Watching movies on XREAL a01 smart glasses reviewed
TechCrunch tests the XREAL a01 smart glasses by watching Wild at Heart, weighing immersion against the redundancy of a 14-inch laptop screen.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- XREAL a01 smart glasses, released in May 2026, are optimized for gaming and media.
- They project a screen equivalent to 147 inches but require tethered connections.
- Upcoming Project Aura aims to solve these limitations with standalone processing.
As a huge film enthusiast, TechCrunch's Lucas Ropek sought out a new viewing medium by testing the XREAL a01 smart glasses, one of the company's newer models released in May 2026. While the a01 is specifically optimized for gaming through connections with a Steam Deck or other handheld gaming devices, XREAL also markets the eyewear as a viable display for watching movies and television shows.
To test this feature, he plugged the a01 directly into his personal laptop, launched the Criterion Channel, and streamed David Lynch's Wild at Heart. The viewing experience featured sequences like Nicolas Cage wearing a snakeskin jacket while brawling in a bar and singing an Elvis tune. XREAL claims that the projected image inside the glasses delivers an immersive experience equivalent to viewing content on a massive 147-inch screen.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
However, this setup raises a fundamental question: why wear smart glasses to watch a film playing on a laptop located just 14 inches away? This redundancy prompts users to question the device's actual utility. Furthermore, connecting the glasses to an older iPhone requires an adaptor due to port incompatibilities, while using a separate Beam Pro streaming hub as an isolated station costs an additional $200.
XREAL continues refining its hardware lineup, addressing the existential design dilemmas of the a01 in its unreleased Project Aura headset, which was previewed during Google I/O earlier in 2026. Powered by Android XR—an extended reality operating system co-developed by Google and Samsung—Project Aura introduces several major hardware upgrades.
The evolution of smart glasses highlights a shift from passive secondary displays to fully capable spatial computing devices. Integrating dedicated operating systems like Android XR with native hand tracking and app store access represents a critical milestone for augmented reality usability, though overcoming hardware bulk and tethering remains an industry-wide challenge.
Unlike the a01, Project Aura features native hand tracking, direct access to the Google Play Store, and a pocket-sized tethered puck that functions as both a power source and a compute node. This addition significantly enhances user mobility by eliminating the need to remain physically wired to a separate host computer during media consumption.
Source: TechCrunch
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