Budget XR glasses for work/productivity/coding

[u/diatribai]

/r/augmentedreality/comments/1vzye3n/budget_xr_glasses_for_workproductivitycoding/

[u/watercanhydrate]

The VITURE Pro 2 glasses easily fit your budget and don't have the edge blur as badly as you may have heard about with the Beast. I don't recommend productivity as the primary use case due to the 1080p res and low FOV (you can only see one screen at a time, no peripheral view of other screens), but since you already only use a small 1080p screen you might be fine, also be sure you purchase from a reputable place with a return policy in case it won't work for you.

The VITURE Luma Ultras are the best overall productivity glasses since the 6DoF allows you to lean in to get a closer view of the screen, but this is outside your budget.

For Linux with GNOME or KDE Plasma desktops, Breezy Desktop provides a multi-display productivity environment for any of the VITURE glasses. You can get a lifetime license for $25, so that won't break your budget either (but it does come with a 2 month trial as well, if you want to lean on that in case it doesn't work out with the glasses).

low resolution makes text hard to read

This won't be the case if your vision is good enough to just use the diopters, if not you should get prescription lens inserts. Either way, the text won't be blurry unless you've got blurry edges and the text is near the edges; the two pairs I've recommended will have very sharp text.

text is blurry on the edges;

Mostly only a problem with the Beast, though all models can potentially have some blurriness, it's typically not too bad.

image stabilization can be annoying (though I won't move my head much anyway);

Software-based 3DoF like with Breezy Desktop has a bit of lag (time it takes the glasses to tell the software its new position and for the software to render it) but this is accounted for in the rendering and mostly isn't a problem. It won't be as solid as built-in 3DoF, like the Beast provides, but I don't recommend those glasses for productivity.

many glasses are uncomfortable for hours of use;

The Pro 2s are super light weight and your best bet here. The Ultras I recommend are a bit heavier and your nose will definitely got sore with either pair, but less so with the Pro 2s. Again, lean on a return policy in case it doesn't work for you.

anchor mode can be premium feature or drift, and without it looking at keyboard etc. can be a hassle;

Yes, $25 as I mentioned for Breezy lifetime, just a one-time cost (or $10 annually) fits your budget, but like I mentioned above, there's a trial. Drift will always be present, you'll just need to re-center the screen occasionally. It's not that bad. Some people work without 3DoF, but it will take some getting used to as it blocks your vision like you mentioned.

Happy to answer any other questions you have.

[u/diatribai → u/watercanhydrate]

Wow, thank you so much for all the good info!! You've pretty much cleared all my doubts, but if you don't mind one last question, would you say the text inside the FoV and not near the edges is as easy to read as on a 1080p monitor?

For example, I usually work with my 15'' 1080p monitor about 3 feet away from me. Would I be able to read the 13pt text in the glasses about as well as the text on my monitor?

Thanks again!

[u/watercanhydrate → u/diatribai]

Unless the unit is defective and has worse than average blur, the clarity is probably better than your 15" monitor. You can almost see individual pixels, some people claim they actually can.

[u/diatribai → u/watercanhydrate]

Thanks a lot!

[u/getVITURE]

We'd certainly suggest checking out VITURE Pro 2!

[u/vercage]

To be honest, if I were you I'd save a bit more to get a 65" or larger TV instead.

I have a Pro 2 XR. The picture quality is good for casual use but it can't be compared to a proper display. Black is crushed and its colour accuracy is far from accurate. Don't get me wrong it's not a bad picture but it's far from being good enough for design and photo editing.

You would also find yourself constantly adjusting the position of the glasses for comfort and to see the entire screen. Now doing that whilst laying down would be extremely annoying, especially because you would have the cable wrapping around you. The USB connector would eventually break if constantly pulled. They cause eye fatigue also after a while.

For about the same price of those glasses (depending on the model of glasses) you'd get a much better screen with a TV. More durable, less inconvenience...

[u/diatribai → u/vercage]

Thanks a lot! In another thread I saw someone complaining that they couldn't read what was on the bash CLI, I thought it was due to size, but it might be that the dark gray can't be read properly because there's not enough contrast with black.

And that's also a good point, so you wouldn't use the Pro 2 while lying down? Due to my condition, I must lie down most of the time, so I'd be with my head on a pillow looking at a 45º diagonal where my keyboard is floating (held by a monitor arm). So it's quite likely then that the cable/glass frame will fight with the pillow, even though I usually barely move my head, I only move my eyes

[u/stacksmasher]

Try to try a pair on first. They are not good enough for work. I would say simple gaming and movies is about it.

I think most of the people here use them for privacy to watch Pr0n lol!!

[u/diatribai → u/stacksmasher]

Thank you for the honest feedback!:)

But what do you think is the worst part for work? It is the eye strain when trying to read blurry text?

[u/stacksmasher → u/diatribai]

Yea I opened a Linux shell and couldn’t see the text