{"id":795830,"date":"2026-10-08T10:28:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T10:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/795830\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T10:28:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T10:28:15","slug":"i-tried-the-meta-vr-glasses-this-is-exactly-what-i-want-from-the-apple-vision-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/795830\/","title":{"rendered":"I tried the Meta VR Glasses \u2014 this is exactly what I want from the Apple Vision Air"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are rumors that Apple\u2019s Vision Pro<\/a> category is on \u201clife support.\u201d But after playing with the new Meta VR Glasses<\/a>, coming this spring for $1,299, I think it would be premature for Apple to pull the plug.<\/p>\n

As reported by Bloomberg<\/a>, Apple is exploring thinner and lighter Vision Pro designs, but the alleged new device wouldn\u2019t reach the market until late 2028 at the earliest. That gives Meta<\/a> a huge head start, and based on my hands-on impressions Meta\u2019s VR Glasses are essentially a much cheaper \u2014 and much less cumbersome \u2014 version of the $3,500 Vision Pro that makes shockingly few trade-offs given its lightweight design.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\"Meta\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)<\/p>\n

Weighing about 100 grams, the Meta VR Glasses are not going to cause you neck pain like the 650-gram Vision Pro. They\u2019re like Oakley shield-style sunglasses with a wire, but you can\u2019t see through them like regular glasses. You need a video passthrough to see your environment.<\/p>\n

Latest Videos FromTom’s Guide<\/p>\n

\n

\"Meta\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)<\/p>\n

The best thing I can say about wearing the Meta VR Glasses is that I barely felt them at all during a 40-minute demo session. They\u2019re sleek and light, and you can easily adjust the lenses (sliding them left or right) to get the right IPD (Interpupillary Distance).<\/p>\n

\n

\"Meta\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)<\/p>\n

The puck computing unit is on the bulky side for sure, weighing in at 300 grams or 10.6 ounces. That\u2019s heavier than most phones. But I like that this puck, which houses the Snapdragon Reality Elite chip, 12GB of RAM, storage and battery, has a built in belt clip. The Vision Pro battery needs to go in your pocket if you\u2019re standing.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The battery life is slightly better through the Meta VR Glasses vs Vision Pro, too. You get 3 hours of runtime, versus 2.5 for Apple\u2019s headset.<\/p>\n

Interface: Intuitive eye- and hand-tracking<\/p>\n

The first thing I noticed when setting up the Meta VR Glasses is how eerily similar the setup process is to the Vision Pro. You use your eyes as the cursor and your fingers as the mouse, bringing your index finger and thumb together to \u201ctap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.<\/p>\n

To calibrate, you follow dots around the screen a few times with your eyes and click them. Even the sound I heard during this process reminded me of the Vision Pro. Great artists steal.<\/p>\n

More importantly, the interface is fluid and easy to use. To scroll, you simply rub your finger up and down on your index finger with a closed fist and you can scroll left and right by moving horizontally. It\u2019s pretty easy to pick up, but I like that you have the option to just pinch your fingers and scroll up and down with your arm outstretched \u2014 just like the Vision Pro.<\/p>\n

As you might expect, Meta\u2019s Muse AI assistant is on board, and it\u2019s pretty easy to do things with just your voice, such as closing all apps and going back to the home screen. I didn\u2019t get to test any agentic AI use cases yet, though.<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

Immersive entertainment and sports (despite the 70-degree FOV)<\/p>\n

In terms of visual experiences, I started with a 3D performance of Billie Eilish, and immediately I felt the impact. As she sat on the stage and reached out to fans in the crowd, I felt like I was in the front row with them. Co-directed between Eilish and James Cameron, this is a great showcase for what the Meta VR glasses can do.<\/p>\n

I also had an opportunity to watch the famous tip-in from the New York Knicks\u2019 OG Anunoby against the Spurs. For this 180-degree clip, I had the view from right behind the backboard, and I got a new appreciation for Victor Wembanyama\u2019s height and the frantic energy of Madison Square Garden that night.<\/p>\n

Meta says that it will be offering a range of sports content to Meta VR Glasses users for free, so you won\u2019t have to subscribe to NBA<\/a> League Pass, for example. Meta promises 100 immersive live sports events to watch each year.<\/p>\n

As for the 70-degree field of view, it\u2019s true that it\u2019s more limited than the 110 degrees from the Meta Quest 3<\/a>. But I personally was not bothered by it, and I wasn\u2019t annoyed by light leakage either.<\/p>\n

The last video demo I experienced through the Meta VR Glasses was \u201cAvengers: Infinity War.\u201d The movie itself was 2D but the environment mirrored the action in the movie, so it feels like you\u2019re on Nidavellir as Thor forges his new axe. True 3D movies are coming, though.<\/p>\n

Computing: Weirdly good virtual keyboard<\/p>\n

\n

\"Meta\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Meta)<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never typed on a virtual keyboard projected on a desk, but doing just that felt almost natural through the Meta VR Glasses. When responding to a message you can have it so that the virtual keyboard is displayed on the table right in front of you, complete with a separate touchpad.<\/p>\n

I typed a quick reply to a message, and it actually felt natural, complete with audible clicks as I pecked. The touchpad was accurate, too. But it doesn\u2019t change the fact that you\u2019re typing on a flat surface with no key travel.<\/p>\n

The Meta VR Glasses will be able to act as a portable display of sorts, so you can extend your desktop (or multiple desktops) from your Mac or PC to the glasses. This can be done wirelessly or via USB-C.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Dragon Grove – Announcement Trailer | Meta VR Glasses & Quest 3\/3S – YouTube
\n\"Dragon<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

I played only a single game on the Meta VR Glasses, but it showed the potential of the platform for mixed reality experience. In the lowkey Dragon Grove, I solved a series of puzzles by picking leaves and flowers off of a virtual tree and matching them.<\/p>\n

I liked that I could spin the game table around to check out different vantage points, and at any time you could just hold out your hand and the dragon would land in your palm. The graphics looked crisp and colorful despite being overlaid on the passthrough camera view.<\/p>\n

Meta promises more than 75 games at launch that you can play with hand gestures, but you\u2019ll still be able to use Touch Plus controllers with the glasses to play the thousands of existing VR games.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\"Meta\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)<\/p>\n

The Meta VR Glasses have some serious competition from the Xreal Aura<\/a>, which promises many of the same features for $1,219 but powered by Android XR and Gemini AI.<\/p>\n

Unlike the Meta glasses, you can look directly through Aura glasses without needing a video passthrough. On the other hand, the Aura has lower resolution per eye (1900 x 1200 vs 2.5K), so the visuals may not be as crisp. For more see our Meta VR Glasses vs Xreal Aura<\/a> comparison.<\/p>\n

Outlook<\/p>\n

\n

\"Meta\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Meta)<\/p>\n

Right now it\u2019s hard to say if the Meta VR Glasses are worth $1,299, but they\u2019re a heck of a lot more accessible than the Vision Pro while delivering nearly all of the same benefits \u2014 minus Apple\u2019s ecosystem of course.<\/p>\n

You get an immersive VR experience for watching video and playing games, and there\u2019s some good productivity potential here \u2014 though I\u2019d like to test out the virtual computing screen myself.<\/p>\n

The best part is just how comfortable and light the Meta VR Glasses feel. There\u2019s virtually no penalty here in terms of ergonomics, and the eye- and hand-tracking work really well for a product that\u2019s not shipping until the spring.<\/p>\n

So overall I\u2019m pretty positive on the Meta VR Glasses so far, and I think business travelers in particular will really like it. If I were Apple, I would keep the Vision line on life support while developing something close to this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are rumors that Apple\u2019s Vision Pro category is on \u201clife support.\u201d But after playing with the new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":795831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[86,56,54,55,4297,4298,4299],"class_list":["post-795830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-virtual-reality","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-virtual-reality","tag-virtualreality","tag-vr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}