Even before Apple announced it was entering the space early next year, augmented reality eyewear has been a growing segment in the consumer tech space, with brands like XReal, Rokid, TCL, Lenovo, and Razer all launching versions in recent years. Now that Apple is officially on board with the Vision Pro, many consumer tech brands will pivot even harder into this space — with the XR (extended reality) acronym instead of AR. No matter which phrasing you prefer to use, these glasses all do a similar thing: project a virtual screen onto the real world.

One of these newcomers is Viture, which makes some of the most feature-packed AR/XR glasses I've tested yet. They're able to use three degrees of freedom (3DoF) head-tracking, can darken the lenses automatically, and all with a robust app that actually works. Best of all, because the iPhone 15 series has made the switch to USB-C, the Viture One can connect to new iPhones without any dongles or accessories.

About this review: Viture sent XDA a pair of One glasses for testing. The company had no input in this review.

Pricing and availability

The Viture One is available for purchase now from the company's official website. The glasses are priced at $439 as a standalone product or can be bundled with accessories like a mobile dock that can connect to a Nintendo Switch (as well as add co-op capabilities for both the Switch and Steam Deck) for $568.

Hardware and design

More premium and feature-packed than its rivals

I've tested almost every pair of consumer-grade AR/XR glasses released over the last few years, and the Viture One is fundamentally similar to the rest. They're a pair of glasses with two micro-OLED screens inside the lenses that project visuals in front of the wearer's eyes using "bird-bath optics" (meaning the display isn't pointed at the eyes but rather reflected via a series of prisms).

However, they stand out from the rest thanks to their more premium construction. While most of the material is still plastic, the hinge area where the arms meet the frames is reinforced with aluminum casing, which makes the arms feel less flimsy when opening or closing. At 78 grams, the glasses are light enough, and the removable nose piece can be swapped with three other sizes, so most people should be able to find the best fit.

The displays pump out visuals equal to a 120-inch screen placed about 8–10 feet away. Going by numbers, this sounds much smaller than rival glasses like the Rokid Max, which can produce a 215-inch screen. But with AR/XR glasses, these numbers can be misleading. The Rokid Max's screen, for example, is advertised to simulate being about 20 feet away. Once you factor in the distance, the screen sizes are very similar, though the Rokid Max's virtual screen is still marginally larger.

Visuals projected by the Viture One are in 1080p resolution with a 60Hz refresh rate, and they look quite sharp. Like other glasses, the projected visual sits over the real world but is transparent enough that you can see through. The images above give you an idea of how the screen looks, but in real life, the display looks much sharper than what the image depicts.

There are times when you don't want the screen to be semi-transparent, like when you're watching a movie and don't want distractions. With other glasses, the solution is to apply a plastic lens cap to physically block out the outside. Viture goes with a more futuristic approach: electrochromic glass that switches to a darker shade with the press of a button.

The only other time I've seen this tech applied to AR/XR glasses was in Xiaomi's prototype, which isn't ready for commercial release yet. Once the lens is darkened, the screen feels more immersive, as if it's being projected into black space.

Another feature these glasses offer that I haven't seen on other options is on-device 3DoF head tracking. This means the glasses can "pin" the screen onto a portion of the real-world space relative to your head, so you can move your head around to look at your surroundings while the virtual screen stays in one place. Other classes like the XReal Air can do this only with an accessory, which requires an additional purchase. Activating 3DoF requires triple-pressing the same action button that toggles the electrochromic film, although I found that action sometimes tricky to pull off.

The Viture One doesn't have internal storage or a processor, so it needs to be connected to a source device via a USB-C cable. Unfortunately, the end of the cable that connects to the glasses uses Viture's proprietary magnetic pogo pins. I'd rather have a USB-C to USB-C connection like with XReal or Rokid's glasses.

I'm also impressed with the audio quality, tuned in collaboration with Harmon Kardon and pumped out via relatively large speaker grills on the top of each arm. The audio sounds a bit louder and fuller than most other glasses I've tested. This does result in more audio leakage, but you can always pair the source device to wireless earbuds or headphones for total privacy.

In terms of hardware, the Viture One are clearly ahead of its contemporaries that I've tested so far, thanks to the electrochromic film, sturdier hinge, and 3DoF capabilities. There are other accessories, including a mobile dock that allows the glasses to connect to the Nintendo Switch. The dock has a second port for another pair of AR glasses, so two people can play co-op. I don't own a Nintendo Switch, so I was unable to test it.

Software

An AR app that actually works

One of the complaints I've had about other AR glasses is that they're ultimately just a wearable display that mirrors whatever is on my phone or computer. They'll have software or an app that's half-baked or doesn't work at all. Viture did a better job here, too, at least on the iPhone. Viture has a companion app named Spacewalker that's available only on iOS, and it projects a virtual UI that looks similar to the promotional image above, though the screens are in smaller sizes.

The UI shows multiple windows in front of my face, and they're wide enough that I have to either turn my head slightly or use the phone screen as a touchpad to navigate. I can even use the iPhone as a laser pointer and text input device. The experience isn't flawless — the app has crashed on me a couple of times — but it's much smoother than anything I've tested aside from Apple's Vision Pro, which costs six times as much and isn't out yet.

The UI has a native web browser in the middle and widgets on the left and right. The left widgets display weather and news information from a source of your choice, and the widgets on the right can jump directly to web versions of YouTube and Google Drive, provided your phone is signed in to a Google account. I have spent a few hours watching YouTube and reading articles on the UI, and everything behaves as it should. On a recent long bus ride, I had a YouTube video playing on the side while scrolling through the app formerly known as Twitter on another window.

I did have to actually move my head left and right to focus on each window, and sure, I could only do this for about 20 minutes before my eyes started feeling the strain, but these are the first consumer-grade AR glasses I've tested to truly augment reality in a manner that works. I wish I could take photos of the UI, but it's impossible for a single person to stick a camera behind the glasses and keep the focus on the projected screen while also controlling the UI on the iPhone app. You'll just have to take my word for it.

Should you buy the Viture One?

You should buy the Viture One if:

• You are interested in this burgeoning product category and have the money to spare
• You want a private screen for watching movies and playing games
• You travel a lot and want a large, portable screen

You should not buy the Viture One if:

• You want AR glasses with the largest screen possible
• You prefer to do most of your content consumption on a larger screen at home
• You have the extra cash and patience to wait for the Vision Pro

The Viture One are the most capable pair of AR/XR glasses I've tested yet, and it comes down to native 3DoF capabilities and a superior app. However, if I'm just wearing the glasses to watch movies, then the Rokid Max's screen is still a bit bigger, which makes the experience more immersive. The XReal Air, while not as capable as the Viture One, are also about $70 cheaper, which is not a small amount (though rumors say an updated sequel is coming soon). As I said at the beginning, many consumer tech brands see smart eyewear as the next evolution of computing products, so expect many more glasses like this coming soon. But for now, the Viture One offer one of the most complete packages.