The company’s latest funding came from its supply chain partners and other backers, Bloomberg reported Thursday (Jan. 8), citing a Bloomberg Television interview with XReal Co-founder and CEO Chi Xu.
PYMNTS reported in February 2025 that artificial intelligence (AI) is driving a smart glasses boom, with several tech giants and about a dozen smaller companies making smart glasses and using the AI of popular large language models.
AI has been a game-changer, as the latest AI-powered smart glasses are encased in traditional frame of various styles, so users don’t look out of place in public, while also carrying serious electronics to power AI capabilities like online searches and translations.
Over the past week, XReal unveiled two new smart glasses and two partnerships.
The company introduced its XREAL 1S augmented reality (AR) glasses on Sunday (Jan. 4), saying they provide its most accessible and portable AR experiences “at an unbeatable value.” This wearable device is designed for everyday users, gamers and fans of mobile entertainment.
“With XREAL 1S, we’re not only lowering the cost of entry, we’re doing so while boosting specs and performance, and improving optics,” Xu said in a press release.
The company unveiled its ROG XREAL R1 AR Glasses on Monday (Jan. 5), saying these gaming glasses deliver visual performance, scale and immersion that transform the gaming experience.
The company also announced that it had formed a strategic partnership with ASUS Republic of Gamers (ASUS ROG) to develop these glasses.
“Our goal has always been to make spatial computing feel natural, powerful and wearable,” Xu said in a press release. “By combining XREAL’s leadership in lightweight XR hardware and proprietary optical systems with ASUS ROG’s world-class gaming performance, we’re making our goal a reality.”
XReal announced Tuesday (Jan. 6) that it extended its strategic partnership with Google and was named a lead hardware partner for the Android XR ecosystem.
The companies will collaborate to bring the Android XR operating system to wired XR glasses and other optical-see-through devices and to expand support for Android XR development.