I tried the groundbreaking Apple Vision Pro alternative, which is significantly cheaper

WEARABLE technology is the talk of the town thanks to the Apple Vision Pro.

But with a hefty price tag of $3,499 (£2,773), it's well out of the reach of affordability for most people.

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There are some less powerful alternatives available for those who are more interested in basic visual content (i.e. watching TV and movies) than augmented reality features.

That's where XREAL hopes to come in with its smart glasses that cost a fraction of the cost – and the company has plans for something even bigger in March to take on Apple.

So what better place to test out a wearable than on a long flight in the comfort of Virgin Atlantic Upper Class, where I can sit back and see if the XREAL Air 2 Pro is worth it.

XREAL Air 2 Pro: how does it work?

The XREAL Air 2 Pro can connect to anything that supports USB-C – which is most things these days – so Android phones, laptops and even gaming consoles.

Obviously the iPhone 15 just adopted USB-C so it works with that too, but for older iPhones that still have a Lightning cable you really need a separate device called the “Beam” to fully work – more about that later.

The XREAL Air 2 Pro essentially creates a virtual projection of what's on the screen of the device you've connected.

What you see can be expanded to create a virtual floating screen up to 130 inches wide, all generated by two 0.55-inch Sony micro-OLED displays at 1080p resolution.

The XREAL Air 2 Pro is a groundbreaking gadget for a completely different viewing experience, especially if you like good television and a movie

The Pro version has electrochromic dimming, so you can cover the glasses with clear or shaded vision – an attachable light cover makes it completely dark.

There are interchangeable nose clips to keep it comfortable and you can even add a prescription lens (at an additional cost).

XREAL has an AR gaming app called Nebula… but I couldn't get it to work, which leads to my next point.

XREAL Air 2 Pro: Setup

Setting up the XREAL Air 2 Pro is a bit of a hassle depending on the device you're using.

If you have a USB-C smartphone it's certainly a lot easier – although not every handset is supported so be sure to check XREAL's list earlier.

But an iPhone with a Lightning cable (and other unsupported devices) will require you to buy the separate Beam display adapter – and that involves a whole bunch of wires, as you can see in the image below.

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While this is a bit messy, Beam allows you to switch between modes, such as a static screen, a screen that moves with you, or a picture-in-picture (so the video is a small insert in the corner).

If you use a computer, you can create multiple screens around you.

Once connected to your phone, it essentially mirrors what's showing on the handset's screen, so you don't miss any apps.

Of course, when you fly you really have to think ahead and download some shows or movies, and that's exactly what I did with Netflix.

XREAL Air 2 Pro: what is it like?

Sitting back and being able to watch whatever I wanted on my Virgin Atlantic flight from a huge virtual screen that no one else could see was a dream.

I prefer keeping the screen in a locked position – the option that moves with you made me dizzy.

The images are very sharp, although 4K would have been even better.

The sound comes from small speakers built into the goggles that weren't powerful enough for a flight, so Bluetooth earbuds were definitely a must (and I'd probably discourage them from flights as well, so you don't annoy people).

The ability to dim the glasses is the main difference between the XREAL Air 2 and XREAL Air 2 Pro, which is a useful addition, but most of the time I preferred using them in complete darkness. You can just add the cover to make it 100 percent black.

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