ROKID Max AR Glasses

We rarely look seriously at AR products, since we have had a few concerns about such products before. For example, it may seem useless or inconvenient in reality. But we did experience quite a lot of AR glasses, most of which didn’t impress us enough to make a review video and share it with you guys. But today, we’re quite happy that we finally got to experience an available product of AR glasses that can be a part of your must-have gear in reality, but also gives you a glimpse into the future of AR. It’s the Rokid Max AR Glasses.

Design & built

Start from its design. Since the Rokid Max’s most basic role is to act as a wearable portable display anytime and anywhere, it really looks and weighs like sunglasses. I’m not exaggerating, the whole body weighs only 75g and the lens module is pretty thin. Regarding futuristic and habitual aesthetics, the Max are the best-designed AR glasses I’ve ever seen.

It comes with a Birdbath Optical module with Micro-Oled lenses, providing 1080P resolution and up to 120Hz refresh rate. Due to the loss of brightness on the way to optical reflection, the module provides a max brightness of 5000 nits and still achieves a decent in-eye brightness of 600 nits, even brighter than some latest smartphones.

So in actual use, unless you’re staring into the sun with the Max, you’ll still have no problem using it outdoors even without the blackout mask. And if you want to concentrate on watching a film and have the most immersive experience, this included mask is definitely the perfect companion.

For a truly immersive experience, a great point is that the Max has a field of view of 50°, while most other AR devices would offer about a FOV of 40°, which might be a bit narrow for most people and feels like sitting in the back row of the cinema. But 50° is kind of a proper viewing angle that helps me capture great image detail and maintain a good focus. Visually, the effect is pretty close to a 215-inch borderless TV placed 6 meters away.

On the leg, you can see a 6-level brightness button and 2 volume buttons. The physical buttons are all the operations you can have on the glasses, including switching between 2D and 3D modes with the brightness button. The Rokid Max supports wearing detection, which could automatically turn off to save power for the connected devices. There’s no built-in battery on the Rokid Max, so it does more like a monitor that requires a continuous power supply from the connected device.

With dual Hi-Res directional speakers, the Max offers one of the best and loudest sounds that I’ve ever heard with AR glasses.

As you can see, I have myopia. Many AR glasses are not friendly enough for myopic people. Either they require me to have new customized lenses or wear contact lenses to use them. But with the Rokid Max, you got the knobs here to adjust the diopter for each eye respectively and simulate the sharpest image you can see. It’s just so impressive! I confess, now I take it with me wherever I go, even when I lay down to rest, though, it might look a bit wield. The nosepiece here is replaceable and adjustable. There’s an extra nosepiece included in the package. I have to say it’s really comfortable to wear and didn’t cause dizziness even after long-time use.

Casting Compatibility

Now let’s talk about what video sources you can connect with the Rokid Max. Theoretically, you can cast any device’s displays to the Max via a wired or wireless connection. The included ultra-thin USB-C cable is a surprise. It’s the thinnest cable I’ve ever used for DP connection, which doesn’t affect our wearing comfort at all. Phones are definitely the best companions. Most smartphones and tablets supporting DP video output can be connected in casting and AR modes. And most gaming consoles with DP output also can be connected via USB-C cable.

Scenarios

For example, to get the best dock mode on Nintendo Switch, you can attach this Rokid Hub to the switch first and then connect it to the Rokid Max and power supply. So there are no more worries about draining power out from the Switch, all you need is simply just a power bank or an adaptor to plug it into the wall. To be honest, the Rokid Max is the only monitor that allows me to play Switch games in such a relaxing way. And what we see on the AR glasses is really no different from what we see on a huge TV. When you attach the blackout mask, you would only see the game in your sight without any distractions, so it’s time to really enjoy gaming.

My favorite scenario is to use it as a portable screen for my Windows tablet. Just connect it with the Rokid Max via the included cable, and the casting images at 1080p 120Hz will directly show on the glasses without perceivable latency. No longer staring at a fixed screen, relax your stiff body, and get to work or enjoy gaming in the most comfortable ways.

If your device doesn’t have a USB-C port supporting DP output, and you’re just tired of switching cables between devices, you can also find a wireless casting base that helps you realize wireless casting regardless of platforms. While Rokid officially has developed a computing station for Rokid Max, which would complete the capacity of the Max to work without phones as fully-functional AI Glasses. What for sure now is that it’s gonna feature some TV features and AR applications, and support wireless casting with low latency. The Rokid team told us that a global version of that Rokid Station would be launched soon. Without a doubt, this is probably the accessory I’m most looking forward to.

Rokid App & AR mode

In simple terms, AR offers a combination between real-world and virtual information and interaction. It means that virtual information including data, applications, and images, is overlayed on the real world you perceive.

You can access the AR mode in the Rokid app, which offers quite a few AR games and applications that are adapted to the Rokid Max, and turn your phone into a remote as a pointing cursor. In AR mode, it offers quite a few AR games and applications that are adapted to the Rokid Max. In addition, here you can access the quick apps which are used a lot with the AR glasses, such as YouTube and Twitch.

When activating 3Dof in AR mode, you will have 3 degrees of freedom tracking, which means you can adjust the content in three axes of freedom, front to back, left to right and top to bottom. Then just turn your head to break the edges of the display.

There’s one more interesting detail. The glasses also support SBS and 3D modes. By pressing the brightness button for a few seconds, the SBS mode would stretch 1080p horizontally to achieve a 3D effect for the 3D contents.

Verdict

Of course, the reason I really appreciate it is that I really need a big display that I can use anywhere and anytime. As one of the most portable screens out there, it’s an almost perfect replacement for a physical screen with a considerable size. It does away with the bulky physical size and replaces it with an eyewear form that you can actually carry around with you.

The 1080p and 120Hz visuals are even better than those of the big guys, while the 600nit in-eye brightness even matches your phone’s brightness. And if need more focus, put the mask on it and you won’t have to worry about a lack of brightness outdoors. You can connect it to your phone or computer anywhere, anytime, and take good care of your work on the go; watch a movie while protecting your privacy. When not in use, at 75g it’s just an ordinary pair of glasses.

So hope you feel the excitement we had with the Rokid Max. If you are interested in AR glasses, you can click the link here to check out more information about this portable huge screen.

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