Introduction
RayNeo is likely one of the main gamers within the AR glasses house. The model belongs to the TCL household and its Air 2s glasses we’re taking a look at right now are an iterative replace over the RayNeo Air 2 with a lot of the identical base specs.
Earlier than we begin we should always in all probability clear up some terminology right here and clarify what the RayNeo Air 2s glasses really do. You would possibly discover them being marketed as XR glasses, which stands for Prolonged Actuality and is definitely an umbrella time period that encompasses all VR (Digital Actuality), AR (Augmented Actuality) and MR (Blended Actuality) merchandise. At their core, the RayNeo Air 2s are kind of a conveyable, wearable show. There isn’t any precise computing on board, however there are some sensors, together with accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer and proximity sensor.
The RayNeo Air 2s has a complete set of latest non-compulsory equipment, together with the Pocket TV, which we even have in our overview package. It’s really a full-fledged Google TV companion machine that brings much-needed smarts to the RayNeo Air 2s. We might be going over the Pocket TV as nicely.
RayNeo Air 2s at a look:
- Dimensions: 6.9 x 6.07 x 1.86 in (175 x 154 x 47 mm), 78 grams (with out Kind-C cable connected). 3-position vertical adjustment for gaze angle, 30-degree adjustable angle vary hinges, 3-level nostril pad adjustment.
- Optical parameters: Two Micro-OLED Shows with 1920 x 1080 pixel decision in 2D mode, 3840 x 1080 pixels in 3D mode, 46-degree FoV optics, as much as 120Hz, 8-bit coloration, 108% sRGB, as much as 600 nits perceived brightness (5,000 nits show brightness), 10-level brightness adjustment, efficient display dimension: as much as 201-inches, projected 6 meters away.
- Audio: 4 speaker design with two openings on every arm.
- I/O:USB Kind-C port for energy and video over USB Kind-C alt mode Show Port, menu button and quantity rocker on the left aspect, brightness rocker on the best aspect.
- Different options:Accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, proximity/put on sensor, 3 DoF head monitoring, myopia attachable body and extra nostril clips within the field.
As talked about, the RayNeo Air 2s and RayNeo Air 2 are very comparable gadgets. Each appear to nonetheless be promoting from the official retailer concurrently. Characteristic-wise, the 2 are an identical and the RayNeo Air 2 glasses are even a bit lighter at 76 grams. Nonetheless the S model brings a brand new design, specifically a extra snug weight stability, serving to with extended carrying. The brand new weight distribution is 46.7% to 53.3%. The clamping power of the arms has been diminished by 15% for enhanced consolation as nicely.
Unboxing
The RayNeo Air 2s glasses are available in a wealthy retail bundle. They ship in a fairly large field that’s thick and properly protecting. Past the glasses, the bundle additionally accommodates a pleasant thick USB Kind-C to Kind-C cable, angled on one finish for a extra handy operation.
RayNeo additionally gives a carrying case for the glasses. It’s high-quality and really sturdy, with a zipper and tender velvet on the within. There may be sufficient house within the field for the glasses and the USB cable, which covers the fundamentals required to run the glasses.
Additionally within the field, we discovered an extra nostril pad, insert templates for prescription lenses and a microfiber cleansing fabric.
{Hardware}, options and controls
The RayNeo Air 2s glasses have this Ray-ban-reminiscent design, which is definately a very good factor. Nonetheless, the entrance semi-transparent darkened shade isn’t detachable, however since we by no means discovered a state of affairs the place we’d quite have extra transparency it is not a serious omission.
The glasses weigh 78 grams, which isn’t the lightest for XR glasses however is way from heavy. As talked about, one of many main upgrades to the Air 2s is the improved 46.7% to 53.3% weight distribution. In observe, we comfortably wore the glasses for a few hours at a time, sufficient to observe a film. The primary discomfort we felt was to the nostril bridge, which is comprehensible. Nonetheless, the almost good half-and-half weight distribution helps lots, and we now have to say that the RayNeo Air 2s are a number of the most snug XR glasses we now have examined. The diminished clamping power of the arms helps as nicely.
The 175 x 154 x 47 mm dimensions of the glasses are affordable. Positive, you will by no means fairly look or really feel such as you simply have common glasses on, even chunky ones, however we nonetheless assume TCL did an excellent job protecting issues as slim and compact as present tech permits.
The RayNeo Air 2s glasses supply loads of changes. You possibly can modify the place of the nostril pad by pulling it out or pushing it in. There are three positions accessible. It’s also possible to swap the default nostril pad, which is marked as a “medium,” with the included “large” one if that’s extra snug for you personally. Each nostril pads have loads of padding and air and are nicely designed to deal with the load of the glasses.
Since, like every other XR glasses, the Air 2s depend on angled projection to get the picture in entrance of your eyes, vertical alignment will all the time be considerably of a difficulty. In an effort to handle this, Air 2s glasses supply vertical angle adjustment for the arms. You get three positions to experiment with to suit the picture full in your aircraft of view.
The RayNeo Air 2s glasses should all the time be connected to the USB Kind-C cable by way of the tip of the best arm. The glasses themselves haven’t any computing or precise energy, for that matter. All of it comes via the USB port, so you’ll be able to’t realistically anticipate to be very “stealthy” whereas really utilizing the machine. The USB Kind-C to Kind-C cable supplied within the field is angled on one finish to suit extra snugly on the glasses. You need to use any first rate cable of your personal, however the supplied one is fairly nice. It’s tender and versatile, but very sturdy, with out being too thick. It by no means will get in your manner whereas carrying the glasses.
We admire the Kind-C connector and its stable bodily connection. There may be just about no probability of by chance yanking the cable out of the glasses. Nonetheless, that additionally signifies that when you occur to get entangled, you might be more likely to yank the glasses themselves off of your face. A magnetic connector would in all probability be higher on this regard.
As for cable size, we by no means wanted greater than the supplied one supplied. It’s lengthy sufficient to be snug whereas sitting in entrance of a tool or holding it in your lap, and it even reaches most pant pockets when you actually really feel like strolling with the glasses on.
RayNeo is especially happy with the speaker system on the Air 2s glasses. There are 4 audio system in complete on the glasses – two on the left arm and two on the best. Output grills are pointing up and down.
TCL says that the audio system convey a 100% quantity enhance. We discovered the audio system fairly enough, however nothing to cellphone residence about. Mids come via sounding fairly clear, which is vital for issues like dialogue. Highs continuously get distorted at greater volumes, and there’s barely any bass.
You in all probability will not need to crank the audio system too excessive since they’ll get uncomfortable listening to and probably hassle any close by folks. Having mentioned that, the Air 2s glasses have one thing referred to as Whisper Mode 2.0. It guarantees that there might be no sound leakage at 20cm distance from the audio system, even at 50% quantity.
You aren’t getting many precise bodily controls on the Air 2s. There isn’t any myopia adjustment or something of the kind. The one option to dial in focus is thru bodily adjusting the glasses in your face. You do nonetheless get a quantity rocker and a multifunctional practical button on one of many arms and a brightness rocker on the opposite.
The rockers and buttons are fairly small however completely practical, clicky, and have properly tactile suggestions. We now have no complaints there.
The one different seen I/O on the glasses is the wear and tear sensor above the nostril pads. It really works fairly nicely, and we now have no complaints about it persistently.
Modes of operation and options
The RayNeo Air 2s glasses work straight with nearly each machine that helps DP output over USB Kind-C Alt mode. There are two non-compulsory adapters for further connectivity choices. One is known as the “adapter,” receiving and changing wi-fi casting alerts into the glasses. It’s significantly suited to Apple and different non-DP gadgets. RayNeo additionally gives an “HDMI” adapter. That merely takes in an HDMI sign from one thing like a recreation console, converts it, and sends it to the glasses. This one is wired. There may be additionally the RayNeo “JoyDock” that’s particularly meant to work with the Nintendo Swap. It replaces the Swap’s default dock and has an onboard battery to delay gaming periods.
Then there’s the RayNeo “Pocket TV”, which we do have within the workplace alongside the glasses and might be taking a more in-depth take a look at in a bit. Merely put, it’s a standalone machine working Google TV that’s meant to hook as much as the glasses.
The RayNeo Air 2s have one “primary” mode of operation. You simply hook them to a supply and get a static picture projection in entrance of you (one thing like 130 inches at a perceived distance of round 4 meters). The picture “follows” your head actions, although with none monitoring. It simply stays centered in your line of sight.
Then there’s the RayNeo XR Android app. You will get it on the Google Play Retailer solely in supported areas, however others have the choice to sideload it. The XR app isn’t a lot to take a look at on the cellphone aspect. It gives a trackpad for enter on the show, alongside a house button and likewise leverages the cellphone’s accelerometer to spawn a spatial pointer controller contained in the Air glasses interface.
RayNeo XR app
The RayNeo XR app spawns one thing referred to as the “RayNeo XR space”. It gives a 3 DoF head-tracking residence display expertise alongside a number of apps. Most notably, a “spatial” internet browser and a YouTube participant. The primary UI is nicely laid out, and there are many handy suggestions for 360-degree spatial movies to play from YouTube.
Talking of taking part in again spatial movies, the RayNao XR app handles these considerably oddly. It’s type of exhausting to elucidate, so it’s best to test it out for your self. Nonetheless, as an alternative of putting you straight “inside” the video, the participant spawns a flat viewing floor in entrance of you, like a display, permitting you to maneuver your head round to attain 3 DoF monitoring inside the video, as anticipated. It is a bit of a bizarre impact, and we do not significantly prefer it.
Additionally it is price noting that whereas all the primary options like multimedia playback, a browser, and even a video games part are coated, the RayNeo XR app is a bit mild on further options. Particularly, the factor we’re lacking is the power to stream third-party VR content material to the glasses which is one thing XREAL’s competitor does have. We admit it’s janky at greatest, however it’s nonetheless there and permits taking part in again VR experiences and easy VR video games from a PC to the glasses significantly enhancing their versatility.
One other function we missed is the power to play 180-degree SBS movies on the glasses with correct monitoring. This appears to be absent each with the RayNeo XR app and the non-compulsory Pocket TV accent, which is a disgrace.
Compatibility
All of the glasses actually require to work is a USB Kind-C port with USB alt-mode help for Show Port output. The glasses themselves are usually not too power-hungry, so most gadgets do not wrestle to energy them on.
What does that imply in real-world phrases? Let’s begin with laptops since they’re simpler to sum up. You’re able to go in case your laptop computer helps DP alt mode over USB Kind-C. This needs to be listed on the laptop computer’s specs sheet since these are typically well-detailed. We tried on a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9, an ASUS Zephyrus G14 from 2021, and an M1 MacBook Air efficiently. A bizarre record for positive, but it surely illustrates the primary level – you probably have DP over Kind-C, it is going to work.
Issues are a bit messier on the cellphone aspect. Now that the most recent era of iPhones has converted to USB Kind-C, the RayNeo Air 2s glasses haven’t any points working with them. So, you probably have an iPhone 15 – you might be all set. Technically, nevertheless, past that and with no further equipment, the RayNeo Air 2s glasses are an Android-only accent.
Some Android gadgets help Show Port over USB Kind-C, however there is no such thing as a straightforward option to know which of them. An excellent rule of thumb consists of that it’s typically a flagship function and that it’s best to have higher odds with gadgets from Samsung, Huawei and OnePlus. As soon as once more, it’s essential search round to see in case your cellphone has DP over Kind-C. When it comes to telephones, we succeeded with a Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely.
As talked about, RayNeo gives two completely different adapters that may connect with different unsupported gadgets. For older Apple tech, there’s the wi-fi Miracast adapter; for wired HDMI connectivity, there’s the “HDMI” adapter, so most bases are coated.
We additionally did some testing on our personal and we discovered the Nintendo Swap doesn’t work connected straight to the glasses. You want the extra JoyDock accent or the HDMI adapter to connect with the Swap. The Valve Steam Deck, which helps DP over its Kind-C port, simply works by being related straight to the glasses. The identical goes for the ASUS ROG Ally.
Efficiency and energy consumption
The RayNeo Air 2s glasses have Full HD 1920 x 1080-pixel optical decision with 8-bit colours. You additionally get 46-degree subject of view, which is fairly normal and 600 nits of marketed perceived brightness. That is fairly excessive, so far as XR glasses’ brightness goes. TCL says that the Air 2s can do as much as 201 inches of digital show, however we consider that refers back to the 3D mode with head monitoring. Within the common “static” picture mode, you might be getting extra within the ballpark of 130 inches.
Sadly, for the reason that shows on the RayNeo Air 2s are usually not conventional in any manner, we will not put particular numbers to their efficiency traits.
We now have to say that the shows look nice in particular person. They’ll get very vivid, nearly uncomfortable, and the colours are very good and vivid. The one actual challenge we now have by way of optics has to do with show positioning. The projection sits too excessive in our field of regard, and we always discover ourselves pushing our glasses all the way down to see the underside fringe of the show.
You additionally should get used to the truth that you might be always seeing the skin world, at the least to some extent. Nonetheless, we’d say that the brightness is sufficient to make the glasses usable in just about each atmosphere. Greater brightness ranges could be fatiguing for some folks. In any case, the shows are very near your eyes. The RayNeo Air 2s glasses promote TUV Rheinland certifications for low Blue Mild emissions and Flicker-free, although.
The RayNeo Air 2s glasses function at 60Hz when in normal “direct streaming” 2D mode. When you contain the RayNeo XR app and its 3D mode, you’ll be able to allow 120Hz refresh fee, which is nice for sure Android video games. Nonetheless, we want there was a option to get 120Hz working within the different mode for issues like recreation consoles.
Pixel response time is superb. There may be little enter latency, too. We managed to recreation on the RayNeo 2s, taking part in a number of platformers requiring affordable leap timing precision with no points.
On the subject of picture readability, we should always notice that the mage, as we already mentioned, appears very crisp and sharp within the common “direct streaming” 2D mode. Nonetheless, within the 3D mode contained in the RayNeo XR app, issues can get fairly blurry, particularly whereas in movement. The finer textual content is fairly exhausting to learn, as nicely.
Because the RayNeo Air 2s glasses are solely powered by way of a Kind-C port, one of many few precise checks we managed to run on them was to measure energy consumption. With a reasonably static picture on the display, like searching or working, they drew round 1.5W – 1.6W, relying on the brightness setting. Whereas taking part in a video with sound, the glasses used between 1.6W and a pair of.0W. All fairly spectacular numbers.
In additional sensible phrases, watching a two-hour film from Netflix on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Extremely with the RayNeo Air 2s on ate up round 32% of the battery, which is completely affordable.
RayNeo Pocket TV
The RayNeo Pocket TV is an non-compulsory accent for the RayNeo Air 2s glasses that provides extra smarts to the glasses. It’s mainly a self-contained “smart box”, working Google TV with a fairly large 6,500 mAh battery on board. The Pocket TV is barely smaller than a contemporary smartphone at 130 x 61 x 23mm (5.1″ x 2.4″ x 0.9″) and weighs 205 grams.
Controls on the Pocket TV are laid out like a giant TV distant. The middle “wheel” isn’t a wheel however a easy directional pad with a button within the center. It really works fairly nicely for navigating the Google TV UI, however the buttons are a bit mushy and squeaky, which might grow to be annoying after some time. That mentioned, you aren’t meant to be clicking all of them that a lot, simply to navigate to your content material of alternative. The button with the rocket ship can be a user-programable shortcut.
RayNeo Pocket TV
The Pocket TV does have a microSD slot for storage growth, which is nice to see to reinforce the onboard 64GB of eMMC storage. There are two USB Kind-C ports on the underside of the unit. The left one is for charging. Energy Supply is supported, which is welcome. The appropriate port is the machine’s sole video output. It outputs PD over USB Alt mode. We tried hooking it as much as a daily monitor with a Kind-C port, and it really works. We aren’t positive if that’s handy for anybody, although. An everyday HDMI of some type would have been significantly appreciated since that may have upped versatility a complete lot.
The Pocket TV is not significantly highly effective. The truth is, by no means. It’s powered by an Amlogic S905Y4 chipset with 4 Cortex-A35 CPU cores and a Mali-G31MP2 GPU. It’s paired with 3GB of RAM, which is first rate for a Google TV machine. Plus, you get pretty fashionable Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, which can be nice.
Pocket TV {hardware} information
The Pocket TV and its chipset do a reasonably nice job in terms of {hardware} video and audio decoding, which is arguably what counts most on this case. You possibly can see a full record of supported codecs under. It is very important notice that the Pocket TV does help HDR10+ and Dolby Imaginative and prescient decoding, plus DTS and Dolby Audio. Nonetheless, the RayNeo Air 2s glasses wouldn’t have HDR help, which implies you’ll be able to solely get SDR video handed on to them.
Codec help
On a extra optimistic notice, the Pocket TV does have the best potential Google Widevine L1 DRM certification, permitting apps like Netflix to saturate its FullHD decision with matching stream decision.
Widevine L1
The Pocket TV additionally has loads of image settings to mess around with. You possibly can modify the decision scale for your complete UI and scale down the picture dimension to 80% of the unique, which does assist mitigate the entire challenge with the underside of the image continuously being reduce off due to how the optics are aligned.
Image settings
You possibly can’t explicitly power the Pocket TV into 120Hz mode, however you’ll be able to have it match the on-screen refresh fee for when you’re taking part in excessive refresh fee video, as an illustration. And for the reason that Pocket TV would not actually have any energy for gaming, you might be more likely to be completely fantastic with the default 60Hz the remainder of the time.
It is very important notice that the Pocket TV can solely function in the usual “static” 2D mode of the glasses. Which means there is no such thing as a head monitoring of any type, as you’ll get from the RayNeo XR app. Actually, we choose it this fashion because you get a lot cleaner and sharper textual content and pictures. Nonetheless, do not anticipate to be having fun with any 360-degree or 180-degree SBS movies on the Pocket TV. Simply common “flat” 2D media content material.
The Google TV UI could be very clear and easy. It has many similarities to Android TV however focuses extra on content material, sensible aggregation, and suggestions. You continue to get entry to all Android TV/Google TV apps via the Google Play retailer, which is nice. That covers all the main streaming platforms and all different primary use instances, like good native video gamers, file browsers and even some superior apps like HTTP and FTP file servers for simply getting content material to the Pocket TV. You’ll in all probability be doing most of your navigation with the buttons, although the Pocket TV has built-in 9-axis IMU sensors, so you could possibly additionally use the air mouse function. There may be an built-in microphone and Google voice assistant, too.
Google TV interface
Lastly, we did an impromptu endurance check on the Pocket TV. The producer claims that it ought to have the ability to do 9 days of standby, 7 hours of steady “use”, no matter that refers to and 5.5 hours of video playback. In our testing, we bought nearer to 4.5 hours of high-quality video streamed via Plex. By the way in which, the four-light array within the prime proper nook additionally signifies the battery stage.
Do you have to get a pair
The RayNeo Air 2s glasses retail for $400 from the official retailer. At present, that features a free Miracast Transportable Adapter, which is the factor it’s essential connect older Apple tech or desktops wirelessly to the glasses. It’s also possible to get a bundle with the Pocket TV for $540 or one with the JoyDock for the Nintendo Swap for $460. All of these sound honest and aggressive within the present XR glasses panorama.
We positively loved our time with the RayNeo Air 2s glasses. Their picture high quality total, significantly brightness and sharpness, appears to be a neck above opponents we have tried from the likes of XREAL. The Air 2s glasses are additionally fairly snug and well-designed.
When it comes to issues we did not like or felt had been lacking, show vertical alignment appears to be our greatest challenge. It may be considerably mitigated by crushing and molding the nostril pads aggressively, besides, the picture appears to be projected only a bit too excessive for our style, continuously reducing out the underside of the image. Additionally, we’d have cherished to see a manner for gadgets apart from smartphones with the RayNeo XR app and the Pocket TV to entry 120 Hz mode. As an illustration, we cherished the Steam Deck plus glasses combo, however 120 Hz would have made that so a lot better. And talking of superior use instances, we’d have cherished to see a option to stream PC VR content material to the glasses, even when it is janky like what XREAL has. Taking part in again 180-degree SBS video content material can be a sore omission.
All issues thought of, when you prioritize picture and sound high quality in a pair of XR glasses, then positively think about the RayNeo Air 2s. Nonetheless, in case you are trying to tinker and go in deeper with issues like superior playback of 3D content material and even rudimentary VR, then we’d in all probability nudge you in one other route at a competitor that has barely extra mature software program options in that regard. In case you resolve to go for a RayNeo Air 2s pair, do your self a favor and think about the $140 further for a Pocket TV. It actually does make utilizing the glasses a complete lot higher and extra handy.