The wearable technology market is seeing a new rivalry between the Google-Xreal Aura and Meta’s new VR glasses. Both devices, which were recently demonstrated to journalists in the San Francisco Bay Area, weigh roughly 100 grams, marking a significant step toward more compact head-mounted displays.

Xreal has officially opened pre-orders for the Aura, with the base model starting at $1,279. This price point places the device in direct competition with Meta’s offering, which costs only $20 more. The base configuration for the Aura includes 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. A higher-tier version featuring 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage is also available for $1,499.

There is some uncertainty regarding the practical necessity of the higher RAM configuration. According to The Verge, Xreal representatives were unable to clarify whether the 16GB of RAM would provide a tangible performance benefit for specific applications at the time of publication. While both outlets acknowledge the arrival of these "face computers," they differ slightly in their focus; The Verge emphasizes the competitive pricing and hardware specifications, while Wired frames the development as a milestone in the overall quality and maturity of wearable technology.