I switched to the RayNeo Air 4 Pro for 3 months: the best way to binge watch HDR10 video and game right on your face

Ever had that moment with any of the best AR glasses where you try to watch HDR content, and your computer violently kicks you out with a warning saying the display is “not supported”? I have, and it sucks.

HDR10 support in specs has been one of my biggest asks for the past couple of years. I expected this to come at a hefty price premium, but color me shocked to find out that this important display standard has actually arrived in some of the cheapest AR glasses you can find. Meet the RayNeo Air 4 Pros — my new favorite value pair for long haul travel.

TCL could’ve just given us HDR, dropped the mic and walked away at $299. But the team’s gone a little harder than that: improved audio quality with B&O tuned speakers, an included light blocker in the box (finally), and a 120Hz refresh rate.

Of course, given these are the cheaper glasses you can buy, there are some corners cut here and there. There is no adjustable lens tint here, and the build quality feels cheaper (on both the glasses and the case). And while you can go for a massive screen, I’d opt for more medium as to not see the edge blurring.

Still, I can’t deny that what you get for $299 is mighty impressive, and no other company has been able to match this price (yet).

Oh, and if you really want to go all out on your DC Comics obsession, there’s a Batman or Joker edition for $20 more. The amount of times I said “swear to me” while wearing these and watching my fiancee roll her eyes is countless.

RayNeo Air 4 Pro: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? This is a pair of AR glasses — plug them into any device with USB-C video out and you’ve got an external monitor right in front of your eyes.
• Who is it for? These are an ideal pair for those looking to buy their first pair of AR glasses — coming in at a nice low price.
• What does it cost? You can snag a pair for $299.
• What do we like? Price-to-performance is off the charts with improved brightness, color and contrast, HDR10 support (a first for AR glasses) and upgraded audio.
• What don’t we like? The materials used to build them are on the cheaper side; there’s no lens tint options; and the screen edges can blur.

RayNeo Air 4 Pro: Specs

RayNeo Air 4 Pro: The ups

Time for my first flight. I have a bunch of Apple TV+ content lined up, and usually I wouldn’t be able to watch this through my AR glasses because of that pesky lack of HDR. But not anymore…

HDR is here, but that’s not all

Make sure you dip into settings with the hardware menu button and select HDR10. But once you’ve done that, there’s no more barriers as to what you can watch. You don’t realize how freeing this is until you break that subconscious habit of having to keep yourself locked to SDR content. It’s massive.

But it’s not the only thing RayNeo’s done here. You see, instead of going for a standard image controller, there is now a purpose-built display chip named Vision4000, which is driving a lot of the color and brightness gains in here too. The screen is vivid and can be seen out even in bright sunlight thanks to this.

This chip drives a couple other cool features too, such as AI-driven SDR-to-HDR upscaling (works really well) and 2D-to-3D content conversion. The latter one isn’t so reliable, but the former does a good job of adding depth to flatter SDR content across all your consumption.

And the audio has seen a nice improvement too with B&O-tunes speakers for a nice deep bass quality with spatial qualities too. Plus, if you want to take things to the next level, you can attach RayNeo’s SoundTubes (sold separately) to deliver audio directly into your ears.

Strong wearability

While the materials are cheap and the aesthetic definitely stands out more than the subtle Wayfarer-esque presence of Viture or Xreal glasses, these continue to be comfortable to wear for long periods of time at 2.7 ounces. That weight alongside nice cushioned nose pads mean these sit nicely on your nose and there isn’t any real strain on your ears holding them up.

But shout-out to the underrated big move here — including the light blocker in the box! I know that electrochromic lenses are more of a premium feature, and RayNeo’s cutting costs here. So to include a physical way to just snap on a block and get completely immersed in your content is a great move.

Value for your money

All of this is under $300 (code for $299). I know a lot of the industry at the moment is chasing this spatial computing goal, and with that comes higher prices. But for the rest of us who just want a display on our face to play the Steam Deck and not get neck pain, this is the right price.

Then as the rest of the great ways to use them are revealed to you (plugging into your MacBook, using a HDMI adaptor to connect to your PS5 at home, etc), that is long-term value for money right there.

RayNeo Air 4 Pro: The downs

Of course, these are the value darlings of the AR glasses space, so there had to be some cut corners here and there.

Cheap feels

The biggest casualty is the material quality. That's not to say this impacts the comfort of wearing them, but to the touch, you can tell this is a cheaper plastic. Same with the fabric of the case.

It's not the end of the world, but it does mean you’ve got to treat the RayNeo Air 4 Pro a lot more carefully. Unlike other glasses that come with more durable cases and stronger metallic hinges, these could be a little more sensitive.

Edge blurriness and no IPD adjustment

As for the displays, make sure you don’t blow that screen up to its biggest possible size. Those edges are quite prone to blurring and chromatic aberration, so keep it more at the medium setting so you get the sharpness across the entire 1080p picture.

Plus, there’s no IPD adjustment. RayNeo tries to workaround this with multiple-level nose pad adjustment, temple (arm) adjustment and adding elasticity to said temples. For most of my friends I gave these too, this was fine. But just a heads up if you have any specific IPD measurements — there’s no image shifting here.

RayNeo Air 4 Pro: Verdict

So as we head into a new year of AR glasses launches (trust me, there’s a lot of cool stuff coming), RayNeo reasserts its place as a fantastic value option.

Are they without fault? Of course not — they’re cheap AR glasses. But once you look past the marketing bluster, you’ve got a solid pair of HDR10 specs that are great for gaming and streaming.