I’ve spent months in the lab testing the latest AR glasses from Xreal and Viture. By “lab,” I mean cozied up on my couch each night, playing my Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch 2 on a huge, virtual screen that only I can see through these glasses.

No available model has all nine, but the latest pairs from Xreal and Viture come pretty close. Using AR glasses as a portable display for your handhelds (and other USB-C devices, like phones, tablets, and laptops) is nothing new. However, the latest versions have one must-have feature in common: three degrees of freedom, or 3DoF, which lets you anchor the screen anywhere you’d like, as opposed to having it nauseatingly wiggle with every head movement.

The comfort, sound quality, and ease of use of Xreal’s glasses are second to none. The 1S is the lightest model at just 85 grams, with great weight distribution on thinner temple arms than Viture’s Beast. Audio through their temple arms delivers better-sounding results thanks to Bose tuning, making music, movies, and games more enjoyable even at low volumes.

The superior contrast and clarity of Viture’s Beast glasses are a standout feature. The picture quality looks great regardless of where you use these glasses because their optics cut down on reflections (though they’re not “4K-like,” as Viture misleadingly advertises). The Xreal One Pro glasses also produce fantastic visuals but come with a pricier tag.

The user experience is more polished across the board with Xreal’s glasses. My Steam Deck and phone are faster to connect to the Xreal 1S, and the learning curve is lower. Xreal currently has the better 3DoF implementation simply because the screen stays put when it’s anchored. With Viture Beast glasses, the “anchored” screen moves, slowly sliding out of view, which is a deal-breaker.