Mobile World Congress might be known for showcasing the latest smartphones and tablets, but RayNeo’s new Air 3S XR glasses were one of the most compelling products I trialled on the show floor.

Direct successor to the Air 2S, which the company launched last August, the 3S look to improve on its predecessor in practically every way, while also hitting the market at a significantly lower price point; a trait that should actually render it one of the best value XR glasses in its category. Samsung’s Project Moohan XR glasses look quite different.

Head-on, the Air 3S looks like a pair of contemporary sunglasses, but off-angle, you’ll notice the exterior tinted lenses sit a little ways off the face. That’s in order to accommodate a pair of Sony micro-OLED panels behind them, that work with a beam splitter and a concave mirror (collectively called ‘birdbath’ optics) to direct an image at the wearer.

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In the case of the 3S specifically, RayNeo’s use of new HueView tandem micro-OLED panels helps with two of the technology’s typical weaknesses: brightness and contrast. As such, the RayNeo 3S serve up the equivalent of a 201-inch display (as if viewed from six metres away), with an improved 200,000:1 contrast ratio (that’s twice as good as the previous model) and new higher 650-nit maximum brightness (up from 600nits).

The company’s also worked to improve one of the biggest criticisms of the 2S’ viewing experience – border blur – with an increased eye box and an expanded FoV (field of view) of 47-degrees, while the you once again get the option of 60- or 120Hz fluidity, paired to Full HD resolution.

In practice, the image quality does genuinely astound, especially considering how lightweight the Air 3S felt (they’re two grams lighter than the 2S, at 76g). You’re aware you’re wearing something, if only for the gentle tug that sometimes happens from the cable attached to the back of the right arm of the glasses. The 3S can connect to almost anything that allows for USB-C DisplayPort functionality, including HDMI connectivity.

I trialled the RayNeo 3S with a Nintendo Switch running Tears of the Kingdom, hooked up to RayNeo’s existing JoyDock. This enables superior docked performance from the Switch, while keeping the console portable; helped in-part by dual 5000mAh batteries, alongside the connectivity needed to plug in the Air 3S glasses over USB-C.

Latency was equally undetectable when playing Astro Bot and Final Fantasy on a PlayStation 5. What struck me the most was how well more nuanced visual elements like dynamic range and contrast come through. RayNeo has expanded the colour space to 154% of SRGB (and 98% colour accuracy of DCI-P3), up from 108% on the previous 2S.

It’s important to remember that the displays and the outer cover of the Air 3S are technically transparent, which should be at odds when pursuing a high contrast image, but even against the bright lights of the convention centre, it worked extremely well; all the while allowing for awareness of what was going on around me, especially at the periphery.

Glasses like the Air 3S offer a degree of immersion below that of say, fully enclosed VR headsets (like the Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S) but that’s by design. I’d feel far more comfortable donning the 3S on a flight, compared to a full face-covering virtual reality system, with passthrough cameras et al, too.

In contrast, even with the displays off, I don’t know how much I’d readily walk down the street wearing a pair of XR specs in their current form. It may be something I try come full review time.

Not just a huge screen

The other key aspect of the Air 3S experience is sound. While I didn’t really get the chance to test out their promised improved audio at the booth, RayNeo has made strides here too.

The 3S’ quad-speaker setup (two in each glasses’ arm) is said to deliver a 200% uptick in audio fidelity, compared to stereo speakers. They promise better bass and better high frequency response with greater clarity, whilst also offering reduced sound leakage.

The company’s Whisper Mode 2.0 tech is designed to render the Air 3S inaudible to anyone more than 0.6 metres away.

Beyond the same impressive design allowances as the 2S for increased comfort compared to rivals, the cherry on top is the Air 3S’ price. In spite of the improved displays, weight and audio abilities, the RayNeo Air 3S are slates to cost $259, when they go on sale in April.

That means they’re cheaper than their predecessors even after the Air 2S has already received one major price drop (at the time of writing, priced at $319, down from $399).

Also check out all the concept devices we saw at MWC 2025 (there were a lot).