Xreal first introduced the new R1 Gaming AR Glasses, part of a partnership with Asus ROG, at CES 2026, and they're now available to pre-order globally.

Gamers can pre-order the pricey smart glasses at Best Buy starting today for $849; they'll be available for pre-order through the Xreal online store starting May 17. Pickups from Best Buy will begin May 25.

Everything we know about the new ROG and Xreal R1 AR glasses

The R1 was one of the coolest products I tested at CES 2026 — and I tested pretty much all of the smart glasses on display at the annual tech show. (At the time, I wrote, "I've seen a lot of cool products at CES, but Xreal has the coolest demo I've seen yet.") Plug them into a gaming handheld, Xbox console, or gaming PC, and these augmented reality glasses project a massive 171-inch virtual screen into the air. Unlike Xreal's other AR glasses, they're optimized for gaming specifically and come with an ROG Control Dock.

Xreal says the R1 is the world's first and fastest AR glasses with a 240Hz refresh rate (with boosted frame rate enabled). Back at CES, I got to play Elden Ring and other games using the glasses. I was impressed by the graphics, color clarity, smoothness, and overall speed, and I had no trouble believing they could achieve a 240Hz refresh rate. For comparison, the latest Viture Beast gaming glasses max out at 120Hz. The glasses also support Xreal's real-time 2D-to-3D conversion, which works surprisingly well in my testing.

The glasses weren't overly heavy on my face, which is always a concern with smart glasses.

Xreal is positioning the glasses as a premium product, and with an $849 price tag, they have to be. According to Xreal, the glasses work best when used with last year's ROG Xbox Ally X handheld gaming console.

A press release states:

"The R1 unlocks a new dimension of handheld gaming through synchronized dual-display functionality with ROG Ally. While the glasses project a 171-inch virtual battlefield, the Ally’s built-in display remains active to allows real-time adjustments to brightness, screen size, aspect ratio, visual effects, and more – all without interrupting gameplay."

I still need to test these glasses outside of a demo environment, and I'll have a full review to share in the weeks ahead. But for early adopters ready to take the plunge, you can pre-order the glasses at Best Buy starting today.

The Asus ROG Xreal R1 Gaming AR Glasses by the numbers

• Display: Sony 0.55-inch micro-OLED displays

• Refresh rate: Up to 240Hz

• Resolution: 1920 x 1080

• Display size: 171-inch display from 4 meters away

• Field of view: 57 degrees

• Weight: 91 grams

• Peak brightness: 700 nits

• Connectivity: PCs, consoles, handhelds, Android, and iOS via USB-C

• Sound by Bose

• Electrochromic lenses

• Includes the ROG Control Dock