XREAL Beam Pro is a $199 phone-like Android device designed to pair with XREAL’s augmented reality glasses – Liliputing

XREAL is a company that makes augmented reality glasses, which essentially puts a floating screen in front of your eyes without completely obscuring your vision, allowing you to see virtual and real objects at the same time. The latest model also supports “immersion controls” which allow you to block out the real world while watching videos.

However, to use these AR glasses, you need to pair them with a device such as a smartphone, tablet, PC or game console. And until now, that meant using them with a third-party device. But now the company has launched a phone-like, pocket-sized Android device called the XREAL Beam Pro that’s designed to work with the XREAL glasses. It’s available for pre-order now for $199 and up and should start shipping in mid-July.

Please note that the price does not include a set of glasses. But if you don’t already have them, you can buy a bundle with the Beam Pro and a set of XREAL Air 2 Pro glasses. Here are some of the pricing options available at launch:

• XREAL Beam Pro (6GB RAM / 128GB storage) for $199
• XREAL Beam Pro (8GB/256GB) for $249
• XREAL Beam Pro (6GB/128GB) + Air 2 Pro for $602 (marked down from $648 retail price)
• XREAL Beam Pro (8GB/256GB) + Air 2 Pro for $649 (marked down from $698 retail price)

While the XREAL Beam Pro is not a phone, it is a full Android device that ships with access to the Google Play Store, allowing you to interact with millions of apps using either a set of AR glasses or the device’s 6.5-inch screen. In fact, you could probably think of this as the latest in a line of Android-powered iPod touch competitors…albeit, one that’s purpose-built for use with an external, wearable display and has some cool features. unusual.

For example, the Beam Pro has a “Snapdragon space processor,” which suggests it may be using a chip that’s part of the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR family rather than one of the processors commonly found in smartphones and tablets. The phone’s two 50MP rear cameras are positioned so you can use them to record stereoscopic 3D photos and 1080p/60fps video. And there are two USB-C ports instead of just one (allowing you, for example, to charge the Beam Pro and use a headset at the same time, or use AR goggles and a pair of wired headphones at the same time—since there’s no 3.5 mm audio jack).

Otherwise, if this thing had support for making calls and sending text messages over cellular networks, it would be a phone. It has a 6.5-inch, 2400 x 1080 pixel, 60 Hz display, support for WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, two USB 3 Type-C ports with support for video output, a 4,300 mAh battery and support for 27 W fast charging, a card microSD. reader with support for cards up to 1 TB and proximity, ambient light and motion sensors. It has an 8MP front camera and the device is IP54 rated for dust and water resistance.

XREAL says you should be able to watch video for up to 3.5 hours when using a pair of AR glasses, or up to 7.5 hours using the built-in display.

The XREAL Beam Pro ships with an operating system based on Android 14, called NebulaOS. In addition to allowing you to view and interact with Android apps on a wearable screen, the operating system offers “a spatial canvas where up to two apps can be opened, positioned side-by-side in a set of notebooks, and placed in 3D space.” to navigate using the handheld Beam Pro “like a point and touch keyboard”.

The company also plans to offer a version with 5G support in the future, as well as an Enterprise edition. There’s no word on how much these models will cost or when they’ll be available yet.

The Beam Pro isn’t Xreal’s first mobile hardware designed to pair with the company’s glasses. But the original Xreal Beam is a much more limited gadget that lacks a display and can only to be used with external displays. It also lacks support for the Google Play Store and other apps that require Google Mobile Services such as YouTube, Chrome or Google Maps.

Press release