Spacetop G1 is an AR laptop without a screen

The Apple Vision Pro is heavy and will certainly become an irritating anchor to your face if you try to use it throughout an eight-hour workday. This is because all the technology is hidden in the headset itself. A company called Sightful solves this problem on their website . It’s a screenless laptop paired with AR glasses that runs a custom operating system, not Windows. All the heavy stuff is inside the laptop, so the glasses weigh about as much as a pair of glasses.

The company calls it “the laptop of the era of spatial computing,” somewhat referring to Apple’s marketing language. It’s basically a pair of custom AR glasses from Xreal connected to something resembling the bottom of a laptop, along with a keyboard and trackpad. Sightful claims this allows for a 100-inch virtual screen that floats above the real world. The device actually predates the Vision Pro, having been released a year ago as an early access product, although it is now available for pre-order for anyone.

As for the hardware, it won’t break any speed records. The Spacetop G1 is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon QCS8550 processor, which is usually found in mobile devices, as well as 16 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. The specs are more or less okay, especially considering the product is intended to be used for work, not play.

The glasses include a pair of 1920 x 1080 resolution OLED displays with a 90 Hz refresh rate, 50-degree field of view and 42 PPD (pixels per degree) with support for custom corrective lenses. They also include a 6W Xreal open speaker system. I’ve used the Xreal i glasses before, but the promise of a 100-inch virtual screen is severely limited by the abysmal field of view.

You can skip the virtual screen completely. The device has two USB-C ports that allow you to connect peripheral devices such as standalone monitors. This triggers a unique use case scenario. You can work in the office on a real monitor and then continue working with the full setup on a plane or something else. This would be great for workaholics.

Wireless connectivity options reinforce this idea as the G1 supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, SIM, 5G, and 4G. However, the battery will run out after just eight hours, so domestic flights will be the best choice.

The system also comes with a proprietary operating system that allows you to leverage AR capabilities. It is built on ChromiumOS and designed to navigate using selected gestures. Testers have deceived the operating system by calling it “Android-like” and since it is custom software, it does not support all available applications. However, it works well with Google’s entire suite of productivity software. Finally, the G1 comes with a built-in 5MP camera for video calling.

The Spacetop G1 laptop may lack a physical display, but it’s priced like the best OLED available. It costs $1,900. You can buy a pair of AR glasses for around $1,400. Just something to think about.