Tempted by the future offered by the Apple Vision Pro, but not sure you want to drop $3,499 on a headset without testing the waters first? Then this Black Friday AR glasses deal may be the one for you.
I had the privilege a few weeks back to give the TCL RayNeo Air 2 smart glasses a spin, and it gave me a renewed sense of enthusiasm for an AR-driven future where we've all got screens attached to our faces.
If you'd like to test-drive the future of computing too, you can get the smart glasses at an 8% discount from Amazon right now in its Black Friday sale, bringing the price down from $379 to $349 — a solid $30 saving for a product that's only been on the market a few short weeks.
Great VR and AR Black Friday deals
- Amazon — Smart glasses savings, including Amazon's exclusive Echo Frames
- Best Buy — Save $50 on Meta Quest 2
- Target — VR gift card bundles and headset offers
Powered by any device that's packing DisplayPort over USB-C (which includes MacBooks, iPads and the latest iPhones), the TCL RayNeo Air 2 AR glasses give the impression that you've got a 200-inch screen floating in front of your eyes.
Mirroring your device of choice, it's a surprisingly effective way of super-sizing content, without the need for a giant home cinema system.
- iPhone deals: Verizon | AT&T | Mint Mobile
- MacBook deals: Amazon | B&H Photo | Best Buy
- iPad deals: Amazon | B&H Photo | Best Buy | Walmart
As I said in my review, it's not a perfect experience — the screen can blur at its edges, and finding the sweet spot between comfort and the sharpest positioning of the glasses's screens on your nose takes some getting used to. But even if you wear prescription glasses like I do, you'll be surprised to be able to fit your regular frames underneath the TCL ones here, as the nature of the product sees the glasses sit just a little further off your face than usual.
When you do find that sweet spot, you're greeted with a sharp and vibrant display at full HD (1080p) resolution, speakers that are clear and enjoyable to use (crucially without disturbing those around you) and a set-up process that's as simple as plugging a cable from the glasses to your mirroring device of choice. For its flaws, I keep coming back to the glasses, and have found it particularly fun for super-sizing retro gaming sessions from an Android handheld I have, even weeks after I finished the review process.
Apple's alternative is certainly magnitudes more advanced than what TCL is offering here, with the 'AR' part of their naming a bit misleading — the augmented reality features here are slim, limited to Android, and play second fiddle to the screen mirroring functionality. But you can't help but feel you're glimpsing into the future when you fire them up.
A novelty? Perhaps. But with a solid saving via this Amazon deal, it's one worth trying out.
