CES 2026 hands-on: Xreals world-first 240 Hz AR smart glasses made my jaw drop

Xreal, the augmented reality brand behind some of the leading smart glasses, is dealing with a lot of new competition at CES 2026. Smart glasses have been a big draw among the throngs of attendees on CES' packed convention floor this year, and I’ve probably tried on 12 different smart glasses since arriving in Las Vegas. Earlier at the event, I was impressed by the TCL RayNeo Air 4 Pro (especially by its price).

So, how does Xreal respond to a more crowded playing field? By bringing out the big guns.

Xreal debuted two new pairs of AR glasses for CES 2026: the Xreal 1S and the ROG Xreal R1 AR gaming glasses. The Xreal 1S offers some critical upgrades over its predecessor, not to mention a price drop to $449. Meanwhile, the company claims its upcoming ROG Xreal R1 AR gaming glasses are the world’s first-ever micro-LED smart glasses with a 240 Hz refresh rate (even the Apple Vision Pro can't do that). You can buy the Xreal 1S now, but the new ROG glasses won’t arrive until later this year, and likely with a hefty price tag.

On top of that, Xreal has a new innovation on display at CES — instant 3D conversion. Xreal calls it Real 3D, and it's available now on both the 1S and existing Xreal One Pro glasses as a free over-the-air update. This setting instantly transforms your display, photos, videos, games, and entertainment content from 2D to 3D, and it’s a damn neat trick. 

I’ve always been transparent about the fact that I’m extremely skeptical of smart glasses, especially if they have onboard cameras. Xreal smart glasses were the first to make me say, “Okay, I get it. That’s actually really cool.” The company’s spatial computing glasses project a huge screen into the environment around you, which mirrors your smartphone, tablet, or laptop display. So, if you’re working in a coffee shop or on an airplane, that means you can instantly see a massive screen floating in the air in front of you, while built-in Bose speakers provide audio.

I tried the ROG Xreal R1 AR gaming glasses at CES

I got to try the unreleased R1 glasses during a demo at CES, tethered to the new ROG Xbox Ally X gaming handheld. This included using them to play Elden Ring while they were connected to a gaming PC. The results blew me away. As I'm fond of saying, they made me feel like I'm living in the future. They provided one of those rare "holy shit" moments, which is exactly what I'm looking for at CES.

The R1 display is mighty impressive, and the refresh rate was equally so. As previously mentioned, even the $3,499 Apple Vision Pro maxes out at 120 Hz, and while watching some movies on the Vision Pro, I didn’t feel like it was consistently achieving that rate. That wasn’t the case with the R1. The graphics were impressive, with strong color and clarity that compared to the nearby display. They aren't overly heavy on your face either, though I didn’t get to wear them for very long.

Unlike Xreal’s other glasses, the R1 don't just tether directly to your device. They also plug into an included dock, which sits on your desk and allows you to connect to multiple types of devices. This would make the R1 slightly less mobile; however, the dock is fairly compact, and you can always plug in directly to a gaming handheld.

Here’s what gamers will get with the R1:

• Display: 240Hz 1080p micro-OLED panels

• Resolution: 1920 x 1080

• Display size: 171-inch display from 4 meters away

• Field of view: 57 degrees

• Weight: 91 grams

• Sound by Bose

• Electrochromic lenses

• Includes the ROG Control Dock

• Connectivity: PCs, consoles, handhelds, Android, and iOS via USB-C

The Real 3D conversion feature works instantly

With Apple’s Vision Pro and Samsung’s Galaxy XR, users can transform their photos and videos into 3D content. This spatialization has been a big selling point with these futuristic headsets. However, this process always takes a few seconds, and it can be hit or miss.

However, Xreal’s 3D conversion feature is unlike anything I’ve tried before. With this setting turned on, every part of your virtual display is instantly transformed from 2D to 3D. The app icons on my iPhone display popped off the screen. Desktop backgrounds suddenly became three-dimensional. It even works on video content. I pulled up some recent 4K videos I shot during a Gwen Stefani performance at The Sphere, and the Xreal One Pro instantly turned them into surprisingly realistic 3D videos.

I don't love the marketing image for the Real 3D feature, which doesn't quite capture what the experience is like. It's a lot trippier — in a good way.

These types of 3D conversions are never perfect, but I was impressed by how realistically it rendered 3D content — and how quickly. Real 3D can be activated with the push of a button, and the effect is instantaneous, as far as I could tell. Per Xreal, "it's all powered natively by the X1 spatial computing chip."

Even cooler is that this feature is available for free to existing Xreal glasses. It's available as an over-the-air software update, and I’m excited to keep playing around with it at home. (Head to the Xreal website to access the update.)

Likewise, when CES is over, I’m excited to try the new Xreal 1S glasses and pit them against newcomers from TCL and other brands. Xreal may not have the lowest prices, but that isn't the goal.

During my demo, an Xreal representative told me they’re not trying to compete on price, but on quality. And based on the brand’s CES offerings, they’re still several steps ahead of the competition.

Head to the Mashable CES 2026 hub for the latest news and live updates from the biggest show in tech, where Mashable journalists are reporting live.