XREAL AURA starts at $1,279, but preorders are not open to everyone

XREAL says AURA will start at $1,279 in the United States, with a second configuration priced at $1,499. Preorders opened October 7, but only for customers who placed a paid reservation before that date. Everyone else is still waiting for general orders, which the company says will open in the coming weeks.

The two US configurations#

Both prices cover the optical see-through glasses and their tethered Android XR compute puck. XREAL lists medium and large glasses sizes. The announcement does not establish US tax totals, accessory costs or whether every configuration will ship in equal quantities.

A preorder today does not mean public availability today#

Reservation holders are supposed to receive an email explaining how to choose a configuration and finish the purchase. XREAL says general orders will open in the coming weeks and that US shipping will begin soon, with the launch now weeks away. Those phrases narrow the window but do not provide an exact public-order date or shipping day.

The initial shipping markets named in the release are the United States, Canada, Japan and South Korea. XREAL says more markets will follow in 2027. Its product page lists a broader set of supported launch regions, so buyers outside the first four countries should wait for market-specific timing rather than assume that the longer list means first-wave shipping.

Two payment deadlines with different benefits#

As checked October 9, the US AURA store directs Pass holders to sign in with the account linked to their Pass and use the emailed redemption code. Buyers without a Pass are directed to the deposit page. The public listing is not proof that unrestricted checkout is open.

The store says payments completed after October 31 lose these priority benefits. Within each priority group, final-payment time affects dispatch order. Its before-the-holidays shipping target remains subject to production, inspection and logistics; it is not a promised arrival date. The store distinguishes dispatch from delivery. No exact universal shipping or delivery day was established in our source check.

The live reservation page has not fully caught up#

The general AURA reservation FAQ still contains pre-price language when reopened October 9: it says final configurations and pricing will be announced later. That conflicts with the October 7 manufacturer release and the US store’s $1,279 base listing. Use the dated release for announced prices and the current regional store terms for payment and fulfillment conditions. The older reservation FAQ should not be read as evidence that every earlier deposit offer remains available.

What the price does—and does not—answer#

AURA uses transparent optics, while Meta's announced $1,299 VR Glasses use camera passthrough. The close prices do not make them interchangeable. The display approach changes field of view, immersion and how directly a wearer sees the real world; software ecosystems and input methods differ too. A $20 headline gap is less important than which design fits the intended task.

XREAL says the glasses weigh less than 95 grams, offer a 70-degree field of view, include hand tracking and connect to a Snapdragon Reality Elite compute puck that also acts as a trackpad. These are manufacturer specifications. Choosense has not tested comfort, tracking, application compatibility, battery life or image quality, and the company says more details are still coming.

Our practical conclusion: existing reservation holders now have a real configuration decision, but they should not treat a deadline email as an independent review. General buyers lose little by waiting for the public order window, final shipping details and broader testing.

Related: Meta's 100-gram VR glasses split the computer from the face

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Topics: XREAL · Android XR · US prices · Preorders

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