Kerry Wan/KeynoteUSA
What is the deal?
The Viture One XR glasses are discounted up to $299 ($140 off) during Amazon Prime Day 2024.
KeynoteUSA’s key findings
- I would recommend the Viture One XR glasses to traveling professionals, gamers, and those who want a more private yet accessible viewing experience.
- They are quite reasonably priced, retailing for $439, and offer myopia adjustment dials for better clarity.
- Still, expect to see some blurry edges when looking at the 120-inch virtual display.
As I head toward the back of the bus, I pull out what looks like a regular pair of sunglasses (with only slightly thicker frames), plug their MagSafe-style power adapter into my MacBook, sit back, and start clicking, dragging, scrolling, and typing.
This almost sounds like the Vision Pro dream that many will soon be able to experience, but it’s achieved through a $300 wearable device, not a heavy, head-mounted headset that costs an arm and a leg.
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From an observer’s point of view, I look like the mightiest of keyboard warriors, churning out vast amounts of text without ever needing to look at my laptop’s QWERTY keyboard. From my vantage point, I’m staring at a 120-inch screen projected two feet in front of me thanks to a meticulous arrangement of lights and mirrors inside the Viture One XR glasses.
See on Amazon
Rather than transporting you into a virtual or augmented reality like Apple’s Vision Pro, the Viture glasses simply extend from and draw power from the source they’re connected to, functioning as an ultraportable monitor that sits on your face. To be clear, comparing the XR Glasses to a $3,500 productivity wearable is an apples-to-oranges comparison. Unless you consider yourself an early adopter, the target customers for the two devices are notably different.
Viture is pitching its glasses to people who want to play games, watch movies or browse the internet without needing to physically be in front of a TV or office desk. The glasses’ 120-inch projection is best suited to people who prefer to binge-watch series while in bed or on a flight and seek privacy when using a phone, tablet or laptop. But the overlap in use cases is striking, and not unintentional.
Also: I’ve tried the Vision Pro and other premium XR headsets and this is the one most people should buy.
My use case falls right in the middle: I want a larger platform to write news and reviews and answer secret emails while sitting in the imaginary comfort of public transportation. The glasses are also handy for when your partner wants to watch The Bachelor on the living room TV, but you’re more interested in the combination of basketball and competitive spirit.
A mock-up of what it looks like to wear the Viture glasses.
Kerry Wan/KeynoteUSA
Thanks to the single USB-C cable needed to power the device, I can easily pair the Viture glasses with my MacBook or my Android phone. Bonus points if the latter is a Samsung Galaxy that supports DeX mode or a Motorola phone that supports Ready For; on those two platforms, you’ll be greeted by a desktop interface with your usual mobile apps and services.
Also: I tried Xreal’s AR glasses for spatial computing and they are better than I expected.
This is the standout feature of the Viture glasses: support for space video, the same 3D playback capability found on the Vision Pro. While an adapter is required for the glasses to pair with an iPhone, the company has developed a new SpaceWalker app on iOS that lets users watch space videos shot on an iPhone 15 Pro or Vision Pro. I played back a couple of clips I had previously saved for Apple’s glasses, and reliving those moments with such depth and realism was quite eye-opening.
Of course, there is no spatial video quality standard to compare to, but from what I saw, the essence of the format was there. I could see the separation between subjects in the videos, and that remained consistent as long as my camera was well distanced and focused.
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You can also watch 3D videos and movies with the Viture One XR glasses.
Kerry Wan/KeynoteUSA
As for the viewing experience of the glasses, it’s adequate, but nothing groundbreaking. For prescription glasses wearers like me, there are two myopia-friendly rotating knobs (like focus dials) on the top of the Viture One that can be adjusted to your vision. That means you don’t have to, and shouldn’t, wear the XR glasses over your current pair. You also don’t need to shell out $150 for custom-made prescription lenses like you would with the Vision Pro.
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I found the best way to calibrate it was to keep the opposite eye closed while adjusting each side. Finding the perfect focus takes some trial and error, though, and even when you think you’ve hit the right distance, the corners and edges of the 120-inch projection will still be blurry.
This seems to be unavoidable because of how large and close the projections are to the eyes. For example, if you hold an object an inch from your eyes, you will notice how difficult it is to focus on.
Still, Viture has integrated some clever mechanisms with the lenses, such as an auto-darkening electrochromic film that you can turn on or off depending on the brightness of your surroundings. It’s basically a built-in projector screen, and it’s a great help when you’re wearing the glasses outdoors.
My best attempt at capturing what is shown when wearing the glasses.
Kerry Wan/KeynoteUSA
Viture partnered with Harman to develop and tune the wearable’s side-firing speakers, and I’m impressed. They remind me a lot of bone conduction headphones, where audio is transmitted through the side of your head to your ears. Because the speakers are resting on your body, no one but the wearer can hear the audio output, reinforcing the company’s privacy goal.
Perhaps the biggest question with these wearables is whether or not they cause dizziness and vertigo symptoms. In my experience, which includes sessions of one to two hours, I never felt any discomfort when wearing the glasses.
Also: Apple Vision Pro review: Fascinating, flawed, and 5 things it needs to fix
I attribute this to two factors: the lightness of the device compared to traditional headsets and the user’s ability to maintain spatial awareness. Remember that the glasses are not a stand-alone device with its own operating system. They are simply an external monitor redesigned to fit in a pocket. And thanks to the transparency of the lenses, you will never have the sensation of being immersed in another reality when wearing them.
KeynoteUSA’s buying advice
At the time of writing, the Viture One XR headset retails for $299, and that includes the power adapter, a carrying case, and nose pads at varying heights. For the price, I’d recommend these to traveling professionals, gamers, and those who want a more private yet accessible viewing experience. The Viture One XR headset won’t outperform the Meta Quest 3 or Apple Vision Pro, but it brings enough to the table to alleviate any FOMO you might have as more expensive headsets come to market.
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