen.net
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