Today I'm reviewing the new Viture Luma Pro XR Glasses, it’s Viture’s Biggest launch to date and I'll be comparing them to the Apple Vision Pro, one of the most incredible but expensive VR Headsets.
We'll also look at the Meta Ray Bans, which are by far one of my best purchases from last year. The race to combine both of these into a pair of regular glasses is definitely on.
And so for the past week, I’ve been trying out the new Viture Luma Pro XR Glasses. And for the right use cases, they’re SO good. But, if you don’t fit into one of those specific use cases, you might want to skip them.
The Viture Luma Pro XR Glasses
They’re not like a Vision Pro OR Ray Bans, but they’ve got a lot going for them.
Think of a pair of glasses, that has a tiny screen projected onto each lens, and then there’s this magnetically attached cable that you can basically plug into anything.
Plug it into your Laptop - Boom, you have a virtual 152” Screen on your face.
Plug it into your Phone - You have a 152” Screen to watch movies or scroll TikTok.
OR - Plug it into something like a Nintendo Switch, or SteamDeck with this additional adapter, and now you can game on that huge 152” screen as well.
Design
In terms of their design, they have this really cool semi-transparent design going on, I LOVE this whole aesthetic, it’s very Nothing.
The rear parts are flexible so they’re more comfortable to wear and they also light up with some dynamic lightning effects, which you can disable because - I’m not quite sure why you’d want lights on the back of your glasses. That's just a personal choice.
That aside, the design of these glasses are such that you can pack away in the provided case, along with the required cable - and tuck them away for when you need to use them.
And when you do use them, they work REALLY well. The lenses themselves are designed to get NO glare or reflections or distortion, so it gives you a super clear image.
And you don’t feel self conscious putting these on in public, like I certainly do when putting on a Vision Pro or Meta Quest headset.
What do you use them for
So in the past week of me using these daily, there are a few things that the glasses are REALLY GOOD for, which for me, is why I’m legitimately going to continue using them.
The first is when travelling, when you have to sit at awkward angles like, staring down at your phone screen, when all you want to do is just rest your head back and relax.
With these glasses, you can! Throw on a movie, it plays the audio through built-in Harman Audio Speakers which are pretty good - but I’d highly recommend throwing in some proper earbuds for this, and then you get a more immersive and better cinema quality like experience.
They’re just perfect for travelling - on a Bus, on a Train, Plane, a Car, literally anywhere. And like I said, it doesn’t look weird, this is one of the main benefits with something like this over something like an Apple Vision Pro. You just look like some guy who’s wearing sunglasses.
And, with a push of a button, the glasses change from transparent to dark lenses, so you can choose whether you want to see everything around you, or just focus on what you’re watching.
The glasses are also tiny. I can fit them in my bag, or if you have deep pockets perhaps. So it’s nothing like travelling with a bigger VR headset, which are considerably larger.
In comparison, it's a totally different use case to what you can do with Meta or Apple Vision pro. I love that the Viture Luma Pro XR Glasses are Super lightweight and can be taken pretty much anywhere.
You can also hook them into your laptop, which helps you to work productively on a huge display, instead of hunching down over your laptop. And actually, if you are a Samsung DeX User - these are KILLER.
Pack a keyboard and mouse into your bag and you can literally hook your phone up to the glasses via USB-C, and then use Samsung DeX to get a full on desktop experience, multi tasking, watching videos, replying to emails, writing documents - all sorts of stuff, ALL from your phone!
This is the sort of stuff we should be able to do with things like the iPad with those hugely powerful M-series chips, but we can’t - because, well, you know, Apple.
And then there are a few other use cases that I’ve picked up over the past week. If you doomscroll whilst in bed, you can doomscroll without worrying about dropping your phone on your face. Now you can just doomscroll with the glasses on.
You could use them when walking around with your phone hooked up whilst following directions and you COULD use them whilst driving - but I don’t think that’s even allowed, or recommended, so maybe don’t do that.
Quality of Screen
To point out the perhaps obvious elephant in the room - no, they are not as good as a dedicated monitor. They’re not as good as an Apple Vision Pro, and that's because you are comparing a circa 400 to 500 pound pair of XR glasses, to something that is double, or in Apple’s case, 7 times the cost.
And they’re very different product categories, and for different purposes.
You buy a Meta Quest for Gaming, maybe productivity. You buy a Vision Pro for productivity and entertainment. And in my opinion, you buy a pair of the Viture Luma Pro XR Glasses if you fit into one of the examples I just gave you.
Compact, lightweight, easy to travel with, and they achieve what they’re designed for, very well.
Spacewalker App
There is also the SpaceWalker app which opens up a few other options.
From turning 2D content into 3D, there’s also Xbox Cloud Gaming as well as Xbox Remote Play, along with a bunch of video streaming apps, which are all great and lots of fun.
But I just find that the real purpose for these glasses - for me, is really for travelling. So this is what I still intend to use them for.
Tech Specs
As far as the tech specs for these glasses go - they come in 2 sizes, Regular, and Large.
They have a 1200p Resolution, so not 4K, slightly better than 1080P. But they have been optimised with some clever Sony technology that is definitely sharper than 1080p. They say it delivers near 4K Sharpness.
And the Viture Luma Pro XR Glasses are 50% Sharper than the previous gen Viture Pro. You also get Harman powered speakers.
There’s also Myopia Adjustment from -6 for Luma and -4 for Luma Pro using scroll wheels at the top.
Tapping the top right button once adjusts the ElectroChromic film between dark and transparent. If you double tap you can enable the extra lighting. Tapping the left button once switches between brightness and volume, which you can then control using the 2 buttons next to it.
You can long press that button to switch them on or off or double press to switch between different colour modes.
The arms themselves can tilt which gives you more adjustability to make sure they’re comfortable and so the screen inside lines up properly with your line of vision.
There are 3 different nose pads which are magnetically attached and you can swap them out really easily.
Gaming Experience
Earlier I mentioned that you could hook up something like a Nintendo Switch 2 or a Steam Deck and then game using these glasses. It’s a surprisingly good experience, again, with the same benefits as I mentioned earlier with not hunching over a small screen.
You can play those smaller handheld games, but on a much larger, more enjoyable display.
Problems
But as with anything, there are drawbacks.
Since the glasses are powered by the device you are connecting them to - you, might want to pack a power bank with you when you travel, if you don’t already.
Also, even though there are swappable nose pieces, I found that it can still leave a dent on your nose when wearing them for prolonged periods, however it isn’t really that much of an issue, it’s nowhere NEAR the huge red marks left by the Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest Headsets.
And then, if you do want to use it as an extension of your phone to call or text or write emails you can, however, you can’t see the phone's keyboard, so you still have to inevitably look down at your phone to type, which, kind of defeats the purpose.
And then lastly, these types of XR Glasses are still in the same kind of position where they were this time last year in that, unless you are using them to watch content, then you don’t really want to wear them.
Because although they do function somewhat as a pair of regular sunglasses - they just aren’t as comfortable as a pair of Meta Ray Bans.
Should you buy them
So if you do buy them, know what you’re buying them for. Because for the right person - these are fantastic - and as you’re reading this, I will actually be flying back from New York for Galaxy Unpacked and these will most definitely be with me.
