RayNeo Air 2s review: pushing pocketable entertainment boundaries

You can save $100 right now if you pre-order the RayNeo Air 2s from its official page here.

In addition, RayNeo tells us it's running a giveaway: 100 buyers will be getting a free PocketTV and JoyDock.

This offer is only available until August 15, so be quick if you're interested!

Design, build quality, controls

The RayNeo Air 2s have a distinctly futuristic RayNeo design, quite similar to the company's previous RayNeo Air 2 glasses. At just 78 grams, they're lightweight and comfortable, with razor-thin lenses sporting a little logo in their corners.

The soft nose pads are interchangeable, and the frames of the glasses can be adjusted between 9 different angles, so anyone should be able to get a comfortable wearing and viewing experience.

The right frame of the glasses ends with a USB-C port, where you plug in a cable to connect them with either the RayNeo PocketTV (sold separately), or any other smart device you may want to use them with, such as your smartphone.

On the bottom of the frames we have volume and brightness keys, plus a menu key. Each frame also contains two speakers – one on the bottom and one up top; four in total.

Behind the top half of the lenses is of course a familiar prism, that reflects the glasses' built-in screens directly into your eyes.

And at the top center, on the inside, we have a sensor for convenient wearing detection, which automatically switches the glasses on and off, whenever you need them to be either.

Overall, the build quality is nice, the RayNeo Air 2s are very comfortable, and it's worth noting that they also come with a lovely protective case.



The case is bigger than what we usually get with such XR glasses, but that extra space is perfect for fitting not only the glasses, but their USB-C cable, in its own separate compartment, plus the RayNeo PocketTV, if you own it. The case closes with a zipper, and the fact that it can hold pretty much everything you need makes up for its unusually large size.

Screen quality and viewing experience

The RayNeo Air 2s boast some impressive brightness and clarity. The company says these can go up to 5000 nits of brightness, and it shows – the screens can get super bright and remain perfectly visible even when you're wearing them outside, in sunlight.

As for the clarity part, we're told the RayNeo Air 2s have double the edge clarity of their predecessor, and it shows.

Glasses like these create a private cinema experience for the user, by giving them a large virtual screen in a tiny package, but in many cases the virtual screen you get tends to have blurry corners. In this case – the corners are sharper than usual, although not quite perfect just yet. Still – better than, or at the very least equal to the competition.

Speaking of perfect, that brightness, paired with how vibrant and sharp the virtual screen is, adds up to arguably the best pocketable private cinema experience we've seen yet.

Watching movies or YouTube videos with the RayNeo Air 2s is a joy, making them invaluable on plane flights, or if you're working on the go and need an affordable, pocketable external display, or simply for enjoyment at home when the TV is being used by somebody else.

The virtual screen they provide appears way sharper than any VR headsets and AR glasses we've tested yet, or at the very least, it's head to head with the best of the latter. But yeah, if we unfairly compare them to VR headsets – these are significantly better and sharper, not to mention infinitely more convenient, lightweight and socially acceptable to use in public.

I should also mention that the RayNeo Air 2's lenses are noticeably darker than most other similar XR glasses we've tried, meaning they work very effectively as normal sunglasses too. It would've been great to see the opacity-switching functionality of the Xreal Air 2 Pro, but if you don't mind the fixed, fairly strong darkening these lenses provide, it's all good.

Just keep in mind that if you're using them at home, you'll have a hard time seeing through your virtual display and lenses, which, to be fair, could be a plus and exactly what you want – to immerse yourself into your content without distractions.

Sound quality

Besides their exceptional brightness and fantastic screen, these glasses aim to deliver the best sound you can squeeze out of such a tiny body too.

The RayNeo Air 2s glasses boast 4 built-in speakers into their frames, and it shows – they indeed pump out arguably the best sound we've heard from any smart XR glasses yet.

While there's still no bass, as expected, the mids and highs are incredibly crisp. The volume can go anywhere between super quiet and private, to very loud and immersive. Whether you're listening to music, podcasts, or watching movies, the stereo effect is fantastic, with each sound clearly separated, and coming from distinctly the position it was recorded at.

And at higher volume levels, and I'm sorry to reuse the word, the audio makes for an exceptionally immersive experience.

Huge props to RayNeo for pushing the envelope on that one, with hardly anything to complain about in the audio department. I don't know how realistic it is to wish for bass next, but I am hoping we'll see XR glasses figure that out in the near future too.

Because the RayNeo Air 2s, like many XR glasses of this kind, are pretty much the ideal portable entertainment device – they have the gorgeous virtual screen, the built-in speakers, and the latter are already crushing what dedicated audio glasses or neckband speakers in this price range can offer alone.

I'd love to see this concept further pushed into perfection, and again – props to RayNeo for clearly making a noticeable effort.

Built-in menu options

As mentioned previously, unlike most XR glasses of this kind, the RayNeo Air 2s have a special key that shows an option menu, built into them. That's great to have, and I wish more glasses did it, but let's look at what that built-in menu has to offer.

So first, it lets you switch the sound from normal to a so-called "whisper mode," which appears to make the audio softer and quieter, presumably so it can be less noticeable to the people around you, so as to not disturb them.

The effect isn't too strong, but if you're just using these at low volume levels, I doubt you'll disturb anyone anyway. At high volume, though – obviously people around you can hear what you're watching.

Another option is to switch the refresh rate between either 60Hz and 120Hz, the maximum available here.

The third and final option in this menu is "Display Color," which can be either "Standart," "Vibrant," and "Soft." While the first two speak for themselves, the "Soft" one is a bit weird to me, as it looks like a combination between vibrant and brighter-than-normal. But for each their own, I suppose, it's great having those options built-in nonetheless; and rare.

My only complaint is that this menu could've been expanded with more, much needed features like virtual screen positioning and resizing. A built-in feature like that would've made these glasses far more appealing than the competition, and it's something I've been asking for while reviewing pretty much all XR glasses. But oh well. Maybe a software update or a future iteration could expand on that.

RayNeo PocketTV – build quality, operating system and apps

If you want to make the most of your RayNeo Air 2s glasses, you have the option of buying the company's PocketTV, and this is the section we'll cover that in.

It's a lovely, pocketable, remote-like smart device designed specifically for RayNeo's glasses. The PocketTV has a smooth plastic build with rounded corners, fits nicely in the hand, has two USB-C ports for charging and connecting to the glasses respectively, a much-welcome microSD card slot for expandable storage, and smart TV controls up front.

At the top left we have a power button, and at the top right – a lovely ring of LED lights indicating its charge level.

Internally, the RayNeo PocketTV is running the Google TV operating system, like another smart device for XR glasses we've reviewed – the Rokid Station.

After the usual Google TV setup process, where you pair it to a Wi-Fi hotspot and log into your Google account, you're off to download apps, transfer files to the device, and stream content with it.

Frankly, I much prefer Xreal's solution for its smart glasses – the full Android 14-running Xreal Beam Pro – but the convenience and simplicity of Google TV we get here might be preferable to a lot of users nonetheless.

The RayNeo PocketTV is simply a portable Google TV device, with seemingly nothing beyond that to take advantage of the XR-capable glasses you're meant to connect to it, so there isn't much to talk about here.

If you've used Google TV – picture that, but on a virtual screen inside the lenses of those glasses instead. You can download pretty much any streaming app you normally use, or transfer your own videos to it, and watch them on the go, with no issues. You can also download mobile games, or cast (via Chromecast) from another device onto this one.

There's definitely something cool about having this dedicated entertainment gadget in your pocket, connected to your XR glasses, but it's not exactly the most exceptional offering we've seen so far. To be fair, it has pretty much everything most people likely want out of a device like that – entertainment on the go, including 3D content, without having to reach for your smartphone. And again, that microSD card slot for expandable storage (up to 2TB) is super welcome.

There's a pretty large battery inside, which is likely why the RayNeo PocketTV weighs about 388 grams, more than most smartphones, but this could be considered a fair compromise, at least in my mind, as I much prefer longer battery life over having a needlessly thin and light device.

We'll talk about the PocketTV's battery size and battery life in a dedicated section below.

Using the RayNeo Air 2s with other devices (smartphones, Steam Deck)

If you buy just the RayNeo Air 2s glasses without the PocketTV, as I assume most people will, you can still obviously use them as an external display for pretty much any smart device you own – be that your smartphone, tablet, gaming console, or laptop.

When connected to a smartphone, the RayNeo Air 2s immediately start mirroring its screen, allowing you to watch Netflix, YouTube, and all other content other you normally do, conveniently, in bed, on the go, at the gym, or in whichever other scenario you'll find this sunglasses form factor useful.

I normally pair these glasses with my portable gaming consoles, and unsurprisingly – the experience is great. As soon as you connect them to (in this case) the Steam Deck, its screen gets mirrored on a huge, way better-looking virtual screen right in front of your eyes, making for an amazing, futuristic portable gaming setup.

There isn't much of an input lag, and obviously the visuals and sound quality are vastly improved from using the Steam Deck's built-in low-res screen and humble speakers alone.

Of course, for productivity on the go, you can also connect the RayNeo Air 2s with, say, your MacBook or iPad, and get an external screen that you can later fit back in your pocket. Again – convenience!

Battery life and charging

While the RayNeo Air 2s don't have a battery and don't need charging, as they dip into whatever smart device they're connected to instead, we'll cover the RayNeo PocketTV in this section.

The optional, sold-separately RayNeo PocketTV is a smart device with a large (6,500mAh) built-in battery, running the Google TV operating system, as previously covered.

In terms of battery life, RayNeo promises about 5.5 hours before you'll need to charge it, and in our testing, this looks like a reasonable estimate.

As for the charging process itself, we have a USB-C port separate from the one that connects to the glasses, meaning you can charge and use the PocketTV at the same time, with no issues.

Verdict

The RayNeo Air 2s are a fantastic bang for your buck if you can get them for the early bird price of $299. But even at $399, these offer arguably the best screen and sound quality you can have in such a tiny package, making them well worth it, especially if you compare them against the price of the traditional alternative option – a dedicated tablet and earbuds. Those will cost you more, while likely delivering lesser image quality. Won't just fit in your pocket either!

As for the optional PocketTV you can buy and use with these glasses – it is a perfectly capable Google TV device for its price of about $180, albeit I definitely wouldn't call it a necessity, considering you can simply connect the glasses to your smartphone, and enjoy all the content you may need, on the go, with just those two devices.