A lot of innovation is happening in the wearable tech space, especially when you look at AR and smart glasses.
More CES 2026
• Start: Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026
• End: Friday, Jan. 9, 2026
• Where: Las Vegas, Nevada
• More info: Windows Central @ CES
AR glasses are already a great choice for elevating your gaming experience, whether you’re at home, in bed, or traveling, but the ROG XREAL R1 glasses shown at CES 2026 want to be the best in the category. Here’s what you need to know, including why anyone should consider this over XREAL’s main offerings.
Peak performance for gaming on the go
However, these glasses double the refresh rate to an unheard of 240Hz, and lower the latency from 3ms to just 2ms. Both those numbers matter a lot when it comes to competitive gaming. There are other similarities and differences, too.
The ROG XREAL R1 borrows the excellent Bose stereo speakers, electrochromic dimming, and 3DoF tracking, but doesn’t boast the XREAL X1 spatial computing chip or support for the XREAL Eye attachment that enables 6DoF tracking. It also weighs about 4g more, but it still isn’t heavy for a pair of AR glasses at 91g.
ASUS and XREAL took some of the best bits of the amazing XREAL One Pro glasses, and then ramped up the gaming performance.
On the ASUS side of things, the company designed the ROG XREAL R1 glasses with the Xbox Ally gaming handhelds in mind, guaranteeing plug-and-play support and full compatibility through the USB-C ports. These glasses will also be released alongside the new ASUS ROG Control Dock, which will feature a DisplayPort and two HDMI 2.0 ports to connect to devices that don’t support USB-C display output.
That basically sums it up — the ASUS ROG XREAL R1 trades some of the spatial tracking and productivity-focused features of the flagship XREAL One Pro in favor of improved gaming performance. AR glasses are already awesome for gaming, so this collaboration makes a lot of sense. It’s also practically guaranteed to be significantly better than the ASUS AirVision M1 glasses I reviewed.
It’ll all depend on price, but we don’t have that information… yet. The ASUS ROG XREAL R1 AR glasses should release in the first half of 2026, but we’ll have to wait to know exactly how much they’ll cost you.
Have you experienced AR glasses for yourself, and do you think they’re worth it? Let us know in the comments below!
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