It was announced yesterday that the consumer version of nReal’s augmented reality headset device will be launched in early 2020 at a price that slashes those of its counterparts such as Hololens 2 and Magicleap One.

Back in January’s Consumer Electronic Show, the Chinese tech firm were able to offer a demo of their device. Nreal Light has a distinct appearance that resembles a typical pair of sunglasses and weighs just 88 grams.

It was believed that the device would cost on the region of $999. However, nReal has made a surprise announcement that their consumer edition will go on sale for under 500 bucks, marking a major milestone in the augmented / mixed reality headset market.

For the price of $499, consumers can get their hands on the, well, “Consumer Kit”. This consists of the AR headset that connects with USB-C. However, if you want more in depth action with your device, $1,199 will get you the developers kit. This version will be released a couple of months earlier than the Consumer edition and benefits from the addition of a single handheld 3DoF controller and a plug-in processing pack.

We can expect this version to become available in September while the Consumer version can be expected to be put up for sale in the weeks or months following the festive holidays.

As reported by Cnet, the device works using a hip-pack processer which connects through USB-C using a limited number of Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 phones. The first of which is the Black Shark 2 mobile which has been primarily used for gaming purposes.  As stated on Nreal.AI, simply plug in to your phone and go!

Additional Features

The glasses consist of a dual display that show 3D images layered into the real world. Another feature of nReal’s mixed reality glasses is that they’re foldable, making them one of the most efficient devices to take wherever you go.

What you will not find with nReal are true depth sensing in the front cameras (as found with both Hololens and Magic Leap devices). On the flip side, their 3D capabilities are an improvement over other small-size, lower-power smart specs and the sound quality is said to be amazing.

2019 has been an exciting year for developments of AR and mixed reality glasses. Qualcomm have announced big plans to make many VR and AR headsets work with next-gen phones. Because of this, we can expect 2020 to see a whole lot more similar headsets to hit the market.

Watch this space!