Google just undercut Meta: its Gemini glasses got cheaper before launch

Google and Xreal have opened orders for XREAL AURA, the first wired XR glasses running Android XR. They were shown at the Android Developer Summit, and the real surprise was the price: through the end of the year the base model with 12GB of memory and 256GB of storage costs $1,099 instead of the $1,279 announced earlier. The 16GB and 512GB model goes for $1,299 instead of $1,499. Xreal says anyone who preordered at the old price will get the difference refunded automatically.

The lenses are transparent, so you see the real world with your own eyes, while app windows, video and several virtual monitors float on top of it. The glasses weigh 95 grams, and all the computing sits in a separate phone-sized puck connected by a cable. The puck runs on the Snapdragon Reality Elite platform, and its USB-C port lets you plug in a laptop or a handheld console and put the picture right in front of your eyes. Google puts the field of view at 70 degrees.

Gemini is built in. The assistant understands what you are looking at around you and on your virtual screens, and you can just talk to it. At launch there are more than 150 experiences made for XR, plus regular apps from Google Play. Google Photos is getting a spatial gallery that wraps your library around you.

Orders are open now in the US, Canada and South Korea, Japan follows on November 2, and shipping starts in mid-November. The Verge reads the discount as a way to keep the glasses competitive with Meta's.

Verdict: Google is finally in the glasses business with its own AI, and it showed up with a discount. The cable and the puck in your pocket are still part of the deal.