- VERDICT
The TCL NXTWEAR G Smart Glasses offer an entirely new and easy way to enjoy your content anywhere on a grand scale and in complete handsfree comfort.
Imagine being able to watch your content on a 140-inch display whenever and wherever you want. With the new TCL NXTWEAR G Smart Glasses that’s exactly what you can do.
This new wearable cinema from TCL connects to any device with a USB port and allows you to mirror the screen on to the mini OLED full high definition displays inside the glasses.
TCL has a long history in the display business and its technology can be found in its TVs and smartphones and now it had brought that heritage and innovation to the NXTWEAR G Smart Glasses.
The mini OLED displays inside the glasses have full high definition resolution and are placed at a distance and width so the screen is in sharp focus when you put them on.
What you see when you put on the glasses is a screen that offers the same scale as if you were sitting in a room in front of a 140-inch 16:9 display.
We were pleasantly surprised at the quality we saw when watching YouTube and Netflix from our connected smartphone and tablet.
Even though the screens were a mere inch or two from our eyes it was still sharp and bright.
And the good thing is that wearable screen is always right in front of your eyes to so can watch hands-free whether you’re sitting down, lying in bed, on the couch or reclined on an airline seat.
We were watching for up to 90 minutes at a time and didn’t feel any eye fatigue.
TCL says the NXTWEAR G smart glasses are not recommended for extended use by anyone under 14 years old.
Design-wise the NXTWEAR G glasses are impressively slim and light. They tip the scales at just 130g so they’re not too heavy or bulky to wear.
They have a soft-touch nylon feel and are made of materials that are durable and skin-friendly.
There is a large rubber bridge so the glasses rest comfortably on your nose.
This also gives the wearer the option of adjusting the distance the screens are away from your eyes.
The arms of the glasses were on the snug side for me but that’s because I’ve got a pretty big head. But once I had them on, they were fine.
They have a black glossy exterior and, if you were wearing the glasses in public it wouldn’t look too different than wearing sunglasses.
And the glasses also include a built-in dual stereo speakers in the arms of the glasses with the sound directed right by your ear when you’re listening to them.
Another use of the TCL NXTWEAR G Smart Glasses is not just entertainment, they can also help you stay focused and productive.
If they connect with a compatible TCL smartphone you can also launch the Smart Glasses companion app which includes PC Mode.
This turns the glasses into a computer desktop and the TCL phone into a trackpad so you can easily navigate the interface.
The trackpad turns your finger into a mouse with single and double taps with one finger and other two-fingered gestures which are like right mouse clicks.
When you’re wearing the glasses, they don’t completely shut you off from the outside world like a VR headset would.
You still have a lot of peripheral vision so you can notice people and things around you.
But it doesn’t affect the immersive experience of watching your content through the TCL NXTWEAR G Smart Glasses.
For our review we plugged the glasses into Android smartphones and tablets, the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro.
The thing all of these devices have in common is a USB-C port with a Display Alternate Mode so their displays can be mirrored in the glasses.
But one downside – the TCL NXTWEAR G Smart Glasses do not work with the iPhone because it has a Lightning port and doesn’t support display output via USB.
Speaking of the USB cable – could the glasses have been wireless and connect via Bluetooth?
Technically, that’s possible but that would mean you would need to include the Bluetooth and/or wi-fi module and also a rechargeable battery which would have made the device noticeably larger and bulkier.
With a cable the power is delivered along with full high definition resolution.
The one upside of the cable is that you never need to charge them. The glasses are powered through the cable from the device they are connected to.
The TCL NXTWEAR G Smart Glasses come in a small hardcase so they are easy to safely carry then with you anywhere.
They are priced at $899 and available now from Harvey Norman. Customers will also receive a free Optus Sport six months subscription with every purchase.
VERDICT
The TCL NXTWEAR G Smart Glasses offer an entirely new and easy way to enjoy your content anywhere on a grand scale and in complete handsfree comfort.
