- Asus announces ROG XREAL R1 AR gaming glasses at CES 2026
- These glasses will pair with its ROG Ally handhelds, as well as PCs and consoles
- They will land in the first half of 2026, but no price has yet been announced.
Reports of the death of Asus’ XR projects have been greatly exaggerated, and at CES 2026 it announced a partnership with XREAL to deliver the ROG XREAL R1 AR gaming glasses – giving the Asus ROG Xbox Ally
These smart glasses are what we learned from XREAL, but this time the focus is on Asus’ PC technology. You can connect them directly to a compatible device (like a ROG Ally) using the USB-C cable to display that device’s screen on a giant virtual display (171 inches at 4m), or use the included ROG Control Dock.
This dock includes DisplayPortTM 1.4 and two HDMI 2.0 ports so you can seamlessly switch between using the glasses with your PC or console. Asus promises that this will be done in a “single click”.
As for the glasses themselves, it looks like we’re in for a treat. They feature 0.55-inch Sony Full HD (1920 x 1080) micro-OLED displays with a peak brightness of 700 nits and a 57-degree field of view. It’s identical to the XREAL One Pro glasses that I loved, so I imagine the XREAL R1 glasses also rely on the same optical engine which is sleek and delivers a crystal clear image better than other similar smart specs I’ve tried – I contacted XREAL to clarify this point, however, as the press release sent to me doesn’t confirm my suspicions.
The big improvement in these specs, however, is their 240Hz refresh rate – the highest yet for this type of portable display. This puts the specs firmly in the “built for gamers” camp, as a smooth, smooth frame rate is required for any type of elite-level gamer.
You’ll also get the usual Bose-tuned audio and electrochromic dimmable lenses that we’re used to seeing from XREAL. In my experience, this means the headphones are useful but not essential unless you’re traveling, and these specs should be suitable for a wide range of environments.
Finally, we know that the new Asus ROG XREAL R1 AR gaming glasses “will ship globally in the first half of 2026,” but neither XREAL nor Asus have revealed how much they will cost when they do. Based on how similar they are to the XREAL One Pro’s specs, I wouldn’t hold my breath for less than $649/£579, but we’ll have to wait and see.
And that’s not all we’ll have to wait for when it comes to Asus’ XR plans…
One more sign to come?
The press release I received ahead of today’s Asus XREAL announcement made no mention of “Android
That’s because XREAL has announced that Android XR specs are on the way, and given the utility Android
While we can only speculate, it wouldn’t be surprising if this ROG Xreal R1 product is what played a role in Asus and Horizon OS’s divorce from Meta. For Asus, the glasses perhaps make more sense as an addition to its ecosystem than a full VR headset – existing as an upgrade for its ROG handhelds rather than as a headset somehow replacing them (much like how the Steam Frame headset is a sort of portable Steam Deck).
For Meta, it could be that the partnership with Asus Xreal – especially because of the Xreal’s proximity to Android XR – crossed a line that was no longer comfortable.
We will probably never know why Asus and Meta parted ways. Instead, we can just get excited about the Asus ROG XREAL R1 AR gaming glasses and patiently hope that this is the first of many Asus smart specs.
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