Nreal, a Chinese startup, launches a low-cost mixed reality device, Nreal Light

Computer manufacturers, platform developers and even Facebook are all talking about extended reality (XR), a new term that includes virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR). However, given the high cost of components, few companies make this technology and supporting hardware easily accessible to consumers.

But at MWC earlier this year, Chinese startup nreal promised an affordable XR wearable headset, and now the company is making good on that promise with nreal light.

While the latest headset from another company, the Oculus Quest, is also affordable, the Nreal Light looks more like Microsoft's Hololens, but at a lower price, size, and weight.

It is understood that Nreal Light contains a 1080 display and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855. When 5G really starts to be launched, MR glasses will also support 5G. To this end, Nreal has cooperated with China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, EE, KDDI, KT, LG Uplus, SoftBank and Swisscom.

However, hardware alone is not enough, even if the company has worked closely with Qualcomm. If an MR helmet does not have content, then it is just an expensive pair of glasses. In addition to providing the SDK (and more expensive development kits), nreal has also partnered with gaming phone maker Black Shark and VR content publisher NextVR to provide some content support for nreal light.

As for the price, nreal's lightweight "Consumer Kit" costs $499, but it is currently only available in limited quantities. If this device is really successful, the company plans to launch more next year. For developers, they can buy a development kit for $1,199, which includes a 3DoF controller and the company's proprietary computing package.