XREAL has officially announced its next major hardware iteration with the upcoming release of the XREAL AURA. Based on the company’s latest press release, these new tethered XR glasses are set to launch later this year, with pre-orders opening today exclusively for early reservation holders. I’ve reviewed, and liked, XREAL’s glasses in the past, so I expect this admittedly more ambitious offering to live up to the hype.

Starting at $1,279, the XREAL AURA represents a significant collaboration between XREAL, Google, and Qualcomm. The hardware utilizes a split-compute architecture designed to keep the headset comfortable. The optical see-through glasses weigh in at under 95 grams, while the heavy processing is offloaded to a tethered compute puck powered by the Snapdragon Reality Elite platform.

The puck doubles as a trackpad for navigation and runs Android XR with full Google Play support, bringing integrated Google Gemini capabilities directly to the spatial computing environment. On the hardware side, XREAL is packing in a massive 70-degree field of view, precise hand tracking, and built-in Sound by Bose to round out the immersive experience.

As for availability, XREAL is rolling the AURA out in phases. Right now, only customers who previously placed a paid reservation can officially complete their pre-orders. General availability is expected in the coming weeks. The system comes in two distinct configurations: a 12GB RAM/256GB storage model for $1,279, and a higher-tier 16GB RAM/512GB storage version for $1,499. The initial launch wave targets the United States, Canada, Japan, and South Korea, with broader market expansion slated for 2027.

You can find more details or check pre-order status directly at XREAL’s AURA page. I hope to take a look at these glasses in the near future.