Vuzix M300XL — specification and verdict
The M300XL is a maintenance release with one genuinely practical change: Vuzix dropped the proprietary pogo-pin connectors of the M300 for standard USB sockets, which means a broken cable is a cable and not a service call. It also added roaming-friendly 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi for sites with many access points. Display, processor, memory, storage and battery are unchanged from the M300, and it launched at 1,499.99 dollars - the same price the M300 had carried, which was cut to 999.99 the same day. The camera is the one specification to treat carefully: the launch announcement claims 16 megapixels and Vuzix's own product page for the same model says 10.
Everything that applied to the M300 applies here, with the connector change being the one that matters operationally: standard USB means spares come from anywhere rather than from Vuzix. It shipped in December 2018, sits alongside the M300 on Vuzix's discontinued-products page, and has no published end-of-support date. If you are maintaining a mixed fleet, note that M300 and M300XL accessories are not interchangeable precisely because of that connector change.
Same verdict as the M300: not a training device, a monocular field tool, and superseded by the M400 and M4000 which Vuzix still supports. The only reason to prefer an M300XL over an M300 on the second-hand market is the connector - and that is a real reason if you plan to keep one running.
How it compares within its class
The axis runs from the lowest to the highest published figure among the AR — industrial devices in this catalogue. The grey tick is the median of that class.
Median for this class: 2000 nits, from 10 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: $1499, from 11 models that publish the figure.
Controllers and hand tracking
Operated by Voice · Touchpad on the temple.
Bare hands
No hand tracking.
Full specification
An em dash means the manufacturer does not publish that figure.
- ManufacturerWho makes it — and who you buy support from.
- Vuzix
- CategoryWhich kind of product this is. It decides which rows below make sense at all.
- AR — industrial
- Device typeWhere the computing happens, and therefore what you need to run it.
- Standalone AR
- AnnouncedThe day it was shown, which is not the day it shipped.
- 2018-12-04
- ReleasedYear the model went on sale. Older is not automatically worse in this category.
- 2018
- AvailabilityWhether you can still order it new today.
- Discontinued
- Support endsThe date the manufacturer stops supporting it. Decisive for a fleet you are about to buy.
- Support ends: not published by the manufacturer
- DisplayHow the image is produced. "No display" is a real answer in this category, not a gap.
- Waveguide
- Eyes coveredOne eye or both. Over a full shift this is a real difference in fatigue.
- One eye
- Resolution per eyePixels delivered to each eye. Higher means small text and labels stay readable.
- Resolution per eye: not published by the manufacturer
- Refresh rateImages per second. Higher feels smoother and helps people prone to motion discomfort.
- Refresh rate: not published by the manufacturer
- Field of viewHow much of your view the image covers. Bigger is more immersive, not automatically better for work.
- Field of view: not published by the manufacturer
- Pixel densityPixels per degree of view — the honest way to compare sharpness between a headset and a pair of glasses. Higher is sharper. Only shown where somebody published it; we never compute it ourselves.
- Pixel density: not published by the manufacturer
- BrightnessIn a plant or outdoors, brightness decides legibility more than resolution does.
- 2000 nits
- WeightThe device alone. Anything above roughly 150 g is felt within an hour.
- Weight: not published by the manufacturer
- Visible field of viewWhat the eye actually sees through the optics, by axis.
- Visible field of view: not published by the manufacturer
- Rendered field of viewWhat the device draws. Never smaller than what you see.
- Rendered field of view: not published by the manufacturer
- Binocular overlapWhere both eyes see the same thing — this is where depth happens.
- Binocular overlap: not published by the manufacturer
- Average pixel densityPixels per degree across the image. More is sharper.
- Average pixel density: not published by the manufacturer
- Peak pixel densityThe sharpest point, usually the centre of the lens.
- Peak pixel density: not published by the manufacturer
- Subpixel layoutHow the coloured dots sit in a pixel. A stripe looks cleaner on text than PenTile.
- Subpixel layout: not published by the manufacturer
- Foveated renderingWhether detail is dropped outside where you look, to save performance.
- Foveated rendering: not published by the manufacturer
- Vision correctionHow somebody who wears glasses uses it, and in what dioptre range.
- Fits over glasses
- DimensionsWidth, height and depth of the device itself.
- Dimensions: not published by the manufacturer
- Weight with strapWith the strap it ships with — the weight you actually wear.
- Weight with strap: not published by the manufacturer
- Head strapSoft band or a rigid one. Decides how the weight sits over an hour.
- Head strap: not published by the manufacturer
- MaterialsShell and facial interface, in the vendor’s words.
- Materials: not published by the manufacturer
- ColoursColours the manufacturer sells it in.
- Colours: not published by the manufacturer
- Haptics in the headsetVibration in the headset itself, not in the controllers.
- Haptics in the headset: not published by the manufacturer
- TrackingWhether content stays put in the room (6DoF), follows head rotation (3DoF) or is simply fixed.
- 3DoF (rotation only)
- Tracking camerasHow many cameras it uses to know where it is.
- Tracking cameras: not published by the manufacturer
- Tracking rateHow often position is recalculated. Higher is steadier.
- Tracking rate: not published by the manufacturer
- Depth sensorA dedicated sensor for distance, on top of the cameras.
- Depth sensor: not published by the manufacturer
- Hand trackingWhether bare hands can operate the interface, without a controller or the phone.
- No
- Face trackingTracks facial expression — for avatars, not for training scenarios.
- Face tracking: not published by the manufacturer
- Body trackingHow much of the body the device knows about. Estimated legs are not tracked legs.
- Body tracking: not published by the manufacturer
- Controllers includedWhether motion controllers come in the box, or are bought separately — or the device is hands-only.
- Controllers included: not published by the manufacturer
- Controller tracking6DoF controllers track position and rotation, so a hand reaches in space; 3DoF only point. “None” means hands only.
- Controller tracking: not published by the manufacturer
- Other input methodsWays in beyond controllers and bare hands.
- Voice · Touchpad on the temple
- Where it computesWhether the device computes on its own or depends on a phone, PC or belt-worn puck.
- Standalone (own computer)
- ProcessorThe processor and memory inside. This is what the performance grade above is derived from.
- Processor: not published by the manufacturer
- CPUCores and clocks, where the manufacturer publishes them.
- Dual-core Intel Atom
- GPUThe graphics part of the chip.
- GPU: not published by the manufacturer
- MemoryRAM on the device. Together with the chipset it sets how complex a scene can be.
- 2 GB
- PlatformThe platform an application is built against — and what an MDM has to speak.
- Android 6.0
- StorageOn-board space for downloaded courses. More matters for an offline library in several languages.
- 64 GB
- SD card slotWhether storage can be added with a card.
- SD card slot: not published by the manufacturer
- BatteryRuntime as the manufacturer states it. A hot-swappable pack matters more than the figure.
- Battery: not published by the manufacturer
- Battery capacity (Wh)Energy in the cell. Bigger is longer, given the same power draw.
- Battery capacity (Wh): not published by the manufacturer
- Battery capacity (mAh)The same fact in the other unit vendors use. We never convert between the two.
- 160 mAh
- Charge timeFrom empty to full. Rarely stated by the manufacturer, so it usually comes from whoever timed it.
- Charge time: not published by the manufacturer
- ChargerPower of the supplied charger — it decides the charge time above.
- Charger: not published by the manufacturer
- External batteryBattery on a cable or a puck instead of on the head.
- External battery: not published by the manufacturer
- Charging caseExtra runtime carried in the case the glasses ship with.
- Charging case: not published by the manufacturer
- Hot-swap batteryWhether a charged battery can replace the empty one without ending the session. This is what decides if a headset can hold an all-day training station.
- Hot-swap battery: not published by the manufacturer
- Third-party appsHow a third party's application reaches the device: an ordinary Android package, a vendor-only SDK, or not at all.
- Ordinary Android app (APK)
- Runs Skillsive appsOur own statement about whether Skillsive training applications run on it today.
- No
- Suitable for trainingOur judgement on whether it survives real deployment: comfort, hygiene, fleet management.
- No
- Kiosk mode / MDMVendor tooling to enrol devices, push an app and lock the headset to it. Practically required above ten devices.
- Yes
- Business tierAn official business tier, so devices belong to the company rather than to employees’ personal accounts.
- Yes
- CertificationsIndustrial certifications stated on the manufacturer's own page. Empty means unconfirmed, never "probably fine".
- CE · FCC Part 15
- PortsPhysical sockets and charging contacts.
- USB Type-C
- Wi-FiThe Wi-Fi generation — it decides how well wireless streaming holds up.
- 5
- BluetoothFor controllers, headphones and accessories.
- 4.1
- Video from a computerWhether a computer can drive it, over a cable or wirelessly.
- Video from a computer: not published by the manufacturer
- AudioBuilt-in sound. Matters most where somebody has to hear a remote expert while working.
- Built-in speakers
- MicrophoneBuilt-in microphone — the other half of talking to a remote expert.
- Yes
- MicrophonesHow many. An array picks a voice out of a noisy hall; one does not.
- 2
- CameraA camera is what makes a remote expert call and photo documentation possible.
- Yes
- Price bandThe band it sits in, rather than a price that goes stale.
- Enterprise
- Launch priceThe manufacturer's launch price. Fixed history, so it never goes stale.
- $1499.99
- Price by configurationWhat each configuration cost at launch.
- Price by configuration: not published by the manufacturer
- Price todayApproximate current net price in USD — a general figure, since these barely differ between regions once tax is stripped out. A snapshot from the date shown, not an offer.
- Price today: not published by the manufacturer
Who this device is for
Organisations already running M300 units who need compatible spares with a better connector. For anyone specifying new, the M400 and M4000 are the supported answer.
What is missing, and what the manufacturer does not publish
As with the M300, Vuzix published no weight and no dimensions, and no end-of-support date. The field of view is unstated for this model too. The camera is the notable conflict: Vuzix's launch press release says the M300XL features a new 16 megapixel camera, while its own product page for the model lists up to 10 megapixel stills and 1080p at 24 frames per second. Both are Vuzix, neither was withdrawn, so no camera resolution is recorded here.
Vuzix M300XL — frequently asked questions
- What did the M300XL change compared with the M300?
- Three things Vuzix names: standard USB sockets in place of the M300's proprietary pogo-pin connectors, upgraded 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi with better roaming for large sites, and a camera the launch release describes as 16 megapixels. Display, processor, memory, storage and battery are unchanged. The connector is the change with real operational weight, because it decides where your spare cables come from.
- Does the M300XL have a 16 or a 10 megapixel camera?
- Vuzix says both, in two of its own documents, and never withdrew either. The December 2018 launch announcement states a new 16 megapixel camera; the product page for the same model lists up to 10 megapixel stills. We record neither rather than choosing. If the camera resolution matters to your use case, ask Vuzix directly before ordering second-hand stock.
Compare this device
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Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-17. Manufacturer's specification
Product and company names used here are the trademarks of their respective owners and appear only to identify the hardware being compared. We are not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any of these manufacturers. Illustrations are our own.