Viture Luma Pro XR glasses work great with the Steam Deck, even if my eyes don’t

There’s a strange contradiction in wearing XR glasses when your eyes can’t quite agree on where to look. After all, packing a display into each lens comes with the prerequisite that your mind will translate them as one giant theater screen. Thankfully, a mild case of esotropia hasn’t hindered my enjoyment of the Viture Luma Pro XR glasses, particularly given that Sony’s latest micro-OLED panels are even more mesmerizing than staring at the Steam Deck OLED.

Living with esotropia isn’t the easiest. Better known as crossed eyes, it’s a form of strabismus where one or both peepers turn inward towards the nose. I have the best-case scenario where it’s indistinguishable to most of my friends and family. Even my optician took 23 years to diagnose it. Still, I suffer all the same with no binocular vision, no depth perception, and when I’m tired, that dreaded double vision rears its ugly head.

It comes as no surprise, then, that wearing anything extended reality (XR) becomes more of a challenge. Virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) all rely on my left eye carrying the visuals, as my right eye is glorified peripheral vision. Yet, beyond all my expectations, Viture Luma Pro has become a staple in my gaming and streaming arsenal, providing a cinematic experience that I struggle to get from even the best VR headsets.

Think of the Luma Pro as your personal monitor that fits inside a glasses case. Despite their billing as XR glasses, these are closer to AR specs with extended capabilities limited to various apps. Don’t expect pocket monsters roaming about your surroundings a la Pokémon Go, as this instead duplicates your device right in front of your eyes.

Following in the footsteps of the Viture Pro XR and Xreal One, these look like thick sunglasses that wouldn’t warrant a second glance out and about. There are lighting effects along the transparent plastic arms that are sure to attract attention, but unlike traditional gamer-clad RGB, it’s tasteful and doesn’t hurt battery life to a noticeable degree.

I’ve taken these from Liverpool to London and back, hooking them up to anything with a USB-C connection, including my Steam Deck, iPhone, and MacBook. The most immediate benefit is awe-inspiring visuals; however, as with many smart glasses, the added privacy and comfort on crowded trains, planes, and automobiles are just as important.

My Steam Deck, which so happens to be a top pick from our guide to the best handheld consoles, accompanies me whenever I travel, bringing with it both excitement and the existential dread of holding the chonky beast up for hours on end. It houses my games, movies, and TV series, but with nowhere to prop it up at eye level, it’s a nightmare for my posture. As well as hiding my screen from peeping Toms, allowing me to watch or play something a bit more mature, connecting XR glasses allows me to rest the handheld on my lap and uncrick my craned neck into a more natural position.

The same freedom applies to gaming under the covers. Rather than risk the mighty 7.4-inch screen crashing down on my face, I can lie on my back or sides without missing a beat. All I need to do is be careful not to dislodge the magnetic pin cable on the right side.

Getting the view right isn’t as easy as its predecessors. Even with plenty of different nose pads in the box and three-tiered axis adjustments on the arms, I often find the need to push the glasses as close as they’ll physically sit comfortably to get the full frame in view.

It’s also fitted with diopter adjustments that go to -4.0D, which falls two notches short of the -5.0D range on the Viture Pro XR. There’s a good reason for scaling back, as the company confirms that expanding to a 16:10 aspect ratio while keeping a 52-degree field of view comes with extra concerns not to diminish quality on the peripheral vision. Still, it’s something to keep in mind if you experience extreme myopia.

Out of the box, there are five color modes to choose from, including True Color, Vivid, Film, Warm, and Cold. As always with different profiles, it’ll come down to personal preference, but most leave an unwelcome hue to my eye. Vivid is satisfyingly punchy if you don’t mind losing detail as darker colors fade into indistinguishable blacks. I personally find it safe to stick with the default True Color, which does exactly what it says on the tin. This may eventually change with Viture’s promised fully customizable selection, which is still in development.

The wow factor comes from the Luma Pro using Sony’s latest micro-OLED panels embedded in each lens, creating the equivalent of a 152-inch virtual screen. While that screen size claim is marketing hyperbole, the practical experience is genuinely impressive, like having a whole cinema to yourself.

Speaking of jargon, it’s easy to stumble over Viture’s lofty claims of a “4K-like” quality when the screens themselves sit at 1920 x 1200p resolution, but there’s method behind the madness. While you’ll get 163.18 pixels per inch on a 27-inch screen touting a 3840 x 2160p resolution, these tiny lenses amp up the pixel density to more than five times that, giving them a crystal-clear quality that trumps just about every OLED I’ve tested. This comes paired with nips and tucks to the underlying technology that improves high-frequency detail to keep everything looking sharp from edge to edge.

Since brightness is an OLED’s Achilles’ heel, you’d usually need to fight against the glare of sunlight to craft the ideal viewing experience. That’s where Viture Luma Pro is in its element, pairing a perceived peak brightness of 1,000 nits with an electrochromic film dimmer. Rather than drawing the curtains, a single button press transforms the clear lenses into opaque shields, instantly switching from a traveler’s best friend to complete immersion.

It’s not an entire blackout, but it’s as good as. Not once have I felt the need to go the whole nine yards by cranking the brightness up full, usually hovering around the halfway mark to enjoy the vivid colors, true blacks, and near-infinite contrast ratio OLED promises.

Connecting the Luma Pro to my Steam Deck OLED reveals the glasses’ true gaming potential. The direct USB-C connection means zero lag, and the smooth 120Hz refresh rate outpaces Valve’s 90Hz ceiling. Granted, running games at such a high frame rate on a handheld is a lofty task, so you’ll need to pick and choose wisely.

For me, Hades II’s frenetic action benefits tremendously. Seeing Melinoë dashing around the bowels of Hell with all 120fps, even with so many particle effects, is a sight to behold. Similarly, Ori and the Will of the Wisps hits the same heights while demonstrating the impeccable depths of HDR on OLED.

The second benefit to Sony’s micro-OLED tech is just how efficient it is. Since these smart glasses feed off the device you connect them to, you need to be mindful of battery life. It’ll still run your Steam Deck OLED down quicker than without, lasting 5.5 hours playing Balatro rather than seven, but the experience is worth the trade. And, if you need a little more juice, you can always grab a power bank or the Viture Pro Mobile Dock for another 20 hours.

Partnering with Harman, the Luma Pro comes equipped with a pair of speakers discreetly embedded in the arms to make it an all-in-one solution. Much like monitors, these built-in drivers don’t compare to the quality of dedicated headphones. The max volume, in particular, struggles against the sound of traffic or surrounding chatter. That said, they’re richer than the Steam Deck’s speakers in a distinctly quiet room, and impressive isolation prevents audio bleed, keeping your listening private. It’s so effective, I initially mistook it for bone conduction.

As handy as the Luma Pro is for Netflix and gaming, it’s not the best tool for productivity in its current form. You can extend its usefulness with Viture’s SpaceWalker app, which lets you create multiple virtual displays on supported platforms, but this functionality is sandboxed within the app itself. Eventually, Viture intends to use its front-facing camera for six degrees of freedom (6 DoF) to let you snap floating windows into a workspace; however, there’s no sign of that feature just yet.

At $499, the Viture Luma Pro is surprisingly competitive in the current smart glasses landscape. It goes head-to-head with the Xreal Air 2 and other rivals, yet stands out thanks to better display tech, smoother refresh rates, and that all-important dimming feature. Even without diving into the full ecosystem of accessories, you’re getting a premium experience at a price that undercuts some less capable alternatives.

The optional extras, like the USB-C XR Charging Adapter and Pro Dock for HDMI compatibility, push the total closer to flagship smartphone territory, but they’re not required to enjoy the core experience. I’ve had some of my best sessions with just the glasses. Whether you’re travelling light, lounging at home, or hiding from your Steam Deck’s tiny screen, the base package delivers plenty of value without forcing you into a walled garden.

Even as a work-in-progress without considering promised features, the Viture Luma Pro is one of the best pairs of AR glasses in 2025. Although Sony’s micro-OLED panels aren’t enough to entice an upgrade from last year’s finest specs on their own, newcomers will get a warm welcome with eye-popping colors and clarity that few displays out there can match. They’ll work with just about anything, and I, for one, can’t wait to plug them back into my Steam Deck – wonky eyes be damned.

There you have it, our Viture Luma Pro XR glasses review. For more fantastic tech, take a look at our guides to the best gaming phones and the best gaming tablets while you’re here, with plenty of options across a range of budgets. Or, if you’re looking for something a little more old-school, check out our picks for the best retro handhelds.