On May 30th, XREAL, one of the four AR industry leaders, held a new product launch event, introducing Beam Pro, a "smartphone" that cannot make phone calls, sparking widespread attention. So how should we evaluate this product and its underlying significance? In this issue's sharp review, let's discuss it.

A Smartphone That Cannot Make Calls

In terms of appearance, the Beam Pro features a 6.5-inch anti-flicker LCD screen on the front, with dual USB-C ports at the bottom, allowing for simultaneous charging and usage while connected to AR glasses. The physical buttons on the side of the device enable one-touch switching between 3DoF hover/gimbal stabilization. Due to its plastic body, the entire device is extremely lightweight, weighing only 208 grams.

In terms of specifications, the Beam Pro is equipped with a 4nm Snapdragon octa-core spatial computing collaboration processor, a built-in 4300mAh battery, supporting 27W fast charging, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, up to 1TB storage card expansion, and pre-installed with nebulaOS, a deeply customized version of Android.

The Beam Pro uses two 50-megapixel ultra-wide-angle dual main cameras with a distance of 50mm between them. Paired with a dual F/2.2 aperture, it is touted to enhance stereoscopic sensation and ensure consistent depth-of-field information for both eyes, simulating human eye distance. This ensures consistency and precision in the dual main camera images, achieving pixel-level synchronization in the dual main camera view, allowing users to watch without eye strain.

In terms of functionality, Beam Pro can handle almost everything a smartphone can do, such as listening to music, playing games, watching movies, taking photos, etc., except for making phone calls.

Regarding pricing, the Beam Pro 6GB+128GB WiFi version is priced at 1,299 yuan, the 8GB+256GB WiFi version is priced at 1,599 yuan, and the Beam Pro 5G version starts at 1,999 yuan. The Beam Pro Enterprise Edition starts at 2,999 yuan.

From the overall situation of Beam Pro, it is essentially a smartphone, except that its phone call function has been removed. It is similar to the tablets we are familiar with.

Official Reasons for Launching Beam Pro

Why did XREAL launch Beam Pro, a smartphone that cannot make phone calls? Regarding this question, the official explanation is as follows:

To address a major pain point in the AR field, the lack of content, Beam Pro directly converts 2D content into 3D, maximizing users' existing content, including spatial imaging, mobile phone ecosystem spatialization transplantation, and living room entertainment streaming transplantation.

As for why not collaborate with smartphone manufacturers to address the lack of AR content? The official stated that the strategic priorities of smartphone manufacturers and AR glasses manufacturers differ. The former is smartphone + AR, with everything prioritizing the smartphone, while the latter is AR + others, with everything prioritizing AR.

For example, in terms of spatial imaging, XREAL believes that smartphone spatial photography is compromised. On the one hand, the distance between smartphone cameras is too small compared to human pupillary distance, greatly reducing the stereoscopic sensation of captured images. On the other hand, there are considerations based on frame rate. Compared to watching 2D videos, the human brain is more sensitive to frame rate when watching 3D videos. While the iPhone only supports up to 30Hz for 3D video recording, the Beam Pro can support 60Hz.

Opinions from Various Parties

For a product like Beam Pro, many well-known individuals have given their opinions:

Zhu Haizhou, software product manager at OnePlus: XREAL has released an "AR computing terminal like a Phone." Its main function is to provide external computing power and power units for XREAL glasses, while also capturing spatial images. The initial launch only includes a WiFi version, with a cellular version to follow.

Theoretically, directly making a Phone would be the most straightforward, as users don't need multiple mobile computing centers. Issues like data synchronization and account multi-device login can be cumbersome. However, the reasons behind XREAL not making a Phone (or not wanting to call it a Phone) are understandable.

In fact, I prefer to position this device as a spatial camera. As long as its effect exceeds my current EGO 3D stereoscopic camera, I will definitely buy it.

Digital blogger Feng Weiwen: The XREAL Beam Pro is not bad, with a plastic shell and a sense of refinement. The system and front have a Pixel-like feel. Its essence is to detach from the smartphone and serve as a computing unit and video recorder for XREAL glasses.

So it has two USB-C ports, allowing for simultaneous charging and usage with XREAL glasses. It feels like negotiating with smartphone manufacturers is too difficult, so it's better to do something controllable on their own.

Digital blogger Yich: Perhaps Beam Pro can solve many issues that XREAL wants to address, including capturing 3D content. However, the reality is that no one wants to carry a smartphone-like device just for a pair of glasses. The logic is that smartphones are a rigid demand, while glasses are not.

Even if it's not marketed as a smartphone, most people find computing terminals difficult to understand. A smartphone that can't make calls is more acceptable, but why would you carry one that can't make calls?

Li Nan, former vice president of Meizu Technology: Making AR glasses and making a smartphone to liberate your current smartphone. I admire this reverse driving speed.

AK, an original video blogger on Weibo: I think this is a huge mistake. AR glasses manufacturers should collaborate with smartphone manufacturers rather than doing something they are less proficient in. How many people would buy a second "smartphone" just to watch 3D content? Isn't a smartphone + glasses combination more expensive?

The reason consumers haven't deeply penetrated AR is due to inconvenience, high prices, and insufficient effects. What aspect of these issues does XREAL's combo solve?

Written at the End

Baidu founder Robin Li once said in a public speech that there are too many large models in China. More than 200 large models in the country have little usage, and developing useful and usable large models has high technical and cost barriers. "Reinventing the wheel" is actually a tremendous waste of social resources.

This is a well-known "reinventing the wheel" argument. So, does XREAL's launch of Beam Pro, which resembles a smartphone in appearance and functionality, count as "reinventing the wheel"?

In my opinion, Beam Pro is a micro-innovation of XREAL. It essentially adds a screen and camera to an AR host like Beam, adding a photography function compared to an AR host. It is more intuitive and convenient to use, and the price also increases accordingly. It can be seen as an enhanced version of the AR host.

We mentioned in our previous article "Are Portable Hosts Launched by ThunderBird and Rokid for AR Glasses Useless or a Blue Ocean?" that the significance of AR hosts is mainly to solve compatibility issues, facilitate user data analysis, and facilitate ecological cooperation. Especially when consumers use AR hosts to connect to AR glasses, the generated user data is likely to remain on the AR host. This allows AR glasses manufacturers to analyze consumer preferences based on this data, providing assistance in improving and developing new products.

User data can be considered the core and soul of AR hosts. XREAL's launch of Beam Pro, an enhanced version of the AR host, essentially aims to keep user data in its own hands rather than hand it over to smartphone manufacturers. This is similar to SAIC's "soul" argument, where SAIC Chairman Chen Hongming stated at the SAIC shareholders' meeting that SAIC would not accept collaborating with Huawei in driving technology, as it would cause SAIC to lose its soul and voice.

On November 30th last year, when Meizu released the MYVU AR glasses, it made a statement that unveiled the序幕 of the battle between smartphone manufacturers and AR manufacturers over user data - "AR manufacturers without the empowerment of smartphone companies will not see a future," implying that the latter's accumulation of user data lags behind the former, and without the former's user data support, the latter's development prospects are bleak.

Six months later, AR manufacturer XREAL released Beam Pro as a response, stating, "Embracing the direction of technological development is definitely more promising than sticking to one's previous advantages. Every manufacturer that can make good AR glasses can also make a good smartphone." The implication is that AR glasses replacing smartphones is a general trend. Don't use smartphone user data for AR glasses. Making AR glasses is not as simple as making smartphones.

However, among AR manufacturers, a development divide has emerged. Rokid chose to collaborate with vivo, gaining content and offline sales channels, serving as a playback and display device for spatial imaging. Meanwhile, XREAL launched Beam Pro, intending to grasp user data in its own hands by enhancing the experience.

It's now up to AR manufacturers like ThunderBird Innovation and INMO to decide whether to follow Rokid's collaborative path or XREAL's independent path. We can only observe further developments.

Written by Doflamingo

(All images in this article are sourced from the internet)