Android Central’s Best of 2024: The Best of XR, Smart Glasses, and Gaming
I honestly didn’t know much about XR or smart glasses until I had to edit and follow the work of my very knowledgeable colleague Nick Sutrich.
By reading his extensive coverage of the XR and smart glasses fields, it’s easier for me to understand the importance of these two categories in the Android space. Especially with the big news that Google and Samsung will launch Android XR as a Meta Quest competitor next year, this mixed reality space is only going to get more exciting.
Now, congratulations to Meta for launching Meta Quest 3S and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, and the best games are “Batman: Shadow of Arkham” and “Just Dance”!
Here’s what Nick had to say.
Best XR headset or smart glasses: Meta Quest 3S
Nick Sutrich: The XR industry continues to grow in 2024, with some devices helping attract new users, such as the Meta Quest 3S. Meta’s latest headset was named XR Device of the Year because it offers unparalleled value in the field, helps attract new users, and provides an easy upgrade path for Quest 2 owners without spending a fortune. It may have the Quest 2’s lenses and display, but everything else is a massive upgrade, including the next-generation Snapdragon chipset inside.
Not only that, Meta is also offering Batman: Shadow of Arkham for free with every Meta Quest 3S, further attracting new users to join the series they know and love. For $299, the Meta includes almost everything that made the Quest 3 a great experience, including new controllers with better haptics and full-color, high-resolution pass-through vision. It has created an explosion of exciting mixed reality games and will help usher in a new wave of next-generation VR games in 2025 and beyond.
runner up: Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses
While these technologies won’t be available until 2023, Meta essentially rebooted the entire product category in April by introducing Meta AI tools on its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. More updates rolled out in September, including instant translation and other impressive multi-modal AI features. Features like instant artificial intelligence and music recognition were added a few days ago, demonstrating Meta’s commitment to making these glasses as useful and relevant as possible.
Of course, all the basic features of last year’s glasses still work. They are a relatively affordable pair of frames that support almost all prescription types. I love wearing them often in place of earbuds, and they’re so convenient for taking calls, snapping a quick photo or video (hands-free!), or just listening and responding to messages without staring at your phone.
Best New Single-Player VR Game: Batman: Shadow of Arkham
Nick Sutrich: It’s been a great year for VR games, but Batman: Shadow of Arkham stands out even in a crowded room because of its performance in game design, storytelling, voice acting, and unique gameplay mechanics. Brilliant, perfectly transferring the Arkham experience to the Meta Quest 3 headset. “Batman: Shadow of Arkham” won the 2024 VR Single Player Game Award.
An original story set between Arkham’s origins and Arkham Asylum, Arkham’s Shadow lets you explore Blackgate like never before seen in a Batman game. Throughout the story, you’ll switch between the two characters to uncover the identity behind the Rat King, and experience the most authentic way to feel like Batman: put on the hood, your unofficial detective badge, and Get a license to beat anyone who owns it in the future.
Best New Multiplayer VR Game: Just Dance VR – Welcome to Dancity
Nick Sutrich: The long-awaited VR experience from the Just Dance series is the best way to learn the moves you’ve always wanted, all to your favorite song of the day. But we’ve been doing this with this series for the past 15 years, so why does it win our 2024 VR Multiplayer Game of the Year award? Because of Danciti.
Ubisoft and co-developer Soul Assembly have created a fantastic way to not only play and dance with friends, but hang out with them in a spectacular “Metaverse” style world called Dancity. It makes the game come alive in a way that the series has never done before, and it makes the multiplayer component feel not only unique, but a cohesive experience like we simply didn’t expect from a rhythm game.
Check out Just Dance VR – welcome to Dancity today!
