XREAL xbx a01+ — specification and verdict
The a01+ is the first product of xbx, XREAL’s cheaper sub-brand, and it is the brightest and lightest thing the company sells — 1600 nits against 700 for every other model, at 62 grams. What it gives up is spatial: XREAL’s own comparison marks it “0DoF stabilization”, with no screen anchoring and none of the 2D-to-3D conversion the 1S is sold on. In exchange it is the only XREAL model with native HDR10, and it is the only one whose front shells detach — with 3D files published so owners can print their own. There is no battery: it draws power over the same USB-C cable that carries the picture. XREAL never mentions a microphone for it, which is worth noticing given the everyday framing.
The same answer as its sibling, one step further: this is a monitor you wear, with no tracking to anchor anything and no route for an application. What makes it interesting for a workplace is brightness — 1600 nits is roughly double the rest of this class, which is the difference between a usable screen in a bright room and a washed-out one. The detachable shells are worth a thought for shared use, since the part that touches a face and the part that scratches are the parts you can replace cheaply.
The clearest value in XREAL’s range if you want a bright portable screen and nothing else. It is the only model here with native HDR10 and, at 62 grams, the lightest. What you give up is stated by XREAL rather than hidden: no screen anchoring, no 2D-to-3D, no Bose audio, and — an omission rather than a statement — no mention of a microphone anywhere on its pages. Not a training device, and not pretending to be one.
How it compares within its class
The axis runs from the lowest to the highest published figure among the AR — wearable display devices in this catalogue. The grey tick is the median of that class.
Median for this class: 50°, from 19 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: 77 g, from 22 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: 700 nits, from 20 models that publish the figure.
Median for this class: $514, from 16 models that publish the figure.
Full specification
An em dash means the manufacturer does not publish that figure.
- ManufacturerWho makes it — and who you buy support from.
- XREAL
- CategoryWhich kind of product this is. It decides which rows below make sense at all.
- AR — wearable display
- Device typeWhere the computing happens, and therefore what you need to run it.
- Phone-powered AR
- AnnouncedThe day it was shown, which is not the day it shipped.
- Announced: not published by the manufacturer
- ReleasedYear the model went on sale. Older is not automatically worse in this category.
- 2026
- AvailabilityWhether you can still order it new today.
- On sale
- 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.
- Micro-OLED, both eyes
- Eyes coveredOne eye or both. Over a full shift this is a real difference in fatigue.
- Both eyes
- Resolution per eyePixels delivered to each eye. Higher means small text and labels stay readable.
- 1920x1080
- Refresh rateImages per second. Higher feels smoother and helps people prone to motion discomfort.
- 120 Hz
- Field of viewHow much of your view the image covers. Bigger is more immersive, not automatically better for work.
- 50°
- 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.
- 1600 nits
- WeightThe device alone. Anything above roughly 150 g is felt within an hour.
- 62 g
- 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.
- Official lens inserts
- 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.
- Glasses frame
- MaterialsShell and facial interface, in the vendor’s words.
- nylon
- 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.
- None
- 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.
- No
- Controller tracking6DoF controllers track position and rotation, so a hand reaches in space; 3DoF only point. “None” means hands only.
- None (hands only)
- Other input methodsWays in beyond controllers and bare hands.
- Other input methods: not published by the manufacturer
- Where it computesWhether the device computes on its own or depends on a phone, PC or belt-worn puck.
- Driven by a phone
- ProcessorThe processor and memory inside. This is what the performance grade above is derived from.
- Pixelworks
- CPUCores and clocks, where the manufacturer publishes them.
- CPU: not published by the manufacturer
- 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.
- Memory: not published by the manufacturer
- PlatformThe platform an application is built against — and what an MDM has to speak.
- Platform: not published by the manufacturer
- StorageOn-board space for downloaded courses. More matters for an offline library in several languages.
- Storage: not published by the manufacturer
- 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.
- Battery capacity (mAh): not published by the manufacturer
- 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.
- No
- 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.
- Closed platform
- 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
- CertificationsIndustrial certifications stated on the manufacturer's own page. Empty means unconfirmed, never "probably fine".
- TÜV Eye Comfort 5.0
- PortsPhysical sockets and charging contacts.
- USB Type-C
- Wi-FiThe Wi-Fi generation — it decides how well wireless streaming holds up.
- Wi-Fi: not published by the manufacturer
- BluetoothFor controllers, headphones and accessories.
- Bluetooth: not published by the manufacturer
- Video from a computerWhether a computer can drive it, over a cable or wirelessly.
- Over a cable
- 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.
- Microphone: not published by the manufacturer
- MicrophonesHow many. An array picks a voice out of a noisy hall; one does not.
- Microphones: not published by the manufacturer
- CameraA camera is what makes a remote expert call and photo documentation possible.
- No
- Price bandThe band it sits in, rather than a price that goes stale.
- Mid range
- Launch priceThe manufacturer's launch price. Fixed history, so it never goes stale.
- $299
- 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.
- $299
Who this device is for
For the person who wants a screen on a flight or a couch and does not care about spatial anything. XREAL says as much: the tagline is “Just Play” and the pitch is “147-inch big screen — anywhere you plug in”, “looks like sunglasses, actually wear it out”. At 62 grams and 1600 nits it is the lightest and by some distance the brightest thing the company sells, and it is the only one that handles HDR10 natively.
How it differs from its predecessor
Against the XREAL 1S the trade is explicit and XREAL makes it itself: “a01+ is a 0DoF portable big screen … For spatial (3DoF/Real 3D), see XREAL 1S / One Pro.” So the a01+ is brighter, lighter and has HDR, while the 1S anchors screens and converts to 3D. Against the XREAL Air 2, the other budget viewer here, it is a generation on: three times the brightness and a much lighter frame at a higher price. It is also the only model in the range whose chip XREAL calls a display chip rather than a spatial one.
What is missing, and what the manufacturer does not publish
No microphone is mentioned anywhere on XREAL’s pages for it, which is a real omission for glasses sold as everyday wear. The axis of the 50-degree field of view is unstated, as are the physical dimensions — the 210-gram figure on the page is the case, not the glasses. The optical architecture is not named. And there is no statement of how much power the 1600-nit panel draws from the host, which for a phone-tethered product is the number that decides whether it is usable on a long trip.
XREAL xbx a01+ — frequently asked questions
- Why is it so much brighter than the rest of XREAL’s range?
- It spends its budget on the panel rather than on spatial hardware. There is no X1 spatial chip in it — XREAL calls the silicon a custom display chip from Pixelworks — and no head tracking to anchor content. That leaves room for a 1600-nit panel with native HDR10, where every other XREAL model in this catalogue sits at 700 nits.
- What are the replaceable front shells for?
- They change how much outside light reaches the eyes and how the glasses look. XREAL ships a mirrored shell in the box and sells a fully opaque one that blocks ambient light for darker viewing. Unusually, the company also publishes 3D files so owners can print their own — the only device in this catalogue where the maker invites that.
Compare this device
Consider these too
The nearest devices in the same class, ranked by availability and launch price — not by our opinion of them.
Specifications checked against the manufacturer's page on 2026-08-16. Manufacturer's specification
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