RayNeo’s cheap smart glasses announcement is what I've been waiting for

A person wearing the RayNeo Air 3s glasses while striking a cool pose
(Image credit: RayNeo)

  • RayNeo announces launch month for RayNeo Air 3s glasses at MWC
  • They're landing in April and only cost $259
  • Despite being cheaper, they boast better specs than the last-gen Air 2s

RayNeo has set a release month for its RayNeo Air 3s XR glasses at MWC 2025 – with their budget-friendly smart specs due to land in April at a price of $259 (UK pricing to be confirmed). Based on what we’ve seen, these could be the affordable smart specs we’ve been waiting for.

These smart glasses serve as a wearable display for compatible tech like your phone, tablet, console, or RayNeo’s accessories such as its Pocket TV. They virtually project the screen in front of you like your own private movie theater – and even have in-built speakers to complete the package (though the small speakers can struggle at times)

Plus the Air 3s glasses boast several upgrades over the RayNeo Air 2s, with a 650 nits peak brightness, a larger eye box field of view, improved colors and contrast ratio, and all in a 2g-lighter 76g package.

They even look to handle the typically unimpressive audio you get from smart glasses with RayNeo promising its Air 3s glasses offer a 200% superior sound with improved highs, mids, and bass thanks to a new dual-speaker design. If that wasn’t enough, they’re also uber affordable with the new glasses costing almost half of what the $399 RayNeo Air 2s would set you back.

This marks the first of three smart glasses TCL and RayNeo plan to launch this year, with the RayNeo X3 Pro and RayNeo V3 (which we saw at CES 2025) due to land at some point too, though no specifics have been given yet.

The budget specs we've been missing

Xreal Air 2 Ultra on a table next to a keyboard

Smart glasses aren't cheap (Image credit: Future)

We’ll need to test them out for ourselves, but the RayNeo Air 3s glasses might just be the next best cheap smart glasses on our list of the best smart glasses if they can stick the landing.

These wearable displays are some of my favorite gadgets for travelling – whether commuting on a train or taking a flight – but also for using at home when I want to lie back in bed and still enjoy a big-picture experience with a show or movie. I just used a pair of Xreal specs I’m testing for a review on flights to and from Italy and they were perfect.

Unfortunately, many of this style of smart glasses aren’t the most affordable – typically landing around $400 / £400. What’s more, they can seem a little disappointing, usually offering audio that necessitates you get a pair of headphones (due to quality and sound leakage). They also typically offer merely full-HD image resolution, and you may need to buy an add-on like RayNeo’s Pocket TV or Xreal’s Beam Pro to feel like you’re getting a complete package.

At a lower $259 price, the RayNeo Air 3s makes some of these issues easier to stomach, and it sounds like the specs aren’t just settling for mediocrity either – lowering the price while simultaneously bringing upgrades over last-gen’s specs.

If they can live up to the hype, the RayNeo Air 3s specs might have put everyone on notice, and could be the glasses you need to buy if you want to dip your toes into the world of XR beyond the best VR headsets.

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Hamish Hector
Senior Staff Writer, News

Hamish is a Senior Staff Writer for TechRadar and you’ll see his name appearing on articles across nearly every topic on the site from smart home deals to speaker reviews to graphics card news and everything in between. He uses his broad range of knowledge to help explain the latest gadgets and if they’re a must-buy or a fad fueled by hype. Though his specialty is writing about everything going on in the world of virtual reality and augmented reality.

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